The Timberwolves' Rebuilding Process Is Already Screwed, Maybe

The Minnesota Timberwolves made the biggest trade of the summer when they shipped out wantaway superstar Kevin Love to the Cavaliers for top pick Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins' arrival kickstarts a long-needed rebuilding project, but the team is already threatening to compromise that by committing long-term money to two asynchronous point guards: Ricky Rubio, and now, Eric Bledsoe.

Minnesota has a history of overpaying for players who don't meld with the team's on-court strategy or future plans. Now, despite a summer that started off ideally, they could be doing it again. The Timberwolves played Golden State and Cleveland off each other in the Love sweepstakes perfectly, and left the negotiating table with the first overall picks from the last two drafts. Wiggins in particular is a mighty return. He has the physical tools to be a top-notch defender and 20 point per game scorer right out the gate and has the potential to be much more than that a few years from now.

Who Minnesota surrounds him with is another matter. They have $19 million per year committed to Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Martin for the next three years, and they have decisions to make on Rubio and Thad Young. Complicating it all further is their interest in offering Bledsoe a max contract. In Wiggins, the foundation is set, but the structure they are trying to build around him is uncertain. All small market teams have to gamble on players because they'll always have less options than their richer counterparts. But is Bledsoe the smart play?

Zachary Bennett of canishoopus.com and Hardwood Paroxysm told me he doesn't think "there's a whole lot of momentum with the Bledsoe thing." Bledsoe and the incumbent Rubio are both demanding max salaries, which would put the Wolves over the salary cap. They wouldn't work as a pairing because neither can shoot and the team desperately needs spacing given Pekovic's immobility and Wiggins' still nascent jumper. Then again, talent is talent, and Bledsoe certainly can play.

But even if the Wolves manage to sign Bledsoe, they won't be able to escape their inherent limitations as a small market team. They won't ever get a lot of chances to sign new players. Who they sign is who they will have to roll with for the foreseeable future. Bledsoe inspires anxiety not because he's flawed, but because he represents a concrete commitment.

"The Wolves, in their 25 year history, have never landed a big free agent ever, not one," Bennett reminded me. They've had to take their checkbook out for second-tier players "but that's the price you pay when you're the Minnesota Timberwolves." It's true. Pekovic and Wally Szczerbiak are two of their most expensive free agent signings and neither quite produced up to their salaries. Nor has Rubio produced enough to warrant the max contract he wants, which would make a long-term commitment very risky. With Martin and Pekovic on the books for three more years, committing to Rubio or Bledsoe or both would set the Wolves' core in place and cripple their financial flexibility.

But as risky as that all is, they don't have a lot of other options. Minneapolis isn't a destination city and the franchise has to make the most out of Wiggins' time on a rookie contract. Ricky Rubio is a player with severe offensive shortcomings, but he may be the best point guard the Wolves can realistically expect to pair with Wiggins. Bennett thinks Rubio will end up with the Wolves for "Steph Curry money," which is four years at $12 million per year. Even with that reduced salary, the Wolves would be fairly calcified. Owner Glen Taylor is, like many small market team owners, notorious for not spending over the luxury tax.

If the Wolves move forward with a Wiggins-Rubio-Pekovic core adorned with Martin, Young, and Anthony Bennett, they will probably continue to miss the playoffs unless all their young players take significant steps. Without the chance to fill in their gaps on the open market, the Wolves would have to hope they can grow their core from within.

However, coach Flip Saunders has suggested that the old model for small market clubs may be dying: destination cities, he says, are being replaced by destination players. If he's right and Wiggins fulfills his massive potential, then Wiggins' presence will supersede the Minnesota factor and the Wolves will be on level turf with the New Yorks and Los Angeles's of the world. After all, the recently departed Love has already said he wants to stay in Cleveland, another small market, and play long term with LeBron James. Regardless of what they do with Rubio or Bledsoe, if they are going to become a title contender, the Wolves need Wiggins to become a superstar, and Saunders to be right. Really, everything has to go right.