Big Timberwolves news Monday morning as Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that Jaylen Nowell is expected to see what he can get as an unrestricted free agent after the season.
That detail is within Charania’s wider report that says the Timberwolves have engaged in contract extension talks with Nowell and Naz Reid, but saying that Nowell “is expected to bypass a new deal and enter unrestricted free agency next offseason.”
Reid and Nowell were key in a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday night, combining for 21 of Minnesota’s 34 points in the fourth quarter. Reid scored all 14 of his points in the quarter.
Nowell is off to a fast start, averaging 15 points per game to immediately put himself in the Sixth Man of the Year conversation. And he’s proved to be a reliable No. 2 scorer in a lineup combination featuring Anthony Edwards and four reserves.
It was the group of Edwards, Nowell, Reid, Taurean Prince, and Jordan McLaughlin that dominated the Thunder in the fourth quarter, allowing Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and D’Angelo Russell to rest the final 12 minutes ahead of the second part of a back-to-back Monday night at the San Antonio Spurs.
Nowell, 23, testing free agency doesn’t guarantee that he’ll leave the Timberwolves. If D’Angelo Russell, also a free agent after the season, doesn’t re-sign, it would open up the possibility of paying Nowell.
Of course, we’re three games into the season and a lot will change by the time free agency begins next summer.
