The Minnesota Timberwolves have lost three games in a row thanks to end-of-game blunders, which have some banging the annual trade drum. They believe that the Wolves, as constructed, are just too flawed a team to make a deep playoff run. While trades and change aren’t always a bad thing for a franchise, the reality of Minnesota’s roster is that a trade is much harder to pull off than one would think.
First, the Timberwolves are a hard-capped first-apron team, which poses some problems. They would have to match salary in a trade, surging it by 110% of the outgoing value. They also can not go into the second apron because of the trade, meaning the Wolves only have $3.561 million in space before they are in the second apron.
The Timberwolves also have only 14 players on their active roster. Therefore, if they make a trade, they would have to create space to sign a player, and the league set the vet minimum at $2.5 million. The Wolves also have to make that signing while keeping them under the second apron.
Likewise, if the Wolves trade with any first-apron team – the New York Knicks, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, and Boston Celtics – the team they would be trading with would face those restrictions. Trades with a second apron team are theoretically non-existent due to the second apron restrictions. Only the Cleveland Cavaliers are in the second apron.
The Wolves also can’t trade Julius Randle until December 15 and Naz Reid until January 15, because they signed deals in the offseason. However, they would be able to make a trade, including any player on the roster, after the January 15 deadline.
After jumping through all the hoops and acknowledging them, the Wolves could make a trade, but who would they be willing to send out? More importantly, who would be appealing to other teams?
The untouchables
While Edwards and McDaniels are obviously untouchable, we should add Conley to the list. Between his age, off-court impact, and taking less money to stay with the Wolves, they rely on Conley like he’s a player-coach. Trading Conley would not only be looked upon poorly around the league but could also disrupt the team chemistry.
Meanwhile, trading Ingles after signing him to a one-year veteran minimum would also be chemistry malpractice.
The untradables
At $35.0 million and 2+1 years left on Gobert’s contract, it’s unlikely a team would take a chance on bringing him in, even as a salary filler. His track record suggests that, for him to be effective, a team must build a roster around him on defense. It’s hard to drop Gobert into a good team mid-season and have him fix holes.
The trade assets
- Julius Randle ($30.86 million this year with 2 years + 1 option)
- Naz Reid ($21.55 million with 4 years + 1 option year left)
- Donte DiVincenzo ($11.99 million with 2 years left)
- Rob Dillingham ($6.58 million with 1 + 2 option years left)
- Terrence Shannon Jr. ($2.67 million with 1 + 2 option years left)
- Jaylen Clark ($2.19 million in the last season of contract)
- Joan Beringer ($4.20 million 2 + 2 option years left)
- Bones Hyland ($2.30 million in the least year of his contract)
- Johnny Juzang (2-way one-year deal)
- Rocco Zirkarsky (2-way one-year deal)
- Enrique Freeman (2-way one-year deal)
This is where formulating a trade becomes near impossible. To reach the salary of an All-Star-caliber player, the Wolves would have to include Randle and gut their bench to make up the difference, leaving money over to fill their roster.
For example, Trae Young makes $45.99 million this season. Therefore, the Timberwolves would have to trade Randle, DiVincenzo, and Joan Beringer to make the money match. If the trade went through, the Wolves would have to sign two players to fill the roster. Or if Atlanta were to trade players back to match the players, they would likely have to include Dillingham over Beringer to accommodate the new minimum salaries.
The same conundrum occurs when trying to trade for Ja Morant at $39.45 million. Randle and DiVincenzo would almost assuredly be in the trade going out for Morant and a piece back. Then, the Wolves would have to add young talent to sweeten the pot and outbid other teams trying to trade for him.
Every trade involving a player making over $30 million would likely be formulated the same way. The Wolves would have to trade Randle to match most of the salary, DiVincenzo or Dillingham to complete the salary match, and add in the young talent. Which, at that point, begs the question: Would a trade like that be worth it?
That’s where the biggest issue presents itself for the Wolves: Would a trade involving Randle actually improve the team?
At his salary hit, he’s one of the most productive dollar-for-dollar players in the NBA who’s not on a rookie contract. His defense has improved and now meshes well with Gobert, and he has the offensive potency to win certain games almost single-handedly.
A smaller trade, say, for a player making $10-20 million, likely would include DiVincenzo and Dillingham, and the same problem arises. Is giving up DiVincenzo at his salary going to bring back a player significant enough to make a significant change in the on-court performance?
The harsh reality is that for the 2025-26 season, the Timberwolves are stuck. There isn’t a clear-cut way to swing for an All-Star caliber player without hurting the depth or the chemistry of a team that they ran back to capitalize on their cohesiveness. The trade deadline in the NBA is still a month off in the distance, but Wolves fans should prepare for the likelihood that a trade never goes through.