For much of last season, Bones Hyland was a feel-good story for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He entered the season pretty much as an afterthought for the fan base after he played just 17 minutes for them the year before in four games after signing a two-way contract in February of 2025.
Instead, Hyland often provided instant offense off the bench for a team that was without much production from their reserves for the majority of the year.
Then came the playoffs. Bones was decent against the Denver Nuggets, his former team, in the opening round. It ended with a rough Game 6, though, and then he didn’t score in Game 1 versus the San Antonio Spurs. Chris Finch took him out of the rotation (Hyland did see garbage time), and it was especially rough because Bones was going to enter free agency in the offseason.
The Timberwolves re-signed Hyland 23 minutes after free agency kicked off. It was a one-year minimum contract, and it’s easy to think that Bones may have cost himself millions with that subpar playoff run.
Hyland’s postseason struggles may have cost him millions
Turning 26 years old on September 24, the Wolves are Hyland’s third NBA team. The first two teams he played for, the Nuggets and the Los Angeles Clippers, also saw inefficient scoring postseasons from the 6-foot-2 guard.
After an 0-for-6 shooting performance in the opener against San Antonio, Hyland would make just 1 field goal over 10 more attempts for the rest of the series. For the 2026 playoffs, he shot 15-50 (30%) from the field and 9-34 (26.5 percent) on 3-point tries.
That clearly isn’t good, but it’s not all that much worse than his previous postseason experiences. Hyland played in the 2022 playoffs with Denver as well as in 2023 and 2024 with the Clippers. He now owns a 33.6 field goal, and 28.0 3-point percentage in his playoff career.
Bones was trending toward his highest salary after making just over $13 million over his first five seasons. He had six games of at least 20 points and another six of at least 17 off the bench in 2025-26. Instead, he will receive another minimum deal.
At least Hyland didn’t have to wait long to receive a contract. He didn’t re-sign until September 15 last year.
Unfortunately for him, he may have lost millions after yet another disappointing playoff run. Perhaps he can make some of it back with 'Twin Turbos' merchandise sales, the nickname given to him and Ayo Dosunmu.
