2023 Free Agency

[moss_is_1]

Read on Twitter

As expected, Nate Knight gone.

Think he could be a decent player, but clearly don't have room for him. I think we need a big center on the roster, we saw when Rudy was banged up or off the floor we struggled. Nate is too similar to Naz or Kat.

[TimberKat]

We need 3pt shooting and already have 7 players locked (Gobert, Towns, Ant, JMcD, Naz, Conley, KA). Realistically only 2 more will get play time. So the strategy would by quality over quantity. Now that Barnes is gone. Is Gordon the next best 3pt shooter available? Jevon Carter seems to have nice stats but haven't watch him play. I would expect the 2nd year or rookies play a few mins also.

[Domejandro]

Read on Twitter

As expected, Nate Knight gone.

Think he could be a decent player, but clearly don't have room for him. I think we need a big center on the roster, we saw when Rudy was banged up or off the floor we struggled. Nate is too similar to Naz or Kat.

I knew that Nathan Knight was gone the minute that I watched him get on the floor during scrub Playoff minutes and proceed to not run back on defense and play hard. He ended up getting benched for that lack of effort, he earned getting waived.

[Klomp]

Very surprising opt-in for Josh Hart.
Must not have thought there was a team that would give him more than the MLE.

It would be nice to see the breakdowns of teams that can actually use the full MLE.
There might be a smaller than usual number of those available this year.

Guessing we didn't offer NAW a tender because we were afraid he would sign it.
If we make a 10 mil+ MLE signing, hard to see him back unless there really is no market for him.
That player also potentially cuts into his role, making signing with us less appealing.

I would prefer a really solid 10 mil+ player to 2 weaker players splitting that money, even if one is NAW, as long as that player can play backup PG. Don't really see that player though. Divencenzo, not a big believer. He had a horrid shooting year the year prior.
Brown is not a PG and will attract a lot of interested teams.

NAW still has an underdeveloped offensive game, maybe that will keep him from getting paid in the 5 mil+ range.
I really hope we can work out a reasonable deal to bring him back, losing him would leave a big hole at backup shooting guard too.
I really love the potential of the ability to stagger him and Jaden so one of them is always on the court to guard the other team's top perimeter scorer.

What if we brought back NAW and Prince on smaller deals and signed a backup PG for 3-4 mil?

NAW, Prince, and Jevon Carter all for 4 mil per each?

I'm not necessarily worried about "is he a point guard" but rather "can he be a threat both with and without the ball". DiVincenzo absolutely fits that. NAW does too.

Look back at the draft reaction. I think a lot of the commentary still fits him today.

Watch on YouTube

[Norseman79]

So...

PG Conley, ???, ???
SG Edwards, ???, Moore
SF McDaniels, ???, Minott
PF Towns, Anderson, Miller
C. Gobert, Reid, ???

So, realistically need about 5 players, including 3 legit backups at the 1-3.

Let's play pessimist...

PG - Smith Jr
SG - Brown Jr
SF - McDaniels

C Garza (2way)
PG Nkilitina

Plugged back in

PG Conley Jr, Smith Jr, Nkilitina
SG Edwards, Brown Jr, Moore
SF McDaniels, McDaniels, Minott
PF Towns, Anderson, Miller
C. Gobert, Reid, Garza

How would you feel?

[KGdaBom]

Very surprising opt-in for Josh Hart.
Must not have thought there was a team that would give him more than the MLE.

It would be nice to see the breakdowns of teams that can actually use the full MLE.
There might be a smaller than usual number of those available this year.

Guessing we didn't offer NAW a tender because we were afraid he would sign it.
If we make a 10 mil+ MLE signing, hard to see him back unless there really is no market for him.
That player also potentially cuts into his role, making signing with us less appealing.

I would prefer a really solid 10 mil+ player to 2 weaker players splitting that money, even if one is NAW, as long as that player can play backup PG. Don't really see that player though. Divencenzo, not a big believer. He had a horrid shooting year the year prior.
Brown is not a PG and will attract a lot of interested teams.

NAW still has an underdeveloped offensive game, maybe that will keep him from getting paid in the 5 mil+ range.
I really hope we can work out a reasonable deal to bring him back, losing him would leave a big hole at backup shooting guard too.
I really love the potential of the ability to stagger him and Jaden so one of them is always on the court to guard the other team's top perimeter scorer.

What if we brought back NAW and Prince on smaller deals and signed a backup PG for 3-4 mil?

NAW, Prince, and Jevon Carter all for 4 mil per each?

I'm not necessarily worried about "is he a point guard" but rather "can he be a threat both with and without the ball". DiVincenzo absolutely fits that. NAW does too.

Look back at the draft reaction. I think a lot of the commentary still fits him today.

Watch on YouTube

Nice video. I would be happy to add him to our team.

[KGdaBom]

So...

PG Conley, ???, ???
SG Edwards, ???, Moore
SF McDaniels, ???, Minott
PF Towns, Anderson, Miller
C. Gobert, Reid, ???

So, realistically need about 5 players, including 3 legit backups at the 1-3.

Let's play pessimist...

PG - Smith Jr
SG - Brown Jr
SF - McDaniels

C Garza (2way)
PG Nkilitina

Plugged back in

PG Conley Jr, Smith Jr, Nkilitina
SG Edwards, Brown Jr, Moore
SF McDaniels, McDaniels, Minott
PF Towns, Anderson, Miller
C. Gobert, Reid, Garza

How would you feel?

I'm hoping for better.

[wolves_89]

It's going to be a very interesting next couple of days for the Wolves. Connelly had the option to be safe and bring back Prince/NAW to fill out the top 9 in the rotation, instead he's going after what I have to assume are upgrades. We need to sign 3 guys in free agency that will be the 8th, 9th, and maybe 10th rotation players. It pretty much has to be free agency since there is no good way to salary match in a trade.

[thinktank]

If Denver misses out on Brown, I believe they’re going after Carter and NAW.

I hope Connelly has this figured out.

[Domejandro]

Read on Twitter

[shrink]

$14,000 under the lux is not enough, unless you want to forego the use of 10-day contracts, with 2-way players.

It looks like Dane has Connelly locking up Miller on the new, multi-year second round exception, which I like.

It’s nice to know we could be a team who could offer the full MLE, and that’s a nice tool to have entering free agency. However, I think it’s more likely that we keep a little more space under the lux, and maybe use less of that remaining $12.4 to maybe bring back NAW and upgrade the new vet min player we’d bring in. Possibly even add a 15th vet min slot. It probably all depends on how much a PG will cost us.

[minimus]

$14,000 under the lux is not enough, unless you want to forego the use of 10-day contracts, with 2-way players.

It looks like Dane has Connelly locking up Miller on the new, multi-year second round exception, which I like.

It’s nice to know we could be a team who could offer the full MLE, and that’s a nice tool to have entering free agency. However, I think it’s more likely that we keep a little more space under the lux, and maybe use less of that remaining $12.4 to maybe bring back NAW and upgrade the new vet min player we’d bring in. Possibly even add a 15th vet min slot. It probably all depends on how much a PG will cost us.

Do want once again to zig, while others making zag? (I dont remember actual quote from Finch)

I mean we will enter aggressively FA market with full MLE, when many other teams try to keep / re-sign own FAs?

[Battletrigger]

Is there an outside chance that they actually think Moore and Minott are ready to be the backup 2&3? And are trying to load up for a backup point guard?

That would be a petty massive gamble to be counting on two players that have a combined 250 NBA minutes under their belts.

If it's Taylor running the show, I would say they just want to save money and put the new guys out there. But this time I think they are thinking big, maybe like Barnes or some full MLE guy.

I didn't see here, but there was a report that the Naz signing came after a Taylor call, TC was millions apart of the offer he finally gave to Naz

[Note30]

That would be a petty massive gamble to be counting on two players that have a combined 250 NBA minutes under their belts.

If it's Taylor running the show, I would say they just want to save money and put the new guys out there. But this time I think they are thinking big, maybe like Barnes or some full MLE guy.

I didn't see here, but there was a report that the Naz signing came after a Taylor call, TC was millions apart of the offer he finally gave to Naz

So if Taylor hadn't stepped in we would have lost Naz at $14M a year?

[shrink]

If it's Taylor running the show, I would say they just want to save money and put the new guys out there. But this time I think they are thinking big, maybe like Barnes or some full MLE guy.

I didn't see here, but there was a report that the Naz signing came after a Taylor call, TC was millions apart of the offer he finally gave to Naz

So if Taylor hadn't stepped in we would have lost Naz at $14M a year?

Maybe. The NBA hadn’t reached free agency, so other teams technically couldn’t make him an offer. Now, in the real world, there is probably a lot of unofficial tampering, but unlikely that a team is going to tamper too hard for a player of Naz’ level, with increased scrutiny right now around the NBA. It’s quite possible a team like San Antonio might have offered Naz $17 a year, which would be too rich for MIN.

Both sides probably deserve credit here. Yes, as Jonny K wrote, Taylor’s voice came from on high, and said, “Get it done.” And the final deal contains a player option in year 3, so Naz can get back on the market sooner. However, Naz had waited all season to reach free agency, only to miss it a few days away? And the number he took could be lower than other teams would have given him - we’ll never know - but generally players in Naz’ shoes need to chase the money. The bottom line here is that Naz liked MIN, liked Finch, and liked his teammates, and he preferred to stay. One podcaster pointed out that this may indicate a change in the franchise’s culture, since generally players are happy to leave, and often don’t want to come to Minnesota in the first place.

[minimus]

Okay, it was reported MIN interest for following players:

Eric Gordon (still an elite shooter, little defense, injury risk)
Bruce Brown (how will he perform without Jokic?)
DDV (elite defense, inconsistent jumper)
NAW (elite defense, inconsistent jumper)
Jevon Carter (good PoA defense, good 3PT shooter)
Monte Morris (zero chance after TP was waived)
Delonte Wright (zero chance after TP was waived)
LeVert (some playmaking, little defense, injury risk, inconsistent jumper)
TP (good 3PT shooter, active defender but below average defender, poor rebounder, a lot of unnecessary fouls and turnovers)

---

I would be happy if we end up with:

Watanabe 12mil / 3 yrs (Vando deal)
Jevon Carter 9 ml / 2 yrs (old DDV deal)
NAW 15 mil / 3 yrs

C Gobert, Reid, Garza
PF Towns, Anderson, Miller
SF McDaniels, Watanabe, Minott
SG Edwards, NAW, Moore
PG Conley Jr, Carter, NAW

This roster can play lockdown defense AND they can shoot good enough to be top10 offense. Being top5 defense and top10 offense is an identity I would love to have here in MIN.

[Note30]

Okay, it was reported MIN interest for following players:

Eric Gordon (still an elite shooter, little defense, injury risk)
Bruce Brown (how will he perform without Jokic?)
DDV (elite defense, inconsistent jumper)
NAW (elite defense, inconsistent jumper)
Jevon Carter (good PoA defense, good 3PT shooter)
Monte Morris (zero chance after TP was waived)
Delonte Wright (zero chance after TP was waived)
LeVert (some playmaking, little defense, injury risk, inconsistent jumper)
TP (good 3PT shooter, active defender but below average defender, poor rebounder, a lot of unnecessary fouls and turnovers)

---

I would be happy if we end up with:

Watanabe 12mil / 3 yrs (Vando deal)
Jevon Carter 9 ml / 2 yrs (old DDV deal)
NAW 15 mil / 3 yrs

C Gobert, Reid, Garza
PF Towns, Anderson, Miller
SF McDaniels, Watanabe, Minott
SG Edwards, NAW, Moore
PG Conley Jr, Carter, NAW

This roster can play lockdown defense AND they can shoot good enough to be top10 offense. Being top5 defense and top10 offense is an identity I would love to have here in MIN.

Is Clark in the GLeague?

[minimus]

Is Clark in the GLeague?

He said he will resume playing in 2024, so I doubt we can count on him this season

[Note30]

Is Clark in the GLeague?

He said he will resume playing in 2024, so I doubt we can count on him this season

Does that also mean he remains unsigned tho?

[minimus]

Is Clark in the GLeague?

He said he will resume playing in 2024, so I doubt we can count on him this season

Does that also mean he remains unsigned tho?

No, I think he will be signed in some form... I have seen two variants standard NBA contract for 2nd rounder with Gupta specail structure and two-way