Brian Windhorst Reveals Why Minnesota Timberwolves Are In Trouble

The Minnesota Timberwolves made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals this year.

Obviously they put up something of a disappointing showing against the Dallas Mavericks, but the future still looks bright in Minnesota.

Or so most assumed.

According to ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst, though – the future may not be too rosy for the Wolves.

“When you’re talking about the Wolves’ future, you have to kind of take a step back and understand everything that’s going on. they’re headed for basically a financial cliff, okay?” he began.

“Because now that this season is over, Ant Edwards, rightfully so, after making the All-NBA team, just hit the supermax as a four-year player. Congrats to him. He got a $40 million extra bonus on his contract for making All-NBA. That contract starts July 1st.”

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Then there’s Karl-Anthony Towns.

“Karl-Anthony Towns, made All-NBA two years ago, signed a humongous $250 million contract extension,” Windhorst continued.

“His key was within his contract, but his new contract begins on July 1st. He’s getting a $13 million raise over what was already a $35 million salary.”

Windhorst didn’t stop there.

“They have a bunch of other high dollar players on the roster, including Rudy Gobert, who, by the way, is eligible for an extension this summer,” he continued.

“They’re going to have to deal with. They just signed Jaden McDaniels to $130 million contract that starts July 1st, guys, and he earned it.”

The reality of the situation, as noted by Windhorst, is that Minnesota is not Los Angeles or New York. The Timberwolves play by different rules than the Los Angeles Lakers or New York Knicks.

“We are not in New York City,” Windhorst continued.

“This team is not owned by someone worth $100 billion, like the LA Clippers. And not only that, the ownership situation is in flux. Mark Lurie and Alex Rodriguez are in a legal battle with Glenn Taylor about who’s gonna own the team going forward.”

As far as Windhorst is concerned, there are very real questions about this team going forward.

“Even if it is Glenn Taylor, he has only paid a little bit of luxury tax in the entire time he’s owned the team,” Windhorst noted.

“He’d have to pay more luxury tax this next season than all of his years owning the Wolves combined, probably double. So when you think about the Wolves, you can’t think about whether this team needs to change. You have to think about whether they can afford to keep this team together.”

Will the Timberwolves be able to keep this group together long-term? Time will tell.

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Anthony Amador

A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.