On Saturday afternoon, an official release revealed that the Minnesota Timberwolves had waived guard PJ Dozier. The 6-foot-6 University of South Carolina product was signed by the team to a non-guaranteed deal this past offseason for one year worth $2.6 million. After playing in just nine games with the Wolves this season, his time with the team is over.
Dozier had previously seen stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings. Despite his experience, the coaching staff and front office saw it best to part ways with PJ.
Now the question becomes why exactly the Timberwolves chose to make this move right now. Perhaps they simply felt they had taken enough time to evaluate their own roster, and they determined that Dozier was not going to be a fit given how sparingly he had played in 2024-25. Getting PJ off the books gives them a chance to promote a two-way player to a full-time spot, or sign another minimum player.
Waiving Dozier could be the first domino for a trade
Or, on the flip side, perhaps this move was made for a larger purpose. If Minnesota was working on making some type of trade ahead of the February deadline and needed to free up a roster spot, this kind of move would make a lot of sense.
In fact, we have seen the Wolves make this kind of strategic move in the very recent past. In September, Minnesota waived Trevor Keels not long after signing him. The very next day, they would complete their trade for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.
Just as that move was highly strategic to get an imminent trade done, this seemingly minor move could be something similar. It is something to keep an eye on, but it is also not a move that seems like an obvious indicator of a trade, at least for now.