Seated behind a microphone on media day, Tim Connelly was asked about Mike Conley’s future in a Minnesota Timberwolves uniform. He made it known that the plan moving forward was to have the 36-year-old guard, who was entering his 16th season in the NBA, retire in the Twin Cities.
“When we got Mike, our goal was for [Minnesota] to be the last spot,” Connelly explained. “You never know how things are going to develop, but we didn’t get Mike to just be a short-term thing. When you get someone as special as Mike, you want to ensure that he doesn’t leave here.”
On Monday afternoon, Minnesota’s front office’s goal became more of a reality. Shams Charania of The Athletic and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Conley agreed to a two-year, $20,750,000 million extension with the Timberwolves. The two sides came to an agreement during the All-Star break following weeks of back-and-forth discussions.
Conley is in the middle of his second season in Minnesota and has become an integral part of the team while he tries to keep Father Time an arm’s length away. He’s averaging 10.6 points, his lowest mark since his rookie season in 2007-08. However, Conley is dolling out 6.4 assists per game with a 6.08 assist-to-turnover rating (second-best league-wide) and is shooting a career-best 44.2% from deep on 5.2 attempts in 28.9 minutes. He has been the stabilizer, the conductor, and the glue holding the number one-seeded Timberwolves together.
Conley’s high-level and ridiculously efficient play is a heightened carry-over of what we saw from the veteran guard last season. Connelly and his staff would have been foolish not to seek an extension with the summer rapidly approaching. However, considering the Wolves’ impending cap issues, it wasn’t certain that they would lock up Minnesota Mike.
Conley is in the final season of a three-year, $68 million contract he inked with the Utah Jazz in 2020. Before Monday’s news, he was set to enter free agency this summer after making $24.4 million this season. The aging floor general would get less than that annual number for his next contract. But because of his stellar play and importance to the No. 1 seed in the West, his skillset is arguably still worth around that figure. We didn’t know if Conley would sacrifice to make an extension work. However, he was content with letting money and future power go by the wayside to be part of a successful team.
Conley will make around $10,375,000 million annually over the next two seasons, a hometown discount. KSTP’s Darren Wolfson also reported that Mike will not have any trade leverage. Despite the incredibly team-friendly deal, the Wolves are still entering unavoidable financial limitations as the roster becomes more expensive.
According to Spotrac, the Wolves currently have nine players under contract for the 2024-25 season, ten if they decide to guarantee Josh Minott’s $2 million salary, which is likely.
Minnesota’s active roster cap for the 2024-25 season will be $186,005,224 following the estimated and confirmed numbers above, which is well above the first apron of the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement and just $2,618,706 below the second apron. However, that is only nine players, and the Wolves will need to get that number up to 14 before the start of the season, putting them above the second apron.
The Wolves will incur severe penalties by going above the first apron, and going above the second brings even more – it’s a place no team wants to be in. However, it seems like Minnesota cannot avoid going over the second apron, barring a big trade to shake things up or something of that nature.
Penalties for going over the first apron via as.com:
- Teams cannot acquire a player in a sign-and-trade if that player keeps them above the apron.
- Salary matching in trades must be within 110 percent rather than 125 percent for teams not above the apron.
- Teams cannot sign a player who was waived during the regular season whose salary was over the $12.2 million midlevel exception.
Penalties for going over the second apron:
- Teams cannot include cash in a trade.
- First-round picks seven years out are frozen (unable to be traded).
- Teams cannot use a trade exception generated by aggregating the salaries of multiple players.
- Teams cannot use a trade exception generated in a prior year.
- A team’s first-round pick is moved to the end of the first round if they remain in the second apron for three out of five seasons.
It’s always been expensive to build a winning team, and the front office isn’t afraid to spend money to make a deep postseason push. After Monday’s news, even more choices will await Minnesota’s front office this summer. Regardless, Conley’s extension is an incredibly positive thing. Not only do the Wolves wrap up one of their best point guards in franchise history for the foreseeable future, but they also make it known that Minnesota is a place where players are willing to make sacrifices to stick around and be a part of something special. The word is out, and the seal is stamped – the Wolves’ future is bright.
