Julius Randle is no longer a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, to absolutely nobody's surprise. A surprise, however, is that the Wolves actually got nothing in return. They, in fact, dropped five spots in the draft due to the trade that sent Randle and the 28th pick to the Brooklyn Nets, Nic Claxton to the Chicago Bulls, and the 33rd pick to the Timberwolves.
This was purely a cost-cutting move by Tim Connelly. Shedding Randle's $33.3 million puts them well below the first apron, which means that they now have access to the full non-taxpayer midlevel exception. This means that they are able to sign anyone in free agency up to a $15 million first-year salary.
Part of this trade was also to be able to re-sign Ayo Dosunmu comfortably
Shortly after the Randle news broke, the Wolves reached an agreement with Ayo Dosunmu on a lofty extension worth $112 million over five years. At first glance, this seemed like a bit of an overpay, but the more you dissect it, and with the NBA cap always going up, it will be a nice deal for years to come.
$22.4 million annually for his entire prime is a great value for someone of Dosunmus' caliber. He can play several positions, he fits the current core's timeline, and he showed many flashes of leveling up during his time in Minnesota, especially in the playoffs.
The Wolves have some money to play with in free agency
Now they could always use this cap space in a trade, and they would be able to acquire slightly more money than they would be sending out, as opposed to needing to match salary. But there are a few free agents that could be had for the non-taxpayer MLE that could really benefit this team.
Even with the re-signing of Dosunmu, I still think the Wolves need more ball-handling and shot creation from the guard position. One name I would love to sign would be Anfernee Simons.
Simons had a weird year. He started in Boston, where he started the season slowly and came off the bench, but he found his footing midseason, only to be traded at the deadline to the Bulls for Nikola Vucevic.
Before this past year, however, he was an easy 20-point-per-game scorer in Portland for a few years, and one of the smoothest shooters in the league. He's not much of a defender, which is why his role is likely a microwave sixth man scorer off the bench now, but signing Simons into their cap space would be a great get.
I just can't buy that this is the only notable move the Wolves make this offseason -- it's not in Tim Connelly's DNA to get complacent.
This feels like a precursor to what should be an extremely active offseason in Minnesota, and fans should stay ready for anything.
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