Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: Wolves make series of roster moves

In the days leading up to the start of the season, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been busy with a series of roster moves.

Over the course of the last week, the Wolves have waived four players, signed and waived another, and picked up the third-year options on the two rookies from last season.

Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: Wolves make series of roster moves

In the least surprising move of all time, the Wolves picked up the third-year options on both Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels according to Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic.

Those options fare for the 2022-23 season. Sitting here today, it’s a safe bet to assume that we’ll be passing along this same note in 12 months regarding the fourth-year options and the 2023-24 campaign.

Minnesota Timberwolves waive four, but they’ll be back with Iowa Wolves

The Timberwolves went into training camp with five players on non-guaranteed contracts, not including the two-way players.

One of them is Jaylen Nowell, who was always going to make the team, barring the trade. As expected, the other four have now been released.

Undrafted rookies Isaiah Miller and Matt Silva, the former of whom was a significant contributor to the Wolves’ squad in Las Vegas Summer League, were both let go, along with former Sacramento Kings and Miami Heat big man Chris Silva and former Indiana Pacers forward Brian Bowen II. Bowen was also part of the Wolves’ summer entry.

All four players are expected to stick with the G League’s Iowa Wolves. While the Timberwolves haven’t pulled from the G League at all in recent years, save for sending their two-way players back and forth with some frequency, Minnesota does have one empty roster spot.

Given their lack of cap space, it’s always possible that the Wolves opt to sign someone from their G League team if there are injury challenges early in the season.

It does appear as though all four players were signed to Exhibit 10 contracts, which incentivizes them to stay with the Wolves’ G League team instead of play elsewhere. Of course, if another NBA club wanted to sign them to a guaranteed deal, they would certainly leave. But it’s likely that they’ll all remain with the Iowa Wolves for at least the next 60 days, which is the date on which they’ll all receive a $50,000 bonus for remaining with the organization.

Minnesota Timberwolves sign and then waive Vincent Edwards

The Wolves also signed Vincent Edwards following training camp before waiving him the next day. This allowed them to add him on an Exhibit 10 deal and retain his rights with the G League team in Des Moines.

Edwards was a 2018 second-round pick, selected No. 52 overall by the Utah Jazz before being acquired by the Houston Rockets on draft night. (Yes, Gersson Rosas was with the Rockets at that time, so there are presumably some scouts and/or front office members who remain in Minnesota that were with the Rockets organization when Edwards was originally drafted.)

Edwards signed a two-way deal as a rookie but only appeared in two NBA games with Houston during the 2018-19 season. He spent 2019-20 with the Oklahoma City Blue of the G League but has appeared in 80 G League games over the past three seasons. He was also briefly in the Sacramento Kings organization and played in eight games with the G League’s Canton Charge.

The G League numbers aren’t all that impressive: 9.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in 25.2 minutes per game while shooting 41.4 percent from the floor and 34.5 percent from outside the arc.

Back at Purdue University, however, Edwards played four years and was a fantastic shooter, making 39.2 percent of his long-range attempts while carrying a solid rebound rate and an impressive assist rate. His size (6-foot-7 with a 7-foot wingspan) and shooting potential make him an intriguing wing candidate for the Iowa Wolves.

These around-the-margins moves are fun to track, and we’ll keep an eye on how the G League squad does throughout the season.