The Minnesota Timberwolves have one of the worst GM jobs in the NBA. That’s certainly up for debate, but in the eyes of The Ringer’s Ryen Russillo, it’s truth.
On the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Show, Russillo and Simmons went back and forth drafting teams they would least like to take over as the general manager of and with the third overall pick Russillo took the Wolves. Charlotte and Chicago were the only two teams picked ahead of Minnesota.
Russillo opened his argument discussing the finances of team and how much they’ll be paying Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns over the next two years.
“I’m going to take Minnesota. Even with our favorite player, Anthony Edwards,” Russillo started. “Gobert is going to be $41, $44, $47 million. Then Karl-Anthony Towns, who I’m just not a huge fan of, $36, $50, $54, $58 million. Player option for $62 million that’s in 27-28.”
“[Mike] Conley, they have to make a decision on his contract. So there’s some depth stuff there,” continued Russillo. “Look, Jaden [McDaniels] has been a nice story for them but him to be really something, you’re going to have to see a little bit more from his offense as well. And that’s with one of my single favorite players in the league. Like, if I give you my list of five favorite players in the NBA, Anthony Edwards is on that list. You factor in those two guys. We already know this. They have the draft picks they moved out.”
The Wolves traded first-round picks in 2023, ’25, ’27 and ’29, plus five players last summer to Utah for Gobert.
Despite the rising presence of Edwards, Russillo still labeled the Minnesota as one of the worst jobs due to a perceived lack of flexibility to build around the 21-year-old star.
“We already know Milwaukee is at some point going to have reinvent this thing on the fly with stage two or three of whatever Giannis is,” said Russillo. “I don’t even know if Minnesota will be able to do it in a way that helps the rest of the roster when they have to figure out who they’re going to be. Because I think Edwards will be that good and pretending that he’s not the number one option as they move forward is probably just a waste of everyone’s time.”
