Who else has taken notice of the Los Angeles Lakers signing every free agent available on the market? What about some of the top names on the market, like Chris Paul and Mike Conley Jr. going back to the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz? Given how free agency has gone so far, this was the right offseason not to have money to spend. That’s a good thing if you’re the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Suns booted the Lakers from Round 1 of the playoffs, and the anti-LeBron fans had a field day with it. But what has transpired in free agency is a nightmare scenario for that group. So far, L.A. has traded for Russell Westbrook while also signing: Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza, Kent Bazemore, Wayne Ellington, Malik Monk, Carmelo Anthony, Talen Horton-Tucker, and Kendrick Nunn. Some are veterans signing affordable deals, but others like Nunn and Monk are in their 20s and are taking pay cuts to try and get a ring.
Make no mistake about it, the Timberwolves can rarely acquire top-tier talent on the free-agent market. It’s not anything against Minnesota or Minneapolis; it’s just the way of the league. The stars usually head to Los Angeles or Miami or New York or join an already well-established group as the Golden State Warriors have. But, where the Wolves can make their mark in most years is with those second- and third-tier names. And a majority of the lower-tier free agents are signing with the Lakers, Brooklyn Nets (Patty Mills), Miami Heat (P.J. Tucker), New York Knicks (Evan Fournier), and other big-market teams this offseason. It’s not any fun when your team doesn’t have cap space, but the Wolves aren’t missing out on much so far.
As for the top-tier names in this class, it’s pretty thin. CP3 is going back to the Suns, Conley back to the Jazz, and even though Kawhi Leonard opted out of his deal with the LA Clippers, there isn’t any sign yet that he’s looking to leave L.A.
The market for proven star talent is small in this free agency class. The biggest splash was the Chicago Bulls acquiring both Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan in separate sign-and-trade deals.
How do the Wolves factor in? When there is more chaos with big names leaving their current team for another, it often can help a franchise like Minnesota that doesn’t land those big names. More chaos leads to more panicking and more teams flinging anything at the wall in hopes of it sticking.
So, a team like the Wolves can jump in and be a second or third team facilitator in sign-and-trade deals and land themselves some quality players. Or when a star leaves one organization for another, a fire sale often ensues. Recent examples would include the Houston Rockets when they traded James Harden to Brooklyn and when the Oklahoma City Thunder traded away Westbrook and Paul George a few years ago. Both franchises went into a full rebuild and sold off many other pieces to anyone willing to wheel and deal.
That hasn’t happened this offseason, though, because Paul and Conley, and likely Leonard, are all staying put, and those were three of the top names available. This has been one of the quietest off-seasons in recent memory: Outside of the two moves by the Bulls, there hasn’t been much unless Kyle Lowry to the Heat moves the needle for anyone.
Gersson Rosas made it clear that if the Wolves are active in the offseason, it will be via trades. That can still happen for Minnesota, and the sorts of trades that may intrigue them usually come after the first wave or two of free agency when teams have a better grasp and a clearer picture of how things are taking form. Riding in stealth mode like the Timberwolves are right now isn’t a bad thing.
Obviously, every team would love to have as much cap space as possible to splurge and enjoy free agency and the offseason. This free agency class has been fairly status-quo, though. Look at the Knicks: They had over $50 million to spend this summer, right at the top for most in the league. They spent most of it in a two-day stretch by bringing back Derrick Rose, Nerlens Noel, Alec Burks, and Taj Gibson. They scooped up Fournier, but this summer hasn’t produced many fireworks, even for a big market with all that space.
Hopefully, Rosas and the Wolves are better positioned to be as active as possible in free agency in the years to come. But for this summer, they aren’t missing much, making it the right time to be strapped to the cap if there ever were such a year.
