Minnesota reshaped its entire backcourt in a matter of weeks, but the frontcourt still needs one more piece before this roster looks finished.
Trey Lyles landing in Minnesota on a one-year, minimum salary deal looked almost like an afterthought next to everything else the Timberwolves did this summer, yet it fit a pattern that had already taken shape.
The shakeup started right after a season that ended with Minnesota upsetting Denver in six games as a six seed, only to run into a bigger, deeper San Antonio team and lose in six games in the second round.
Tim Connelly and the front office moved fast once the offseason opened, sending Julius Randle and a first-round pick to Brooklyn in a three-team deal that cleared roughly $36 million in room, then flipping Naz Reid to Charlotte days later as the headline piece in a trade for LaMelo Ball and Josh Green.
That same burst of cap space let Minnesota lock up Ayo Dosunmu on a five-year extension, bring back reserve guard Bones Hyland, and keep Donte DiVincenzo off the trade block even while he works his way back from a torn Achilles.
A Backcourt Built Around Two Stars
Pairing Ball with an Edwards who is coming off a season averaging 28.8 points a game gives Minnesota the shot creator it has chased since Edwards arrived, and Ball himself posted 20.1 points and 7.1 assists a night in his final year with the Hornets.
Reaction to the pairing has leaned enthusiastic on all sides, and it should.
What the move does not fix is the hole it created up front.
Losing Randle and Reid in the same week stripped Minnesota of its top two power forwards, and Jaden McDaniels now looks like the default answer at a spot he never signed up to hold down for 82 games.
DiVincenzo would normally help soften that blow with his shooting, since he made close to 38 percent of his threes last season, but nobody in Minnesota can promise when the Achilles will let him handle that role again.
One Spot Still Needs Filling
Rudy Gobert, who just turned 34 with his numbers quietly slipping the last two seasons, is still the only proven big left on the roster besides 19-year-old Joan Beringer.
Lyles, for all the shooting touch he showed helping Real Madrid reach a EuroLeague final this year, was never going to replace what Reid gave that bench on his own.
Money is the real obstacle now.
Minnesota is capped near the taxpayer mid-level exception, worth about $6 million, nowhere close to the three-year, $51 million deal John Collins just signed in Detroit, so Connelly is stuck picking from cheaper veterans such as Kelly Olynyk or Maxi Kleber, forwards who can space the floor without needing a heavy role.
Most of the realistic names being floated line up around that same price range.
Obviously they are in the running for one LeBron James, but there are obvious location obstacles surrounding that move.
Whatever name Connelly lands on, the fit needs to guard bigger frontcourts than Minnesota saw against San Antonio, back when a 49-33 team with a healthier Reid still lost in six games.
Adding one more body up front is what separates a backcourt overhaul from a roster that is actually finished.
