The Minnesota Timberwolves, who just finished an incredible season, are in a similar situation to many other teams in the league as they approach the draft and free agency phase.
Naturally, their goal is to continue improving upon their current success and leveling up a team that won 56 games in the Western Conference and dominated defense the whole season.
The Boston Celtics team that just won a championship is a great model to follow when it comes to team building. Their President, Brad Stevens, did not stay complacent after multiple conference finals defeats and a loss in the NBA Finals.
He stayed aggressive and kept adding pieces, landing the Celtics high-level role players like Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis; additions that ultimately got them to the NBA mountaintop.
But as the Timberwolves also look to stay ambitious in their moves, they will be running into a problem: the second apron restrictions of the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
It has been brought up a multitude of times when discussing Minnesota’s offseason, but the gist of the situation is that the Wolves have an extremely high payroll and it will be difficult for them to significantly upgrade their roster.
Looking at Minnesota’s payroll for next season, Karl-Anthony Towns’ contract is one aspect that stands out as particularly important. His new deal is kicking in next year, meaning he will be getting paid $49.2 million. Add that to Rudy Gobert’s $43.8 million salary, Anthony Edwards’ $45.6 mil and Jaden McDaniels’ $24.3 mil, and the Wolves will easily be a second-apron team.
Their options for spending will be severely restricted, and they will be limited to signing players to minimum contracts. Running the roster from last year back becomes Minnesota’s sole viable choice as a result. They had too good of a season to go and destroy their core in order to move away a significant element.
Whether Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore or Glen Taylor end up at the helm of the Timberwolves’ ownership next season, either party will likely be interested in cutting costs to free up flexibility for the team going forward. But at least for now, they can not do that without moving one of this team’s key players and upsetting the fanbase in the process.
Even while it would be ideal to have more elite scorers on this squad to increase their chances of winning a title this year, the Wolves will probably have to attempt it again with this same lineup. It goes without saying that what transpires this upcoming season will have a significant impact on who stays and who leaves in the future.
