Chris Finch isn’t sounding like a coach who’s itching to add one more name to the Timberwolves’ books.
With training camp set to begin next week, Minnesota still has one standard roster spot open, and plenty of outside speculation has centered on whether the Wolves might use it on a veteran big or another body with size. Kevin Love, a free agent, fits that description. Finch, though, made it clear Thursday on Chad Hartman’s WCCO radio show that the plan is probably to stay put.
“I think we are going to hold tight,” Finch told Hartman when asked if the Wolves will sign another player. “That’s what we’ve been talking about.
We like the flexibility. Obviously, there is cap sensitivities, too.
We just feel like we have enough of what we need right now.”
That answer tells you plenty about how Minnesota is thinking about the last roster slot. Keeping it open gives the team more breathing room if it needs to make a move later, especially in the middle of the season. If the Wolves ever want to make a trade that sends out one player and brings back two, a full 15-man roster can make that kind of deal trickier to execute without another corresponding move first.
Tim Connelly has taken this route before. Last season, Minnesota opened with 14 of 15 standard contracts filled, and that decision paid off when the team signed Kyle Anderson off the buyout market on March 2. His prorated deal cost the Wolves $567,470.
Anderson ended up giving the Wolves exactly what they needed at the time: extra forward depth and another steady voice in the locker room. In 19 regular season games, he averaged 4.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting 47.3% from the floor in 19.1 minutes per game. Finch trusted him as a reliable ball handler, a presence who could hold teammates accountable, and a backup option at power forward and center.
That kind of need didn’t really show up until the season unfolded. Mike Conley wore down, Naz Reid had trouble protecting the rim next to Julius Randle, and the Wolves, by Finch’s own description, proved to be a moody group.
Even so, Minnesota’s current roster could still reveal gaps once the games start for real. Or the team might find that some of the concerns people are projecting don’t end up mattering much.
Size has been the big talking point from the outside. Since Minnesota’s trade to acquire LaMelo Ball and its signing of Jonathan Kuminga, the roster’s frontcourt depth has been a point of concern, especially if Rudy Gobert gets hurt or Joan Beringer gets into foul trouble. That’s where the Wolves could use someone who can survive meaningful minutes without getting played off the floor.
Finch, though, has a different read on the options already in the building.
“That’s where our creativity comes in,” Finch told Hartman. “Trey Lyles is a skilled four who can really shoot it.
Standing next to him, he is bigger than you think. And he has had a ton of success playing the five.”
Lyles is listed at 6’10” and is still viewed as a useful NBA player at age 30, even after spending last season out of the league and with Real Madrid. If Gobert or Beringer were unavailable, Finch appears comfortable with Lyles filling in at center, and the coach’s point is hard to ignore: he may already be a better answer than anyone currently sitting on the free-agent market, Love included.
Minnesota’s frontcourt still looks light on paper, though, and Finch acknowledged a few ways the team could work around that. He mentioned Anthony Edwards sliding to power forward, Terrence Shannon Jr. doing the same, and even Jaden McDaniels playing the five in certain situations. A smaller lineup could fit the Wolves’ desire to play faster anyway.
For now, the answer is simple: Minnesota is leaning toward leaving that final spot open. The Wolves want the flexibility more than they want another layer of positional insurance, and they’re willing to live with that until the season forces their hand. If the size issue becomes a real problem a few weeks into the year, the team could still chase an unsigned free agent later, just as it did with Anderson last season.
In Other News...
Rudy Gobert Just Became A Bigger Timberwolves Question Than Expected
Rudy Gobert is back around the Timberwolves after arriving from France and joining team workouts, which at least gives Minnesota a chance to get its defense anchored by the player who has been central to that identity. He remains eligible for a contract extension, and after signing a three-year extension in 2024, he has one year left on his current deal with a player option for the following season.
What makes this more delicate is the timing for a team still trying to protect its future flexibility while it develops a young core. Gobert is still a key piece, but there is no immediate push toward getting something done, leaving Minnesota to balance the value of keeping its veteran defensive force in place against the kind of cap planning that can shape the next several seasons. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Face A Fascinating New Challenge With LaMelo Ball And Kuminga
Minnesotas offseason has already given Chris Finch a different kind of puzzle, and it starts with the way LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga can fit into the offense. Finch said in an interview that integrating new pieces should be less complicated than it has been in past seasons, thanks in part to Balls ability to organize the floor and the teams move toward a cleaner offensive structure. For a group trying to reset its identity, that kind of simplicity can matter as much as star power.
The other layer is internal growth, where Finch wants more steadiness from the younger and bench-heavy parts of the roster as camp approaches. Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert were among the players he singled out for being part of that consistency push, which gives Minnesota a familiar sort of late-summer question: can the Wolves not only add talent, but also turn the whole rotation into something more reliable from night to night? [Read more 🡒]
Rudy Gobert Could Force The Wolves Into A Brutal Decision
The Timberwolves spent the offseason reshaping the roster around Rudy Gobert, making moves aimed at better fitting his game and their bigger-picture timeline. LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga arrived, while Julius Randle and Naz Reid were dealt away, all part of an effort to build a cleaner mix around the veteran center and keep Minnesota positioned to contend in the West.
Still, Goberts future does not feel fully settled. He has a player option on the final year of his contract, and what happens this season could leave the Wolves staring at a tough choice between bringing him back on another deal, preserving cap flexibility and continuing to balance his place with the growth of the rest of the roster. [Read more 🡒]