Timberwolves Offseason Preview: Will Minnesota Make Another Push for Giannis Antetokounmpo?

The Timberwolves failed to reach the Western Conference finals this season for the first time since 2023. After two straight WCF appearances, Minnesota was knocked out of this year’s postseason bracket by the young Spurs and Victor Wembanyama, who finished off the Wolves in six games in the second round.

It marks a disappointing end for a title contender, even if it comes amid one of the most successful stretches in franchise history. With superstar Anthony Edwards flanked by expensive talent in Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert, Minnesota’s expectations were pretty close to championship-or-bust level. However, the injury context can’t be ignored even in acknowledging the team fell short of their goals. Edwards was hobbled coming into the playoffs thanks to a right knee injury and hurt his left knee against the Nuggets in the first round; more devastatingly the roster watched Donte DiVincenzo go down with a torn Achilles that same game.

Through that lens, it is pretty impressive Minnesota made it this far at all. The Wolves finished off Denver despite missing Edwards and DiVincenzo before giving San Antonio a run for its money in the second round with Edwards visibly moving at far below 100%. Playoff development from Jaden McDaniels, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Ayo Dosunmu was exciting to see and largely offsets disappointing stretches from veterans Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert’s difficult second-round matchup.

All in all, something of a mixed bag for the Timberwolves this season. Which means this offseason could prove quite active if Minnesota president of basketball operations Tim Connelly isn’t interested in sitting on his hands. And historically he does not do that for very long.

Let’s break down everything that will go into this offseason in Minnesota, as well as the possibility that the Wolves engage in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes after being one of his top suitors at the trade deadline this year.

Looking at the Timberwolves’ free agents this offseason

The roster’s biggest names are all under contract for next year. But there are important tertiary pieces who will need new deals or head elsewhere this offseason.

The most significant impending free agent is Dosunmu. He was acquired at the deadline for a handful of second-round picks and offered an outstanding return on that investment. Dosunmu fit like a glove into coach Chris Finch’s offense as a backcourt spark plug off the bench. That was obvious even before he became a folk hero in Minnesota playoff history by dropping 43 to beat the Nuggets in the game Edwards and DiVincenzo got hurt.

He’s joined in this category by Bones Hyland. The Timberwolves signed Hyland with his career on life support last season, and he turned in a solid enough campaign off the bench to believe he can be a capable member of an NBA rotation with some scoring upside. Both he and Dosunmu will be unrestricted free agents.

Minnesota is also facing a potential exodus of its veteran leadership. Mike Conley Jr., Joe Ingles and Kyle Anderson are all set to hit the open market. Conley was actually shipped out of town in the Dosnumu trade but stepped in once DiVincenzo went down in the playoffs and hit a few big shots. Anderson didn’t play much after joining the team as a buyout player late in the year, and Ingles is reportedly ready to put a bow on his NBA career; he’s set to head home to Australia with the season done. As on-court contributors all three aren’t key to what the Wolves want to do but the locker room presences of Conley and Anderson might merit another deal.

To top it all off, the Timberwolves will have to make decisions on restricted free agents Jaylen Clark (13.1 minutes per game off the bench this year) and two-way forward Enrique Freedman. They’ll also have to make a call on Julian Phillips’s team option for $2.4 million.

Unrestricted free agents:

Ayo Dosunmu
Bones Hyland
Mike Conley Jr.
Kyle Anderson
Joe Ingles

Restricted free agents:

Jaylen Clark
Enrique Freedman

Team options:

Julian Phillips

Is Giannis Antetokounmpo in play for the Timberwolves this summer?

What decisions Minnesota makes about its impending free agents (and, indeed, the direction the front office will take this summer) revolves around whether Antetokounmpo is a legitimate trade option.

The Wolves were reported as one of the teams that most heavily pursued the Greek superstar at the deadline when the Bucks were listening to offers. Connelly is the leader of the front office and has a decorated history of taking home run swings; he launched this prolific era of Minnesota basketball by trading a haul of picks for Rudy Gobert and then Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle. If he was sniffing around the Antetokounmpo situation in the middle of last season, he’s guaranteed to do so again this offseason.

Could they be in the running? Absolutely. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix reported at the deadline the Timberwolves believed Antetokounmpo would “welcome” a deal to Minnesota. And because they enter the offseason a sliver below the first apron, the Wolves have no restrictions in terms of how many players they can include in a trade package.

As a matter of financial course, any Antetokounmpo trade would have to involve at least two of the Gobert-Randle-McDaniels-Naz Reid quartet. Minnesota has to include enough money to match Antetokounmpo’s $54 million salary and using two or three of those salaries is the only way to do so without including Edwards, who is obviously off-limits. The Wolves probably wouldn’t have a problem including Gobert or Randle as two veterans who are probably past their peak but would they add McDaniels or Reid, who are only just hitting their primes?

They might have to because the other obstacle for Minnesota is a lack of draft assets. Thanks to the Gobert trade the Wolves don’t have a first-rounder to offer until 2033; they can trade their 2026 first-rounder if the transaction happens on draft night, but not before. The cupboard is completely barren. So if the Bucks are prioritizing draft picks in return for their superstar player, Minnesota will have to loop in a third team to provide said assets, or flip its own talent on the roster right now to acquire those picks before making an Antetokounmpo offer.

Connelly is one of the top deal-makers in the NBA, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him pull off some convoluted transaction involving multiple teams that gets Giannis to the Twin Cities. But it won’t be cheap and might require blowing up the young core the front office has built around Edwards.

Other moves the Timberwolves could make

Of course, there’s a strong possibility the Wolves get outbid for Antetokounmpo’s services. In that case, it will probably still be a busy offseason in Minnesota.

Connelly considering an Antetokounmpo trade should be a sign that he believes the roster must add another top-tier talent to compete for titles, a reality quickly forming in front of his face as Wemby comes into his own as a playoff monster with the Thunder looming as title favorites for years to come. It’s fair to believe this core has reached its ceiling. What's more, Gobert and Randle both boast moveable contracts and skillsets that still hold value, even if more for other teams than this Minnesota roster.

Flipping one or both of them makes sense, especially given the successors waiting in the wings with McDaniels ready to take a bigger role and the potential of 2025 first-round pick Joan Beringer. It also might be the only way to substantively improve the roster given DiVincenzo’s $12.5 million salary will be seen as deadweight money given the strong probability he’ll be out for all of next season.

On the draft front, the Wolves are slated to pick 28th and Sports Illustrated’s latest mock from Bryan Fischer has Ebuka Okorie as the selection. It makes sense that Minnesota would want to add backcourt talent given DiVincenzo’s injury, whether via this pick or wielding it as trade fodder.

Ultimately the Timberwolves’ overarching goal should be providing Edwards with as much talent as possible to win games. Connelly did a great job of that upon coming to Minnesota and it resulted in several deep playoff runs. But now he must retool if the Wolves want to seriously compete with the West powers for a championship.

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