With the measly spending power of a minimum contract, the Minnesota Timberwolves were always going to have a tricky time filling their power forward void in free agency.
While it's been a fairly slow free agency thus far, some notable power forwards have already signed elsewhere, and looking at their deals, Minnesota never stood a chance. Specifically, Dean Wade signed a four-year $39 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers and John Collins signed a three-year $51 million deal with the Detroit Pistons. Furthermore, while an official deal isn't in place, Sandro Mamukelashvili is expected to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers per Jake Fischer.
Now, there are technically still some other options -- Minnesota is interested in LeBron James, and Rui Hachimura, Tobias Harris and Jonathan Kuminga all remain unsigned. However, signing James is a long shot, plus given the contracts that Wade and Collins earned, Hachimura, Harris and Kuminga will likely be out of their price range.
The Timberwolves' remaining options
Given the players who are off the market, Kenrich Williams and Marvin Bagley appear to be the Wolves' realistic vet-minimum targets.
Bringing back Kyle Anderson is an internal solution, but his lack of floor spacing is highly problematic. I like Anderson's game, but he can't be their lone power forward solution.
Frankly, Williams and Bagley might not be big names, but they have proven they can be rotation-level contributors, and that's what the Wolves should be searching for. Jaden McDaniels can start at the four, and you bring one of these players off the bench.
Williams would be my preference given his blend of shooting, connectivity and toughness, but Bagley isn't a bad option either.
While these players seem like realistic targets for now, it's fair to wonder if the Timberwolves' lack of spending power will hurt them again. No, Williams and Bagley will not earn contracts as lucrative as Collins' or even Wade's. However, why couldn't they earn a bi-annual exception or the taxpayer mid-level deal?
For now, these two are realistic targets, but my point is that they might be priced out of Minnesota's plans at the end of the day.
If this happens, the Wolves would likely have to shift their attention to the trade market in a deal centered around Josh Green and (possibly) Terrence Shannon Jr. Obi Toppin and P.J. Washington would be my ideal targets, but that would require TSJ to be in the trade. Dorian Finney-Smith is a lower-end target in a pure swap for Green.
Another option could be waiving and stretching Green. This could allow the Wolves to sign one of the free agent targets I previously ruled out.
The problem is that the Wolves would have to pay him for three years. Waiving and stretching Green would give them $4.8 million in dead money for the next three years. That doesn't sound like a lot, but given the Wolves' high payroll, some extra dead money is the last thing they need, even if it helps them sign a free agent.
Tim Connelly can't be happy with the current forward depth, and best believe he'll find a creative solution one way or another.
