Minnesota is running up against a Saturday deadline, and Josh Green has become the cleanest way out.
League sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania that the Timberwolves have until then to waive Green and stretch the final season of his contract over three years if they can’t swing a trade for the former Charlotte Hornets guard. The move would give Minnesota the room it needs to fit Jonathan Kuminga under its second-apron hard cap.
Kuminga has already agreed to a two-year, $12.4 million deal with Minnesota, including a player option in the second season. His $6.1 million salary for next season is too rich for the Timberwolves’ current cap situation, leaving them about $3 million short. Minnesota would prefer to move Green for a player with a lower salary and keep the roster spot intact, but if no trade materializes, the waive-and-stretch route is waiting.
Green’s contract is the big number here. He is set to make $14,679,012 in 2026-27, the final year of the three-year, $41 million extension he signed with Dallas on Oct.
23, 2023. Stretching that salary would reduce Minnesota’s cap hit to about $4.9 million per season, with the charge lingering through 2028-29.
There are a few more moving parts complicating the math. Green can’t be bundled with another contract in a trade until Sept. 10, and Minnesota still has to add a 14th player on the $2.45 million minimum. Spotrac’s Keith Smith has the amount that needs to be cleared closer to $4.1 million.
Green’s path to Minnesota came through Charlotte, which agreed on June 25 to send him and LaMelo Ball to the Timberwolves. The Hornets received Naz Reid, an unprotected 2033 first-round pick, first-round swaps in 2028, 2029 and 2030, plus second-round picks in 2029, 2032 and 2033. The deal was finalized in July as part of a four-team transaction, and Ball and Green were introduced in Minneapolis on July 14.
Before that, Green arrived in Charlotte in July 2024 as part of the six-team trade that sent Klay Thompson to Dallas. He played 68 games in 2024-25, starting 67 of them, and posted 7.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists while adding a career-high 1.1 steals per game and shooting 39.1% from deep.
His season was interrupted by surgery on his left shoulder on June 20, 2025. Green missed Charlotte’s first 24 games, made his debut on Dec. 12 against Chicago and appeared in 58 games overall.
In those contests, he averaged 4.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 15.7 minutes a night, shooting 45.9% from the field and a career-best 42% from 3-point range. He finished the year 0-of-2 in 10 minutes during Charlotte’s 121-90 play-in loss to Orlando.
Charlotte’s roster has changed in a big way around him. Miles Bridges went to the Suns for Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale, Tre Mann was dealt to the Cavaliers for Dennis Schroder, and Dorian Finney-Smith came in from the Rockets. Coby White re-signed for three years and $74 million, and the Hornets added Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson in 2026.
Green turns 26 on Nov. 16 and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2027. Charlotte opens the 2026-27 season on the road against the Brooklyn Nets, with the home opener set for the Atlanta Hawks.
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