NBA Free Agency: Grading all 30 teams on trades and signings
NBA Free Agency Grades: Minnesota Timberwolves
Signings: Karl-Anthony Towns (4 year, $231 million extension); (Kyle Anderson (2 years, $18 million); Austin Rivers (1 year, $2.9 million); Bryn Forbes (1 year, $2.30 million); Taurean Prince (2 year, $16 million extension)
Trades: Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Leandro Bolmaro, Jarred Vanderbilt, Walker Kessler (22nd pick), four first-round picks, pick swap to Utah Jazz for Rudy Gobert
It’s been a busy offseason for the Minnesota Timberwolves, as signing players like Austin Rivers and Bryn Forbes remade their backcourt depth after a strong run into the playoffs last season. Taurean Prince returning for $8 million is an overpay but not one with any real cost to the Timberwolves, and they retain forward depth. Adding Kyle Anderson gives them a rugged defender and all-around glue guy who can fit in different lineups.
Oh, and they sent one of the biggest trade hauls in history to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Rudy Gobert. The “French Rejection” will start at center and move Karl-Anthony Towns, who himself inked a long-term extension this summer, to power forward. The plan is to maximize Towns’ offense while still getting an elite rim protector on the court.
The idea of pairing Gobert and Towns is fine, even if it doesn’t seem optimized for the modern NBA postseason. That being said, a modest trade haul for Gobert would have been a sharp move, buying low on a player who was receiving undue negative flak for the Jazz’ struggles in the postseason the past two seasons.
Instead, they sent three solid veterans, two recent first-round picks and four more first-round picks, three of them unprotected. Add in a pick swap, and you have a trade package that dwarfs anything else sent out in recent years. Is Gobert worth that? He might be, but that kind of a haul signals the Wolves intend to compete for a title. If Anthony Edwards blossoms into a superstar that is in play, but it’s far from the most likely outcome. I love that the Wolves took a swing, but wow they invested a lot in that swing.
Grade: C+