The Minnesota Timberwolves entered this season with major questions about their financial situation going forward. Even beyond the team’s ownership situation that remains up in the air, the Wolves did some wheeling and dealing to acquire Rob Dillingham in the NBA Draft so they could have a young player on a longer deal and traded Karl-Anthony Towns this offseason in what was, in part, considered a money saving maneuver.
Right before the start of their year, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the team extended a core piece in such a way that it provides a little financial flexibility. Rudy Gobert, the Wolves’ star center and the anchor of their stout defense, agreed to a 3-year extension that will pay him $110 million over the life of the deal. The catch is that, in order to make this happen, Gobert will decline the player option in his contract for the 2025-26 season, which would have cost the team $46.6 million, and he’ll receive both a player option on the final year of his new extension and a trade kicker.
The Wolves pulled off a blockbuster trade to bring Gobert to Minnesota ahead of the 2022-23 season, and while the team experiences some growing pains during his first season, things changed in a big way last year. Gobert anchored the league’s most ferocious defense as Minnesota won 56 games and made it to the Western Conference Finals for the second time in franchise history.