2026 NBA

Draft

What I’m hearing about the Timberwolves’ plans on the eve of the draft

Re-signing Ayo Dosunmu is a top offseason priority for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Alex Slitz / Getty Images

MINNEAPOLIS — If the Minnesota Timberwolves have their way, they won’t be picking at No. 28 in the first round of the NBA Draft on Tuesday night.

President of basketball operations Tim Connelly has been canvassing the league looking for trade opportunities, team and league sources told The Athletic. They were granted anonymity because talks are ongoing and no deals have been completed. The Wolves’ scenarios include trading the 28th pick as part of a package for a veteran or moving up in the first round. When Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr., who is projected to go well before then, agreed to come to Minnesota last weekend for a workout, it was an indication that the Wolves have explored moving up in the draft.

Connelly needs a dancing partner to make something happen. With the draft beginning on Tuesday, weeks of talks, negotiations and proposals have yet to yield any results. This is a deadline-driven league, so action could start picking up as the Washington Wizards’ No. 1 pick approaches. But the clock is ticking for a Wolves team that wants to make some changes after losing to San Antonio in the second round of the playoffs and watching former Wolf Karl-Anthony Towns win a championship with the New York Knicks.

The list of veterans whom the Wolves have discussed this spring includes the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Dallas Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving, the New Orleans Pelicans’ Trey Murphy III, the Chicago Bulls’ Josh Giddey, the Boston Celtics’ Derrick White and many more. A couple of important caveats are that every team in the league is considering veteran help, and that having interest in a player does not mean any potential trades have ever been close.

But the Wolves know they need more than they currently have to close the gap on the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference. As Anthony Edwards approaches his prime years, there is more urgency than ever to surround him with the talent needed not just to compete, as the Wolves have done over the last three years, but to contend for a championship. Edwards will turn 25 in August. He has played in three straight second rounds and reached the conference finals in 2024 and ’25. That level of success is unprecedented in Timberwolves history. It is also no longer enough.

During this season’s playoff run, players and coaches regularly referenced championship aspirations. They had a running countdown on the whiteboard of their locker room, not the sign of a team that expected to be bounced in the second round. After beating the Denver Nuggets in the first round, coach Chris Finch said that they “didn’t come here to beat the Nuggets; we came to win a championship.” That is what happens when a superstar like Edwards comes along and is buttressed by a young core including Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid, and veterans like Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert, who are in or nearing the end of their primes.

That is the bar. And Towns’ climb to the top has only made that hunger stronger in the organization and in the fanbase. This time of year is ripe with rumors and nuggets (not Denver). Much of the discussion right after the season is over is largely pointless. Executives and agents are jockeying for position, making outlandish offers and taking turns hanging up on one another.

For instance, team sources say one team that shall remain nameless to protect the shameless called the Timberwolves and offered a sparingly used bench player averaging single-digit points for Reid.

Here is what we do know as of now, with the acknowledgement that things can change very quickly this time of year:

The Antetokounmpo sweepstakes

During the playoffs, The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Eric Nehm laid out the landscape for a Giannis deal and included the Timberwolves among the potential landing spots. There are many complicating factors for Minnesota here, including the relative lack of draft capital they have to offer (they can trade two first-round draft picks) and the financial cost for a team filled with considerable contracts. Antetokounmpo is eligible for a four-year, $275 million contract extension this fall, which is nothing to overlook for a player who has faced a fair amount of injuries in recent seasons.

The Bucks have yet to pull the trigger on a deal, with the belief around the league that they are underwhelmed by offers on the table from the Miami Heat and the Celtics, widely considered to be the two most aggressive pursuers of the two-time MVP.

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As Amick and Nehm reported 10 days ago, the Timberwolves have to be considered in this race because Connelly has been trying to get his hands on a big-name star to pair with Edwards for years. He tried to trade for Antetokounmpo at the trade deadline in February. Last year, he had his sights set on Kevin Durant.

So far, there has been little traction between the Wolves and Bucks in large part because Milwaukee has insisted on McDaniels being a part of any offer. Understandably, Bucks GM Jon Horst would demand McDaniels in a deal for one of the top five players in the world, especially from a team that has a relatively paltry number of draft picks to offer.

The Wolves have been holding firm on saying no on McDaniels, team sources said. Center Joan Beringer is also a player the Wolves want to keep because of his size, athleticism and feel for the game. What the Wolves do not want to do is liquidate their depth in making a trade to pair the 31-year-old Antetokounmpo with Edwards.

The longer the Bucks go without getting a deal done with another team, the more the door stays open for Minnesota. But it seems like a very long shot at this point.

The veteran landscape

The offseason began with the Timberwolves looking at Irving to be the experienced, ballhandling guard they needed alongside Edwards. With Irving missing all of last season while recovering from a torn ACL and having turned 34 in March, the price tag to get him was considered not as high as Antetokounmpo’s.

But The Stein Line has reported that the Mavericks expect to keep Irving to play alongside rising star Cooper Flagg. Whether that is genuine or they do not like what the Wolves have to offer is unclear and, ultimately, irrelevant. The Wolves have been looking elsewhere for guard help for some time.

Minnesota has been most aggressive in pursuing White, the Celtics’ defensive mastermind who has the experience and the savvy to help Edwards and the Wolves break through in the West. White turns 32 next month and saw his 3-point shooting percentage drop considerably this season, but so far the Celtics have rebuffed the Wolves’ advances.

Giddey is another intriguing name, especially given the Bulls’ new regime that was not responsible for bringing him to Chicago. But the Wolves have not received indications that the Bulls are willing to deal him, at least for what Minnesota can offer.

Murphy figures to have many suitors on the market, but he doesn’t scratch the Wolves’ facilitating itch right now. Still, adding a young, skilled player like him, even at a position of less need, would be smart business.

Another player the Wolves should consider is Memphis guard Scotty Pippen Jr. He only played 10 games last year for the Memphis Grizzlies because of toe injuries but has established a reputation for being a hard-nosed competitor and capable shot creator in four seasons in the league. It is unclear if the Wolves have inquired about Pippen this summer.

Ayo Dosunmu

It can be fun to talk about shiny new toys, but Connelly has already said that his biggest priority this summer is to re-sign Dosunmu. The Wolves parted with Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller and four second-round picks to land Dosunmu, who looked to be a perfect fit for a team in need of scoring and playmaking in the backcourt. He scored 43 points in Minnesota’s Game 4 win over Denver in the first round but battled calf issues for much of the playoffs.

The Wolves have had many discussions with Dosunmu’s agent and are still trying to find a common ground on a new deal. Connelly expressed optimism about bringing him back, and role players around the league are starting to sign deals before things get wild in free agency in July.

Dosunmu’s side could have leverage because of the optics of the Wolves giving up on Dillingham, the player for whom they traded a future first-round pick in 2024. Losing Dosunmu to another team would be bad asset management. To this point in his Wolves career, Connelly has been adept at getting contracts done when he is determined to keep a player. Stay tuned.

What’s going on in Minnesota?

Apologies for co-opting our friend Brian Windhorst’s meme-able moment from four years ago when he laid out the bread crumbs for the Utah Jazz rebuild. But it was very interesting when Philon, a 6-foot-3 guard listed as No. 20 on Sam Vecenie’s big board, posted a photo from downtown Minneapolis on his social media on Friday night.

Philon has long been projected to go before the Wolves are on the clock with their first-round draft pick, and prospects will rarely travel to visit a team outside of the established range this close to the draft.

Overall 20 Guard 9 Labaron Philon Jr. Alabama

Highly skilled guard who’s pro-ready but lacks explosiveness and size.

Read full profile ›

The Timberwolves will often keep these kinds of last-minute looks under wraps, including the one in Chicago last summer when Connelly and friends went to see Beringer up close and personal.

If the Wolves wanted this one to be clandestine as well, that was all blown up when Philon posted that photo. He fits Connelly’s preferred profile of a scoring guard, and the Wolves have a desperate need for a young playmaker to one day stand tall next to Edwards.

A team source said Philon performed very well in the workout on Saturday, but this is the kind of thing that feels almost a little too obvious. Why would Philon come to Minnesota this late in the process if he didn’t think the Wolves would be in a position to draft him? And why would it be out there in big, bold letters for the rest of the NBA to see? It is all very curious.

Fortunately, the wait will soon be over.

Jun 23, 2026

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