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MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES: STATE OF THE FRANCHISE

State of the Franchise

Projected Cap Space (before luxury tax): $24.7 million

Background: All the bad things started when the Timberwolves tried to be creative and hired sportswriter David Kahn to be their President of Basketball Operations just before the 2009 NBA Draft. Just the year before, they made a draft day trade for PF Kevin Love, who would turn out to be their franchise player. The Timberwolves had three first round picks in that year's draft, two of which they got from the Boston Celtics in return for former franchise PF Kevin Garnett. The three picks they had were the fifth, sixth, and eighteenth. With those respective picks they got Ricky Rubio, Johnny Flynn, and Ty Lawson -- all three point guards. They traded Lawson that night to the Denver Nuggets. Rubio turned out to be a star, but was also injury prone, and Flynn was just a total bust. Looking back at this draft, they realize that they passed on future star players PG Stephen Curry (GSW), SG/SF DeMar DeRozan (TOR), PG Jrue Holiday (NOH), and PG Jeff Teague (ATL). Love turned out to be a superstar, but wasn't surrounded by enough talent to make the playoffs, which led to the firing of David Kahn. And finally, frustrated at the team’s lack of success, Love demanded a trade and ended up with the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Minnesota received the past two first overall picks, PF/SF Anthony Bennett and SG/SF Andrew Wiggins along with PF/SF Thaddeus Young in a three-team trade with Cleveland and Philadelphia. Now, with a ton of young prospects, Minnesota is in a good position for the future, but they could have been much better much earlier.

Current Financial State: Minnesota is currently paying $65 million in contracts and the team is projected to be paying only $52 after this season. Most of their money is being paid to C Nikola Pekovic, who is on a 5 year/$60 million deal. No major money is coming off, but they do have a key free agent in the pass-happy Rubio. One of their major pieces moving forward, rookie SG Andrew Wiggins is still on his rookie deal as well as fellow teammates SF/SG Shabazz Muhammad, Bennett, C Gorgui Dieng, and PG/SG Zach LaVine. As a rebuilding team, it is key that they have this cap flexibility as it will help them in the future with trades and/or free agency. To free up some cap space and minutes for their young players, Minnesota will try to trade some of their veterans on deals that go past this year in exchange for more prospects and draft picks.

Targets: In their current rebuilding state, Minnesota is very unlikely to go after a big name free agent this year. They have no interest in winning right now, they have little attractiveness, and they are a small market team. However, they do have a free agent of their own to sign in PG Ricky Rubio. Rubio is coming off his current $5 million rookie-deal, and is obviously due for a raise. He has reportedly asked for a "Stephen Curry" deal, which is a 5 year/$55 million contract. However, due to his injury history, they are unlikely to sign him to a five year deal. He will likely receive something around a 4 year/$44 million deal. Some players they will be looking to move are Pekovic, PG Mo Williams, and Young. One team that could be interested in Pekovic is the Phoenix Suns. They are a team trying to compete, with a strong need for help at C and low-post scoring, and have plenty of young players to offer. A likely package for Pekovic would be C Miles Plumlee, rookie SF TJ Warren, recently acquired PF/C Brandan Wright's expiring contract, and Minnesota's own first round pick in exchange for the Montenegrin big man. In the state that they are in, Minnesota would greatly benefit from this combination of cap relief, young prospects and getting their pick back. One team that could be interested in Young is the Sacramento Kings. They have been looking for a PF to pair with superstar C DeMarcus Cousins and they have plenty to offer to Minnesota. The Timberwolves will look to receive the expiring contract of PF Derrick Williams, rookie SG Nik Stauskas, and a second round pick. Williams' contract would come off the books after this year and in Stauskas they would get another young prospect to evaluate.

The Fit: Rubio's style of play has very frequently drawn comparisons to that of Rajon Rondo. They are both guards who play good defense, lack shooting touch, and assist anyone who is on the floor. Rubio is a crafty point guard who can set up any of his teammates. His style of play is perfect for running an offense and if his comparisons to Rondo hold to be true, we have seen how perfectly Rondo runs his offense. His defense can help take pressure off the other guard while his lack of offensive scoring can be compensated by Wiggins' scoring mentality. When healthy, the Spanish playmaker has shown that he can be productive and helpful, and so Minnesota should be looking to keep their point guard in town. Miles Plumlee is a young center who has potential for Minnesota, as he can compete for minutes down low with Dieng. TJ Warren can score at will and has a very high ceiling, but will end up being a long-term project for Minnesota. His shooting ability will help space the floor with Rubio's deficiency in that department. Brandan Wright is a very efficient shooter and will play minutes off the bench behind Bennett and Dieng. Stauskas fits in Minnesota because of his shooting stroke. His ability to space the floor off the bench will also prove to be useful given Rubio's inability to shoot from deep. Derrick Williams can fill in for Young at PF and although he doesn't have much range either, he can provide some scoring from the PF position. Though they lack star power at the moment, they shouldn’t in a few years as Minnesota’s prospects, namely Wiggins, develop.
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