The Minnesota Timberwolves still have a clear hole at power forward, and one of the few available options just disappeared - straight into the hands of a familiar nemesis.
On Wednesday night, the Denver Nuggets signed Marvin Bagley III to a one-year deal, taking a potential Minnesota target off the board while also giving the Wolves’ biggest rival another piece. The two teams have turned into a recurring playoff matchup, facing off three times in the last four postseason runs. Denver won the first meeting, while Minnesota answered by winning the last two, including last year’s six-game first-round series that featured Jaden McDaniels taking a shot at the Nuggets’ defense.
Bagley’s arrival in Denver only adds another wrinkle to that ongoing matchup. The 27-year-old, the second overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, will now be on his sixth NBA team. He hasn’t come close to matching the expectations that came with being selected ahead of Luka Doncic by the Sacramento Kings, but he did put together a useful season.
Bagley started the year with the Washington Wizards and was later traded to the Dallas Mavericks in the deal that sent Anthony Davis to Washington, D.C. Across 60 games between the two teams, he averaged 10.5 points and 6.1 rebounds in 20.0 minutes per game while shooting 61.8 percent from the field.
Denver’s contract situation likely kept the price in a range Minnesota could have matched. The Nuggets could only work with veteran’s minimum deals, and Bagley would have made sense for the Wolves on paper.
At 6-foot-10, he could have helped soak up minutes at the four for a roster that is thin there. Rudy Gobert and Joan Beringer are centers only, while Julius Randle and Naz Reid have been traded away.
The bad news for Minnesota is not just that Bagley is gone. It’s that he landed with the team the Wolves are most likely to cross paths with again.
That also tightens an already thin free-agent market at power forward. If Minnesota is shopping in that lane, Kenrich Williams, formerly of the Oklahoma City Thunder, looks like the best affordable option in my opinion.
Tim Connelly still has time to address it, and the expectation is that the Wolves won’t roll into the regular season opener with such a glaring opening at power forward. He has never been shy about making moves when he thinks they can help. For now, it’s just a matter of seeing what the front office has lined up next.
In Other News...
Mavericks Move May Have Just Opened Minnesotas Power Forward Door
The Mavericks latest move with Memphis sent Santi Aldama to Dallas for AJ Johnson, a protected 2030 first-round pick and two future second-rounders, a deal that could ripple beyond the immediate transaction. For the Timberwolves, the broader question is whether Dallas has just made its frontcourt a little more crowded, and therefore a little more willing to listen if teams come calling about a veteran power forward who has been part of the Mavericks rotation.
From Minnesotas perspective, that matters because the Wolves still have a clear need at power forward and have been searching for ways to strengthen that spot without upsetting the rest of the roster construction. Any opening there will be worth monitoring, especially if Dallas decides its new addition changes the way it views the rest of its frontcourt depth. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Conley Exit Leaves Wolves Losing More Than A Guard
Mike Conleys departure closes the book on a steady 3.5-season run in Minnesota, where the veteran point guard gave the Timberwolves a calming presence and reliable production in the backcourt. Over that span, he averaged 9.0 points, 4.6 assists and 2.5 rebounds, numbers that dont fully capture how much his steadiness mattered to a team trying to organize itself around bigger names and bigger expectations.
The bigger issue now is what his exit means for the roster around Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball. Minnesota has to find more backcourt depth, and that search comes with a familiar kind of pressure for a team that has leaned on Conley for structure, decision-making and a veteran hand late in games. Losing him is about more than replacing a guard, because it removes one of the few proven pieces who could help keep the whole operation running smoothly. [Read more 🡒]
Rudy Gobert Trade Debate Just Got More Uncomfortable For Timberwolves Fans
The Rudy Gobert deal has been one of the defining transactions of the Timberwolves recent era since Minnesota sent a package of players and picks to Utah in 2022. It has long been judged through the usual lens of what Gobert has meant in Minneapolis, but the Jazz have kept collecting assets from the move and building around the draft capital that came back their way.
Now Utahs latest maneuver is making that history look even messier for Wolves fans. The Jazz turned Walker Kessler into a haul centered on unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, plus two pick swaps, and that kind of return only adds more pressure to the original Minnesota-Utah trade debate. With more young talent and more future flexibility in hand, the question of which side truly came out ahead feels a lot less settled than it did before. [Read more 🡒]