After adding Jonathan Kuminga on a two-year, $12.4 million deal to step in as the team’s starting power forward, the Minnesota Timberwolves are sitting at 14 players. That leaves one obvious opening, but the smartest move might be to keep it that way.
A lot of fans would immediately point to a reunion with Kevin Love, and on the surface that fits. But Minnesota has another path available: simply leave the 15th roster spot empty and head into the season with some flexibility intact.
That idea sounds a little backwards. Usually, a team wants every available seat filled. But for the Timberwolves, an open spot could be more valuable than a fringe veteran, especially when the front office starts thinking about February.
The biggest reason is the trade deadline. Minnesota doesn’t have draft capital to toss around in order to land extra help, so the team may need to lean on financial maneuvering and roster space instead.
Right now, the Wolves are $4.5 million below the NBA’s second apron line, and because of earlier offseason transactions, they cannot cross it. If they sign another player, that cushion shrinks to $2 million.
That matters. With a full roster and only a small amount of breathing room, it becomes much tougher to swing for help at the deadline without parting with rotation players. Keeping the final spot open gives Minnesota more room to absorb another team’s unwanted contract if it comes attached to a player who can still help in a playoff rotation.
There’s also a recent example that shows why this can pay off. After last season’s trade deadline, the Timberwolves added Kyle Anderson and Mike Conley from the buyout market.
Conley had been traded to the Chicago Bulls and was later waived by the Charlotte Hornets a few weeks earlier. Both players ended up giving Minnesota useful depth and veteran presence on a team that had been short on both.
If the Wolves fill the roster now, that kind of buyout flexibility becomes harder to access later in February and March, when those players typically start shaking loose.
And then there’s the part fans probably won’t love hearing: the luxury tax.
A veteran’s minimum contract would cost just under $2.5 million on the salary cap sheet. But it would also push the Wolves that much further above the luxury tax line, adding roughly $8.5 million in tax payments. In other words, a minimum deal turns into about an $11 million commitment.
That’s a steep price for a player who likely wouldn’t be a permanent piece of the rotation. Sure, it’s fair to argue that $11 million shouldn’t stop ownership from helping a team with championship ambitions. But the reality is that it might make the front office pause, especially with bigger bills coming soon.
The Wolves are set to get even more expensive next offseason as they move into repeater luxury tax territory. With that in mind, ownership could decide to save some money now and brace for the heavier costs that are coming in 2026-27 and beyond.
If there were a free agent out there who could truly change the Timberwolves’ season, the price tag probably wouldn’t matter. But with the talent still available, Minnesota may be better off keeping that last roster spot open and preserving every bit of flexibility it can.
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Chris Finch sees the same possibility, which gives the idea added weight inside the Timberwolves orbit. The question is whether Kuminga can embrace the role-focused approach that would let him maximize both his value on the floor and his next contract, because the payoff for doing so can be enormous. For a young player still defining himself, that choice may end up mattering as much as any box-score production. [Read more 🡒]
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Konchar is said to be weighing his next move, with playoff-caliber interest already forming around him. The Timberwolves, meanwhile, have kept busy reshaping the back end of the roster, and this latest twist is one more reminder that even the smallest transactions can ripple into the bigger picture at this time of year. [Read more 🡒]