On Sunday, Marc Stein released a new column featuring the latest in NBA free agency and trade buzz (subscription required), but the Minnesota Timberwolves were noticeably absent from the publication. In fact, the Wolves haven’t been mentioned for several weeks in any new rumors across the league.
While the Kevin Durant saga was seemingly consuming the mind of every NBA fan, we barely heard mention of them throughout the entire process. The same remains true for Donovan Mitchell, the other biggest name of the offseason.
While many reports typically come out about a large number of teams being “interested” in a certain big name player over the course of the offseason, those inquiries are often surface-level, with that team having little intention of actually committing to assembling a huge trade package for said player.
But why have the Timberwolves barely even been mentioned in such talks at all this offseason? There are a couple of big reasons.
Why Have The Timberwolves Not Been Involved In Rumors?
The first reason why Minnesota has largely been standing pat in terms of new acquisitions for a few weeks is that they already pushed their chips to the center of the table when they acquired Rudy Gobert.
In making what may end up being the biggest splash of the NBA offseason, the Timberwolves dealt multiple players from last season’s roster and multiple first-round picks.
It’s not that this move depleted them of any and all assets they needed to complete new moves, but it’s clear this was the decision they had in mind from day one. Minnesota had a plan and stuck to it.
The other main reason why the Wolves haven’t continued to move pieces around to acquire more stars is that they appear confident in the group they have. And for good reason, since a core of players that earned a top seven seed in the West last year will only get better with the addition of one of the best defensive centers in the game.
The best evidence of the Timberwolves’ belief in their core comes from one report that confirmed they turned down an offer from the Brooklyn Nets for Kevin Durant. The offer reportedly would have netted Brooklyn one of Minnesota’s star players along with draft picks. And while KD is probably a better player than anyone on the Wolves’ roster, Tim Connelly and company felt they were better suited to win with what they currently have.
In all likelihood, the Minnesota Timberwolves have remained stagnant because they believe they’ve done everything necessary to elevate this roster to the level of a championship contender. It’s not impossible for them to make another major move before the season, but I wouldn’t count on it.