How the Timberwolves Can Fill Their Power Forward Void With the LeBron James Sweepstakes Over

The LeBron James Sweepstakes are finally over. Much to the dismay of optimistic Timberwolves fans, the four-time NBA MVP is headed to the 76ers to team up with Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, as first reported by NBA insider Shams Charania.

BREAKING: LeBron James is signing with the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-year, $8 million deal with a player option, Klutch Sports Group and Klutch CEO and Game Over show host Rich Paul tells ESPN. pic.twitter.com/ALOlTkgdAV
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 24, 2026

After the breaking news was announced, James said on X that he is not going to Philadelphia for money or for family. He is going there because he wants to sacrifice and win another championship. His new contract terms certainly back those words up, as James signed a tiny two-year, $8 million contract that includes a player option.

It was always a long shot for the Timberwolves to sign James. While the Wolves arguably have had the best pure basketball fit, Philadelphia has a similar level of talent, along with some advantages that Minnesota does not, most notably being in the Eastern Conference, where the path to making the NBA Finals is much more straightforward.

Still, just being included among the top five teams to acquire James signals a radical shift in the perception of the Timberwolves around the NBA. As recently as a few years ago, it would have been laughable to suggest the Wolves as a realistic landing spot for possibly the greatest player of all time.

The question for the Timberwolves now is where they go from here. They still have a sizeable hole at the power forward position, and with James off the board, the path toward adding a starting-caliber player becomes a lot more complicated.

Timberwolves' path to address PF after 76ers sign LeBron James

The most natural path for the Wolves to add talent would normally be through free agency. The issue is that there are not many quality options left within the Wolves' price range, given that Minnesota is less than $4 million below its second apron hard cap.

The level of players the Timberwolves could potentially look to sign includes Mario Hezonja, Kelly Olynyk, Jeremy Sochan, and Spencer Jones. While all of those players could add quality depth to the Timberwolves' roster, none of them is a starting-caliber player for a team looking to go deep into the playoffs like Minnesota.

The next and most likely way the Wolves would add a starting power forward would be via trade. Given that the Wolves are out of draft capital to send out and have little financial flexibility, any trade they make will end up being relatively complicated.

The most likely player the Wolves would look to trade is Josh Green and his $14.7 million contract. While it's unfair to call Green just a throw-in to the LaMelo Ball trade, his salary number and overlapping skill set with other players on the Timberwolves roster make him an obvious trade candidate.

Josh Green dribbles. — Even though he hasn't played a game with the Timberwolves yet, Josh Green appears to be a potential trade candidate in the near future. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Green himself likely would not hold much, if any, value in a trade, but his sizeable expiring contract may be useful for a team looking to remove future salary from their books. For example, if the Mavericks wanted to remove P.J. Washington's four-year $88.8 million contract from their cap sheet, Green would be a good starting point in trade discussions.

In a trade like that, though, the Wolves would likely still need to attach added value to make the deal work for both sides. The candidates for that would be Donte DiVincenzo and Terrence Shannon Jr.

DiVincenzo is set to miss most or all of the 2026-27 season with a torn Achilles tendon he suffered in last year's playoffs against the Denver Nuggets. The Timberwolves have made it clear they do not want to trade DiVincenzo, according to The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski, but their stance on that may soften as the prospect of starting the season without a starting-level power forward draws closer.

The Wolves do still have other moves in the works. They need a power forward and they need more shooting. I am told that they are not trading Donte DiVincenzo. The work continues.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) June 25, 2026

Shannon would likely have value if made available after finding his stride down the stretch of the regular season. In each of the previous two postseasons, Shannon has had standout performances on the biggest stage, including 15 points in Game 3 of the 2025 Western Conference Finals and a 24-point performance last postseason in the Game 6 closeout win over the Nuggets.

A not insignificant note with combining Green and another player in a trade is that it will have to wait until early September, as, by rule, Green cannot be aggregated with another salary in a trade until 60 days after the completion of the trade that sent him to Minnesota.

If the Timberwolves are unwilling to part with DiVincenzo and Shannon and cannot find a trade for a quality power forward, they will need to look at internal options already on the roster. The most natural pick would be Jaden McDaniels, although the Wolves might not see it that way.

Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch told Chris Hine of the Star Tribune doesn't envision McDaniels moving down and playing the four, at least not initially.

"While I can see at times he’ll play there and maybe play a good number of minutes there," Finch told Hine earlier this month. "I don’t see that right off the bat, and I don’t necessarily, in my mind’s eye, see that as a starting lineup with him there.”

The other options to start at power forward include Ayo Dosunmu along with the aforementioned Green and Shannon. Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly has mentioned that their starting power forward might seem out of left field to some, which would be in line with starting any of Dosunmu, Green, or Shannon.

When .@DanBarreiroKFAN asked Tim Connelly about Chris Finch's recent comments that Jaden McDaniels might not be Minnesota's starting power forward, Connelly said they have some internal options they are confident in that might be "left-fieldish" to some.
— Charlie Walton (@CharlieWaltonMN) July 15, 2026

While all three players can potentially guard bigger guys, they would all ultimately be fairly undersized at the position and would likely need McDaniels to take on much of the defense and rebounding duties normally associated with power forward.

Getting LeBron was always the dream. It would have solved nearly all of the Timberwolves' roster issues and likely would have vaulted them into indisputable championship-contender status among the likes of the Thunder and Spurs.

As with many dreams, though, you wake up, realize none of it was real, and have to go on with the rest of your day. With James now in Philadelphia, the Wolves can now go on with the rest of their offseason, with work still left to be done.

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