Once veteran guard Jamal Crawford clears waivers and inks his two-year deal with the Timberwolves, Minnesota will have 11 players signed for next season.
That leaves four traditional roster spots to fill and two more two-way spots for players who will bounce back and forth between the NBA and the Wolves’ G-League franchise in Iowa.
But Tom Thibodeau, the Timberwolves coach and president of basketball operations, said Minnesota will only look to sign three more players to traditional deals, leaving Minnesota’s 15th roster spot open.
“We’ll look at three more,” Thibodeau said on the Sports Huddle on WCCO-830 AM on Sunday. “We’ll keep one (spot) probably open to keep an eye on guys the rest of the summer and in season. We like to have the flexibility with that 15th spot.”
Thibodeau suggested those three signings will include two reserve wings and a point guard to back up newly-signed starter Jeff Teague. Thibodeau feels good about Minnesota’s front-court depth.
“We have good quality depth there and we also have the ability to move Jimmy (Butler) to the (power forward), so we can play small and that’ll give us a versatility that way,” Thibodeau said on the Sports Huddle.
Included in that front-court depth is reserve center Cole Aldrich, who has been mentioned in many trade rumors as Minnesota attempted to clear salary cap space. Aldrich was repeatedly brought up in potential sign-and-trade deals with Indiana to bring C.J. Miles to Minnesota, but the Pacers reportedly struck a deal with Toronto on Sunday to send Miles to the Raptors.
Thibodeau said Aldrich is still a part of the Timberwolves’ plans.
“The thing is you have size, you need depth up front,” he said. “I think the way you have to build your team today is you need to have size and the ability to play small. You need to do both. So the quality depth up front is key.”
The Wolves currently have roughly just $3 million available in cap space. So if they don’t make any moves to clear more cap room, each of their remaining signings will likely be for league-minimum salaries. Still, Thibodeau seems to think the Wolves are in a good spot.
“The one thing about this year in comparison to last year, the free agency is moving a lot slower,” Thibodeau said. “So there’s still a lot of players up on the board and we feel we’re going to have a good shot at some guys that can really play and we want to continue to look at the shooting component, and, of course, guys that can play defense, so (that’s what) we’ll be locked into as we go forward.”
