Minnesota is bringing back Naz Reid and Julius Randle. Nothing dramatic happened at the draft. What if the offseason is over before it really started? Michael Rand addresses that in today’s 10 things to know.
NBA free agency begins at 5 p.m. Monday, but don’t tell that to the Timberwolves.
Their version of free agency seems over already.
Sure, it’s possible that boss Tim Connelly has a stealth move cooking that will shock all of us. But it seems increasingly unlikely that it will come anytime soon. And it’s virtually impossible that it will involve free agency.
The Wolves might as well install a neon sign outside of Target Center that declares in capital letters WE WILL NOT BE A SECOND APRON TEAM given how often they have reiterated that is the plan this year.
Being in that segment of the luxury tax is both expensive and punitive from a roster-building standpoint, the latter providing nice cover to NBA owners who are probably more concerned about the former.
The sign should be portable, of course, since Target Center is not the Wolves’ forever home even while avoiding the second apron will probably be their ongoing strategy in most seasons.
And so the Wolves, who retained the services of Naz Reid (five years, $125 million) and Julius Randle (three years, $100 million) in recent days, very well might have shown us the plan and path for next season already.
With only a couple million dollars to spend before they hit that dreaded second apron and a bevy of young players begging for playing time that Chris Finch is determined to find for them, the likely plan has become the reality.
Seven of their top eight rotation players from a year ago are back. Nickeil Alexander-Walker almost certainly will sign somewhere else. Terrence Shannon Jr., Rob Dillingham and Jaylen Clark will be given a chance to play more prominent roles, as Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday’s Daily Delivery podcast.
The Wolves will find out how well the present meshes with the future and what the next move is in trying to close the gap on Oklahoma City.
Maybe they will figure out a way to bring in another point guard who isn’t either extremely old or young. But my best guess is that their biggest offseason moves have already been made and that free agency is over before it started.
Here are nine more things to know today:
It could be a relatively quiet NBA free agency period in general because few teams have money to spend and many are trying, like the Wolves, to avoid the punitive second apron.
The Wild, on the other hand, have more money to spend on free agents than in any of their penny-pinching recent offseasons. Their problem is that many big-name free agents, particularly centers, are already off the market before NHL free agency starts Tuesday. GM Bill Guerin might be pivoting to a strategy of waiting to make a splash with star power at the trade deadline, which might be both prudent for the organization and frustrating for fans.
The Twins looked like they had something going with a modest three-game winning streak, but another Bailey Ober clunker Saturday wiped out that momentum. Don’t worry, though: The Twins know what’s wrong with Ober. They just aren’t telling us, nor did they figure it out before he gave up 30 earned runs in 30 June innings.
Sunday, meanwhile, the Twins were completely overmatched by Tarik Skubal. There’s no shame in losing to one of the game’s best pitchers, but one feeble hit in seven innings was inept even by their own standards.
The only good news is the Twins finally designated Jonah Bride for assignment after Sunday’s game. Bride’s main contribution was as a mop-up pitcher in blowouts. Though an infielder, he certainly hit like a pitcher this year. His slugging percentage is .188.
As has been the case for the better part of the last 15 years, the Lynx continue to provide the most consistent positive headlines. They are now a WNBA-best 14-2 after blowing out Connecticut on Sunday.
Speaking of the Lynx, retiring Star Tribune beat writer Kent Youngblood is expected to be my guest on Tuesday’s podcast.
The U.S. squad had to sweat even in the temperature controlled environment of U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, but the men advanced to the Gold Cup semifinals on penalty kicks.