Timberwolves Fans Are EXCITED About This… | Daily Minnesota Timberwolves News & Rumors

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Welcome back Minnesota Timberwolves fans. Thank you for joining this edition of Timberwolves today on Van Ert. I am your host Mark Fierce and today we are going to be getting into a few things but mainly spending the time talking about potential free agents for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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[00:00:37]Free agency.

[00:00:39]Um, I think right now we've been talking all the rumors and you know have been about uh free or trades.

[00:00:46]Um, free agency is really thin honestly and we're going to see that when we look at things.

[00:00:51]Um, but I'm actually went off um ESPN's uh top 10 free agents and we're going to start there today. Again, we have plenty of time. I'll get into some more free agents uh tomorrow um or in upcoming episodes uh and we'll dive a little bit deeper. But the number one free agent that everyone is going to talk about and may heat up a little bit uh in the in the coming weeks here is obviously LeBron. Uh LeBron is going to is 41 years old.

[00:01:23]Um, he does not have much time left. I think we could see him signing um a one-year deal uh as ESPN suggests a one-year deal for 30 million or potentially even the league minimum to go to a team that does not have much cap space but has a strong chance of winning an NBA championship.

[00:01:41]Um, now uh will what will that do to his legacy? I do believe if he comes in as the fourth or fifth piece of a championship team, um I don't think it boosts his legacy necessarily um but obviously the longer he chases and jumps around teams, um, I think that does have a negative effect on his legacy. Sorry, LeBron fans.

[00:02:07]Um, but do I see LeBron on the Timberwolves? No, I do not. I just don't think it makes sense given the roster, um, and and the players that we have unless, you know, he was we're moving Naz or Jaden, Ayo, um, I just don't see that. Obviously, we're not going to trade, you know, LeBron's a free agent, so we don't have to trade for him. But potentially, maybe if we lose, you know, Jaden in a trade, um, LeBron could fit into that, uh, three role.

[00:02:35]The second player that ESPN, um, lists is Norman Powell, who is 32. Um, they're thinking he is about a 20 22 million-dollar-a-year player.

[00:02:46]Um, don't really again, given the current, if we just went on current roster, um, don't really see him making a significant impact moving the needle all that much given the needs that we have as far as, um, a big, uh, power forward forward or a point guard.

[00:03:03]Now, we're going to get into some point guards, um, CJ McCollum, uh, who is 34, who still got some gas left in the tank.

[00:03:10]Uh, ESPN projects he will get a two-year $43 million contract. So, where does that put him in terms of fitting in with the Wolves?

[00:03:21]$20 million, um, given the roster that they have now is going to be tough to wiggle in, um, to to our lineup and then the salary cap staying under, um, that second apron.

[00:03:34]Does CJ McCollum really fit what we need? Um, is he a true point guard? No, he's not. Uh, he's probably at this point more of a Donte DiVincenzo type.

[00:03:46]So, would I see him fitting into this team? I do see him having a a pretty decent role, um, and and place on the team. I just don't see us going 22 million a year for him. Um if we got him in that veteran minimum, I could see that, but I think people are going to dish out for C.J. McCollum, especially given the light free agent class.

[00:04:10]The next two people, I'm going to throw them together.

[00:04:12]Um both 26, uh former Bulls Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu. Uh both 26, ESPN projects that they're going to get 3 years, roughly 50 to 55 million.

[00:04:26]Obviously, I've talked a lot about Ayo.

[00:04:28]You know about Ayo, um what he's done for this team, uh and the fact that we may be able to offer him that 5-year max, um a bird rights max uh after July 1. So, we have the upper hand in that. If it were just straight up between Coby White and Ayo, um I'm going to go with what we know and what we've seen in Ayo. Um love the energy, uh love his leadership, love his perspective, his work ethic. I would love that. Uh Coby White, honestly, gives us a lot of the same types of things. Probably not the defensive aggressiveness enough, not quite that burst and speed, that turbo gear um that Ayo has, uh but Coby is definitely a um a manageable um proven uh scorer uh and shooter.

[00:05:19]ESPN projects Coby White actually getting more money than Ayo, um meaning they think he's a better player. Uh however, I would still put Ayo in front of that, and I know that is a priority with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Uh there have been a couple tweets out, uh one tweet, I guess, about Ayo and the fact that if we resign Ayo, we're going to have to trade Dante, which is not totally true. We don't have to. Um there are ways around it, but again, uh if we are trading, I can definitely see Dante moving um in an effort to match salary caps.

[00:05:53]The next person ESPN has is Rui Hachimura, who is 28, getting right into his prime.

[00:05:59]They have him potentially getting a 4-year $64 million contract, so about 16 million a year, which is right on that edge of what the Wolves would offer. Uh be able to offer.

[00:06:10]I really like Rui's game. I really think that he could add something to this team um coming off the bench.

[00:06:18]Depends on what that roster creation is.

[00:06:21]Um I think that he would, although they're completely different roles, it'd be tough to manage minutes between him and T.J. Shannon, roughly playing that three, that bigger three, if you will.

[00:06:35]Um and so now you have a log jam with Naz essentially as a three, um small four, Jaden, T.J., Rui. I think there's just a log jam there.

[00:06:50]Uh Tobias Harris is their seventh at 33. Uh they're saying he's going to get about 19 million. Just don't think that's a great fit for our team uh given his age. Kelly Oubre, uh who is 30, they're looking at him getting about 17 million. Probably a little bit above what we'd want to pay for someone um like him. And again, it's not really a drastic need that we have that's going to make us a competitor.

[00:07:17]Uh two interesting people at the end here, Robert Williams III um and Mitchell Robinson, um who are both 28. As you know, Mitchell Robinson just broke his uh his pinky and maybe in question uh how much he can contribute in the NBA finals for the Knicks. Uh both anticipated a 3-year contract worth about 40 million.

[00:07:41]Um I would lean towards the Mitchell Robinson just because of his uh, size uh, being bigger than Robert Williams the third. Robin William Robert Williams the third probably has a little bigger upside. Uh, but given his injury history, he's somebody that I would want to stay away with. Um, really want the reliability at this point. As I say that uh, Mitchell Robinson had Mitchell Robinson has a broken pinky. But obviously fluke injury there.

[00:08:09]Um, So, uh, if we look at those free agents that the ESPN has tabbed, I would say that CJ McCollum, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu are ones that we know about Ayo.

[00:08:21]I think CJ McCollum would have a place on this team. I just don't think we're going to be willing to offer him 20 plus million dollars uh, given the limitations that he would have within our roster. And then Mitchell Robinson, I really do believe especially if we trade Rudy, um, signing Mitchell Robinson would be a high priority to us especially if we trade Rudy and Randle. Um, you'd almost have to back up the truck um, and go a little bit higher on that deal for Mitchell Robinson to get him in because I do believe that um, he fills a role that we definitely need and just just that big man that body um, and that presence inside.

[00:09:02]All right, that is um, the free agent preview. Again, I will be looking at some lesser um, desired free agents but ones that might be a little bit more in our budget in an upcoming episode here. All right.

[00:09:19]Last episode I did talk about uh, the unethical basketball. I spent the whole time on that based on the views it wasn't a hugely popular episode. Uh, but nonetheless, I think it was something that I just wanted to get off my chest.

[00:09:31]One thing I forgot to get off my chest was actually what I I the punishment should be for flopping, and we're talking about flopping in terms of um acting, right? You don't get You don't get hit. There's very minimal contact, but you over exaggerate, and you truly are um acting the fool to foul bait.

[00:09:52]It's very obvious the league handles these post game. Right now, it's like 5 10 15, you know, like up to seven offenses. Um it's kind of ridiculous.

[00:10:02]There's no disincentive to not flop, right? Um other than you lose a point in a possession during an NBA game.

[00:10:11]I think that they should up those fines.

[00:10:13]The first three fines should be 20 35 and 50,000. Up those a little bit. Could even do more. Um You'd want to set this as a, you know, maybe a three-year plan and see if it does actually decrease the number of flops that happen.

[00:10:28]Of course, they have to call them first of all. Um the fourth game then would be a one game suspension. Um once Okay. Uh maybe gray area two, it's a pattern. You We we We're starting to find out who you are. Third, it's pattern. Uh fourth, uh that's just who you are, right? One game suspension. And then for each subsequent flop that you'd have, you'd get two games um plus one. So, your fifth game would be a three-game suspension. Your fourth game would be a five or your fourth fifth would be a two-game suspension.

[00:11:05]Uh three-game suspension, your sixth would be a um five-game suspension. Uh so, you're just kind of adding two on to that. So, that's just kind of how I feel um if I were Adam Silver what I would do. And obviously, um talk to the refs and saying, "Hey, we need to make this a priority." So, that's what I would do with the flopping. Speaking of Adam Silver, um the NBA's new anti-tanking rules were just put in place.

[00:11:34]Um, they have a 3-2-1 um, lottery system, meaning if you are a bottom three team, you only get two balls in the hopper. If you are a bottom teams four through 10, you get three lottery balls. And if you are a play-in team, um, even the eighth seed, you get a one or two lottery balls. So, basically disincentivizing teams from flopping.

[00:12:00]So, if you're a bottom three team, you get a smaller chance of getting the number one pick.

[00:12:05]That being the case, you're going to play more aggressive. You're going to play to win, especially at the end of the season, to get out of those bottom three. Should make those games a little bit more exciting. Create a little bit less tanking.

[00:12:18]Is it enough of a difference the 3-2-1?

[00:12:21]Would it be more of a difference if it was 5-3-1? Something like that. Um, we'll see. I believe it's a three-year plan that they have to, um, the starts in 2027, but it's a three-year plan to figure out is this actually working before they re-evaluate it.

[00:12:36]So, the 16 teams in the lottery have flattened odds. Previously, it was just 14. So, the eighth seeds now get a get ball get a ball. Um, teams cannot get the number one pick, um, in consecutive years. And you cannot have top five picks in three consecutive years. Um, and so, again, you can flop once or not flop tank once, um, but you're really disincentivized from tanking two, three years in a row. Um, there's some other, um, smaller rules, um, in this, but those are the main things, uh, and how that is going to change.

[00:13:16]Um, we'll see if it works. Um, is it an overcorrection? I don't know.

[00:13:23]Um, I think the bigger thing is also in coming out with this, we've seen a lot of the unilateral powers that Adam Silver has given himself to levy punishments against teams that he, as he sees fit.

[00:13:36]Um, and so, getting a lot of power there, um, this might be that hill that he dies on and could be the, um, I mean, really think he's going into a transition where if this works, it's very good for him. If it fails, it's a huge stain on him. Um, if the whole flopping thing is not addressed, I could see that becoming a gigantic stain on his, um, his role as NBA commissioner and potentially, you know, within the next 3 to 5 years or we'll we'll see is Adam Silver here to stay or is he going to, um, is the league going to need someone else to to take over with things.

[00:14:12]Last thing I'm just going to throw out, um, I know this is a Minnesota Timberwolves, um, a podcast, but I do want to throw a shout out to the Minnesota Lynx. It is basketball. They are the sister to the Minnesota Timberwolves. They have the same owner, they play in the same arena, um, they have a very similar branding, right? Um, the Lynx, they have the best record in the WNBA so far this season. They're five and two. They have the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year in Olivia Miles, a point guard out of TCU.

[00:14:41]Um, their leading scorer on their team is the 14th leading scorer in the NBA, which means that they have a lot of balance. A lot of people are doing work.

[00:14:49]They have the fourth ranked offense, the fourth ranked defense in scoring in the in the WNBA and they're the only team in the top both top five categories. Um, and what is crazy about this, the fact that they have the best record in the NBA, um, their offense, if you uh, you probably didn't, maybe you did. If you did, hit those comments, um, against the Atlanta Dream, who was the second best team in the NBA at the time, um, uh, the Wolves kind of owned them and basically had their way offensively.

[00:15:20]But, the big thing with the Wolves is they are without their best player and arguably the best player in the W W NBA, Napheesa Collier. She will resume um activities probably early June. So, hopefully we can see her mid-June, late June. Um Damiris Dantas, who's also missing, she is one of our top subs. She is a 6'5" center. Um she will be returning early mid-June as well. And so, um they will be getting gigantic reinforcements come the second half of the season um into the playoffs. So, it is looking really good uh for the Cheryl Reeve-led Minnesota Lynx. Just want to give them a shout-out. It is basketball.

[00:15:59]I don't care if you watch the WNBA. I don't care what you think about the WNBA. Um I'm following. It's Minnesota sports. It is Minnesota basketball. I am all in on the Minnesota Lynx. All right.

[00:16:13]Thank you for joining.

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