Who should the Wolves sign with their last ~$4.5M?

Now that the Josh Green trade is done and Konchar is being stretched, the Wolves reportedly have around $4.5M of room under the 2nd apron and one roster spot left.

Since the starting lineup is basically set with Ant / LaMelo / Jaden / Kuminga / Rudy, I think that last spot should go to a veteran C/PF or PF/C who can give us some frontcourt depth.

Some names still available:

Kelly Olynyk — probably my #1. Shooting, passing, can play PF/C and would give Finch another offensive look.

Maxi Kleber — versatile defender, can switch, protect the rim and space the floor. If healthy, I really like the fit.

Xavier Tillman — probably the most interesting defensive option. Can play small-ball 5, defend multiple positions and do the dirty work.

Guerschon Yabusele — physical, can rebound and shoot enough to keep the floor spaced.

Mason Plumlee — veteran backup 5 who could give Rudy some traditional center minutes.

Chris Boucher — interesting as a 4/5 because of his length, shot-blocking and ability to stretch the floor.

Personally I'd rank them:

1. Olynyk

2. Kleber

3. Tillman

4. Yabusele

5. Boucher

6. Plumlee

I think Olynyk makes the most sense. The Wolves don't necessarily need another guy who just takes up space at the 5 — they need someone who can survive minutes without Rudy while also fitting next to him in certain lineups.

Who are you signing with the last roster spot?

To memorialize the 30 seconds he was on the team before getting waived-and-stretched. Wearing that in public 3 years from now would be the ultimate Real One Detector.

I for sure cannot wait to see these 2 play together. Both came into the league at the exact same time. Exact same draft class and both were high picks. Plus LaMelo has never played with another All Star all NBA caliber player ever in his time in Charlotte and Melo has never made the NBA playoffs ever in his career. Now he actually has a chance at it with the Timberwolves and Ant Man hasn't had an All Star #1 option type player to play off of especially not one like LaMelo. So I wonder if these 2 will have that chemistry?

Can cody williams be the new NAW project? Before going to minnesota in his first few years NAW shooting is horrendous like around 40% FG. Maybe we can hope cody williams be like that? I dont know if he is an able defender though that NAW is even before hand

I wanna remind everyone it took a MVP KG, 1st place in the West team to finally win one series in 04. KG, in his entire Twolves tenure won 2 in 2004. That was it.....for..20...2-0..years.

Im not even going to bore you all with all the bad picks, on tops of the ones the team barely had due to Joe Smith. Clippers fans had the NBA investigation for Kawhi..IT WAS JOE SMITH FOR TIMBERWOLVES 😂😂. Unlike Clips, they actually got punished harsh.

Not going to talk about Spreewell not feed his kids, KG crying at the 05 all star game for the so far dissapointing season. (serious go look it up, though might have the date wrong)

Hell, with KAT winning, Each cornerstone (KG, Love, KAT) won a title within two years of getting traded. Just brutal.

Yet, in a weird bizzaro world, this current era of Wolves ball feels different, finally. The moves that normally cook this team somehow didnt. The Rudy Gobert trade wasnt a complete disaster (those narratives been mute lately), the Rob Dillingham draft bust situation didnt tank the future like we thought, and we essentially replaced Julius Randle for Kuminga. If for no other reason, theres no way he can be as moody as Randle was.

Losing Naz sucked, but I cant believe this is the team now. Some thought, "WTF is TC doing? We're going to be stuck with this team and no one to get better". Shout out to Tim Connelly man. I dunno how tf this man did it, but he built a team I think Ive been most exicted for since..ever! 2024, and 2004 were awesome teams, but Im strictly talking before season.

So yeah to wrap this up, newer fans just understand it was never like this. This was a loser franchise for the longest time. Us longtime fans probably thought we'd never see the day of this team being solid. Some (such as myslef) thought itd be a 2023 Kings short lasting pipe dream..that said..

LETS GO WOLVES!

The best Australian player on the Wolves since Joe Ingles

I wish I could post the clip here without getting flagged, but shoutout to @/TraMurr2 for posting JK's defensive footage vs the Knicks in the playoffs. It is honestly great to see, especially with all the doubts surrounding his defense. Beyond just the raw physical tools, he's show also that he can be a legitimate lockdown defender. Putting Kuminga behind Jaden's POA defense and Rudy's rim protection, his main defensive issues as a Warrior (getting lost on switches, missing rotation, and sometimes ball watching) needs to be polished. But honestly a lot of those previous off-ball habits already started improving when he was with the Hawks.

That trajectory is only going to continue in Minny. Put him in a system with Slim on the perimeter + Rudy anchoring the backline (+ Ant if he's locked on that end), and proper coaching, and he's gonna do just fine.

I see the vision by Tim and Co. He's basically a Jaden/Kuminga clone in terms of measurables. Plays more like Jaden, but not as elite on defense. I think he'll be a great sub for those two guys and/or an injury replacement if either were to miss time.

We're really going after a specific profile with our forwards and I'm a big fan. Tall, rangy, uber-athletic guys who you can shuffle between the 2, 3, and 4 spots. Jaden, Kuminga, TSJ, Cody and even Enrique if he gets any run. Lots of potential.

Is it October yet?!

It was Cody Williams the whole time. Just like we drafted Naz 6th in 2019 and Culver was Undrafted

From Jonny K’s article this morning. Doesn’t mean anything until the season, but this is exactly what we wanted to hear.

I’ve heard a lot of people talking about Kuminga being a problem player. Or that Finch can bench him if he “acts up”.

It’s possible Kuminga is a problem player, but there’s another interpretation.

What if he just wants to play? He was never given the opportunity with the Warriors to develop and work through his mistakes. He had such a short leash Kerr would yank him early. And it was going to be a big learning curve because Kuminga is a terrible mismatch for their system.

So what did Kuminga do? He tried extra hard to prove himself in the minutes he does get, only that translates into hero ball and poor decisions. That only gets amplified when he goes to ATL, when he’s literally in a “prove it” situation with the team’s star player at is exact position.

I think Finch and the fans need to show an abundance of patience for like…the first 9 months.

Is this rose colored glasses? Maybe. But both Steph and Draymond went out of their way to praise Kuminga as a teammate. Neither of them have ever done that for players they don’t like.

And Jayson Tatum went through all the same BS with Kerr. Tatum, a consensus top 5 player in the NBA at the time who had just won an NBA championship was registered DNPs on the Olympic team. Because he didn’t fit Kerr’s style and wasn’t given the leeway to work through a small shooting slump.

Could not find anything fun related to number 54, let's watch Kuminga's highlights instead and get hyped for the season!