3 Minnesota Timberwolves questions after Jeff Teague trade

3. Just … why?

Right, so, go back and look at that trade for a second (I know, tedious, but could you do it pretty please). At first glance, it really looks like the Minnesota Timberwolves massively overpaid for a guy approaching his 30s whose best attribute is probably the fact that he’s a solid at best 3-point shooter. It really seems confusing at first.

But it’s not about Allen Crabbe. This trade was never about him. It’s about the two other things that Minnesota got with Crabbe in this trade; the first being an empty roster spot.

Truthfully, the Timberwolves probably would’ve traded Jeff Teague for a handful of magic beans and a wish upon a star at this point. It was clear that Jarrett Culver is already being primed to take his spot and the almost $20 million a year Minnesota was paying him was starting to look really bad.

That open roster spot means that the Timberwolves have a little bit of room to maneuver during the last few weeks before the trade deadline.

But this trade was about something else too and it’s not getting ton of attention right now. This trade was getting closer to the one thing that a team who it looks like is about to go through another minor rebuild desperately needs.

The Timberwolves cleared over $4 million in cap space.

Now, admittedly the number doesn’t sound like a lot, but every bit of space counts when you need to make another big move to secure your franchise for the next time they’re down their biggest star for over a month.

But going back to that empty spot …