The Timberwolves made their first trade of the deadline season Tuesday afternoon, and have nothing to show for it.
Minnesota traded veteran guard Mike Conley to Chicago as part of a three-team deal in which the Wolves also give secondary pick swap rights for their 2026 first-round draft selection to Detroit. A source confirmed the move, which was first reported by ESPN.
In return, Minnesota gets nothing more than cash considerations.
The move will currently be billed as a flexibility producer that opens up a roster spot and moves the Timberwolves below the first apron of the salary cap. Those traits make Minnesota’s legitimate pursuit of acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo a touch easier.
But should no such move come to fruition, Conley’s departure will serve as nothing more than a cost cutter. The Timberwolves are now less than $4 million away from getting underneath the luxury tax entirely, which would serve as a major financial boon for new majority owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported Minnesota’s luxury tax bill dropped from $24 million to $3.8 million with Tuesday’s move.
Conley was on the books for north of $10 million this season but his play had declined in his 38-year-old campaign. While the floor general was still careful with the ball on offense and a strong team defender, he didn’t score in either of Minnesota’s last two games in Memphis. And his 3-point shooting has fallen off a cliff in recent months.
Yet Conley still possessed value as an on-floor leader for Minnesota, a team sometimes deficient in the decision-making department.
It was Conley’s arrival amid the 2022-23 campaign that truly turned around the Rudy Gobert era in Minnesota, both in that season and, more notably, in the two years that followed. He fast-tracked the center’s assimilation into the Timberwolves’ scheme and locker room.
Conley is a major reason the Wolves reached consecutive Western Conference Finals.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Minnesota could have received Chicago guard Coby White in the trade and didn’t. White is the type of scoring threat Minnesota could desperately use off the bench, and would have filled in nicely as the Timberwolves’ No. 7 man in their rotation — a spot vacated by Conley.
A thin roster just got thinner, with more onus now falling on the likes of Jaylen Clark, Bones Hyland and potentially even second-year wing Terrence Shannon Jr. upon his return from injury. All three of those players have shown promise but struggled with consistency.
Conley may potentially be bought out by the Bulls, at which point he can sign with another contender of his choosing and chase the NBA title that has long eluded him.
As for Minnesota, sending Conley to Chicago without making a roster improvement will only make sense if the Timberwolves use the ensuing 48 hours to make the team better. Acquiring Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee would certainly fit that bill.
If no such move takes place, the motivations behind Tuesday’s maneuver will require further examination.
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