Minnesota Timberwolves: 2016 Offseason Grades
Hello Hill
The addition of Cole Aldrich probably means Jordan Hill will play some of his minutes as a backup 4, but whether they’re battling for minutes at the 5, splitting time on a night-to-night basis or simply plugging Hill in at the 4, the Wolves added yet another decent player to their frontcourt.
Coming off a season with the Indiana Pacers in which he averaged 8.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, Hill agreed to a two-year, $8.2 million deal to join Minnesota. The second year of his deal is non-guaranteed, and that’s a minuscule price to pay for a decent backup/third string big at this point anyway.
However, it’s very easy to wonder how the rotation will work given how crowded the frontcourt got this summer.
Very bullish on Wolves, but just realized they added both Aldrich & Jordan Hill, w/ Towns, Pek, Dieng, & KG already on the roster. Bizarre.
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) July 27, 2016
With Towns, Dieng, Pekovic, KG, Aldrich and Hill all capable of playing minutes at the 5, not to mention Nemanja Bjelica and Adreian Payne at the 4, it’ll be interesting to see how this frontcourt shakes out.
That being said, all of those bodies are unlikely to make it through a full 82-game season. Pekovic has played 12, 31 and 54 games in the last three seasons; Garnett is contemplating retirement and only played in 14.6 minutes per game over 38 appearances last season; KAT played most of his minutes at the 4; and Aldrich and Hill give the Wolves options.
If KG retires and/or Pek gets traded or injured, Minnesota will be better off for having both Aldrich and Hill as options off the bench. If not, this signing will feel a tad bizarre, but it won’t be a costly one either.
Grade: C
Next: Bringing Aboard Brandon