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Minnesota Timberwolves: Tom Thibodeau’s FA Strategy

By Paul Bellesen

May 12, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau speaks to the media prior to game five of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
May 12, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau speaks to the media prior to game five of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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With NBA Free Agency in full swing, looking at the signings the Minnesota Timberwolves made, you can tell that there is a strategy to the madness.

As we look at the Minnesota Timberwolves offseason so far, you can see that there is a strategy to what Tom Thibodeau and Scott Layden have done so far. They are not willing to mortgage their future on mediocre players.

As most thought of Thibodeau as a “win now” coach, the moves he has made so far show something different. He knows that the Timberwolves are not quite ready to contend this season and are definitely not one player away.

As the big name free agents were signing max contracts and mediocre players were signing ridiculously high contracts for their skill levels, Thibodeau held strong. There were rumored offers to Luol Deng, Courtney Lee, and Pau Gasol as far as bigger name players go. Those deals were denied due to money, or length of the contract.

The deals that the Timberwolves did make, signing Cole Aldrich and Brandon Rush, were short deals at reasonable dollar amounts. It looks like Thibodeau knows that the Timberwolves will need to make sure that they do not have huge deals on the books when our young guys come off the books.

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Also this puts the Timberwolves in place to make a big free agent signing next year, after the team proves their potential over this upcoming season and it becomes easier to sell the idea of joining the young Timberwolves squad.

With the cap raising to $94M this upcoming season, the cap floor will be $84M. There were rumors of big penalties if a team did not reach that floor. Now the rules have been cleared up. If a team does not reach the floor, the amount of money that they are below the cap floor will be distributed between players on the roster.

This will not be a problem for the Timberwolves, and could end up being a nice bonus for the young players if they do not end up reaching the floor.

You can expect the Timberwolves to make another signing this offseason, maybe two. One name that caught my attention was former Heat wing player, Gerald Green. After a down season in Miami, Green should come at a bargain. Green put together two great seasons with the Phoenix Suns before going to Miami last year. He asserted himself as a nice three and D player in those years. Green plays above the rim, and has a nice outside shot. Could be a nice addition for the second unit.

Next: Wiggins Borderline MVP Candidate in 2020?

The upcoming offseason will be interesting as Thibodeau has USA Basketball as his platform to pitch big name NBA stars. It will take at least another year before Minnesota is a destination.

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