Without a doubt, the Minnesota Timberwolves need to upgrade their roster on the trade market and re-sign Ayo Dosunmu this offseason. While there's plenty of optimism around the latter, fans might have been caught off guard when Chicago Bulls analyst Kendall Gill said that Ayo could be open to a reunion with the Bulls.
Now, thankfully, Marc Stein confirmed that the Wolves remain determined to re-sign Dosunmu. However, he also noted that they'll likely have to shed salary elsewhere.
"Sources likewise describe Minnesota as very motivated to re-sign Ayo Dosunmu even though doing so will almost certainly force the Timberwolves to shed some salary elsewhere," Stein wrote.
Currently, the Wolves are $30 million below the second tax apron, but that's before re-signing Ayo (whose contract will at least take up half, possibly more of this space). Furthermore, they have six other free agents and a first-round pick.
Given this, it's always made sense that the Wolves will have to save money elsewhere to re-sign Ayo. Nevertheless, seeing this be reported adds some real validity to this possibility and it makes the Wolves' chances of trading for a star even more challenging.
Can the Timberwolves save money and improve their roster?
The Timberwolves' presumed top trade candidates are Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert. From a pure financial perspective, these two players are the Wolves' best chance to shed salary.
All the same, the hope among Wolves fans is that at least one of these veteran big men will be traded for a needle-moving player.
After this update, it's not impossible that this direction still happens, but it seems likely that at least one of the possible Randle or Gobert trades will be used to free up money.
Now, is there a path for the Wolves to improve their roster while saving money? Yes, I think there is. If you've read my work a lot, you might not be surprised that I'm bringing this scenario up: the Wolves should pursue a Randle-Nic Claxton swap.
Technically, the Brooklyn Nets would also have to include one of Ziare Williams or Noah Clowney for this trade to work. Regardless, the Wolves could save between $3.8 million and $4.6 million. From there, the Wolves could trade Rudy for a guard.
Surely a lead guard next to Anthony Edwards is a major need.
The Wolves could look to simply match salaries in such a deal. Trading Gobert for Dejounte Murray or Jalen Suggs could actually save the Wolves money. However, Suggs would likely have to be acquired in a three-team deal and if other teams don't want to take on more money, matching salaries is likely necessary.
Just because there are possibilities for the Wolves to save money and improve doesn't mean this will happen and the moves outlined aren't for game-changing stars. I would argue that building a team that complements Ant regardless of star power should be the goal, but plenty of fans want the Wolves to trade for the biggest name possible.
If the Wolves are laser-focused on clearing cap and/or someone like Claxton isn't available for that price, they might have to focus on a move that purely upgrades depth for Randle. Plus, it's unclear if the Wolves will need to open up more than $4.6 million.
I would also like to point out that trading for a high-salary player like Ja Morant (even if you are salary- matching with multiple contracts) would subsequently require a major cost-cutting move involving the other big man.
It's also worth noting that Sam Amick of The Athletic predicted that Randle will stay in Minnesota since he doesn't see a pathway for the Wolves to trade him.
While I still think the Wolves will trade him, it may be in a pure depth/cap-clearing move, especially since his market is likely limited.
In this scenario, the Wolves could still trade Gobert, hopefully for a lead guard. But that begs the question: who would the Wolves' starting center be?
Another unfortunate scenario is that the Wolves add in Donte DiVincenzo's expiring $12.5 million contract either in addition to a Randle/Gobert trade or in a separate cost-cutting move. With DiVincenzo recovering from an injury, trading him feels wrong, but it's a possibility that has to be flagged given the Wolves' desire to open up cap flexibility.
Ultimately, while I still do think there are some paths for the Wolves to improve while saving money, things will certainly be tricky and this update makes landing a true star even more difficult for Minnesota.
