MINNEAPOLIS — Paging Rob Brzezinski. Mr. Rob Brzezinski. Your magic tricks are needed across town.
The long-tenured Vikings executive is regarded as a salary cap whiz because of his ability to perform financial gymnastics in signing a player within a suffocating financial squeeze.
The Timberwolves could use a little of his salary cap tap dancing.
Truthfully, even that might not be enough to save the organization from what looks like an inevitable departure of a cornerstone player sometime between this summer and next summer.
The financial picture simply doesn't appear plausible otherwise.
The signing of Naz Reid this week means the team will spend more than $100 million on three big men alone — Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Reid — starting with the 2024-25 season, if nothing changes.
That's when Towns' supermax contract kicks in at $52 million. Gobert is on the books for $44 million. Reid's new deal puts him at $14 million.
Then there's a max contract awaiting Anthony Edwards around $35 million. And Jaden McDaniels is set to score a big payday, as well.
Towns, Gobert, Edwards, McDaniels — all on big-money deals. How is that going to work financially within salary cap confines while also constructing the rest of the roster? The luxury tax threshold for next season is projected to be $165 million. Even if the cap rises another 10% the following season, the problems still exist.
The only way the math works is if ownership swallows hard and absorbs a steep financial hit with the luxury tax, which becomes only palatable if a team is selling out its arena every night and legitimately contending for a championship. The new CBA will impose harsher penalties for teams that spend into the luxury tax.
Towns took a weird victory lap on a recent podcast self-congratulating the Wolves for surviving the play-in tournament before getting ousted in the first round. Call it a hunch, but Wolves owners will need far more convincing than that before they're willing to accept luxury tax ramifications to keep the current core intact.
Team officials have expressed a desire publicly to run it back with the same roster after injuries disrupted last season. Basketball boss Tim Connelly staked the organization's future on his Gobert gamble and he'd like to get a full accounting of the Towns-Gobert experiment before pivoting to a different blueprint.
Connelly has time to push the decision until next summer, but the situation only becomes more challenging the longer he waits.
Trading one of the big men remains the most logical answer to their financial crunch. Gobert's value on the market would be minuscule, which makes KAT the more attractive trade candidate. He would command the greatest return, even coming off an injury-marred season.
Towns is entering Year 9 in the NBA. His strengths and weaknesses are no secret around the league. Plus, trading him before his supermax deal kicks in would give the team more flexibility.
Connelly would be wise to explore that option. Edwards should be the focal point of every organizational decision now. Build the best team possible around him as he continues to grow and mature into a superstar.
Reid's signing provides a safety net if the team moves Towns. Reid's rapid improvement has elevated his role and value, and his salary in 2024-25 will be $38 million less than Towns'.
The organization has reached yet another inflection point. The Gobert trade was done with the intent of being an immediate contender. Even if the Wolves avoid their usual self-sabotaging ways and emerge as a true threat in the West, the luxury tax is a tough sell to those paying the bills, especially for more than a season or two.
The Wolves will have too many top-dollar contracts on the books soon. Removing one of them is the most feasible solution.
