The 2019-20 season brought an overhaul of the Minnesota Timberwolves, with only Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Okogie as holdovers from the season before. After a promising 10-8 start, the Wolves started piling up losses and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.
Now the focus shifts to building around their two franchise players -- Towns and D'Angelo Russell -- with a complement of young players, their own free agents and the No. 1 pick in the draft.
Here are the biggest decisions the Wolves will face going into the October draft and free agency.
Note: The financials in here are based on the salary cap and luxury tax holding at the 2019-20 levels, as expected.
MORE: Biggest trade, free agency and draft decisions for every eliminated NBA team
Treating the draft as free agency
Minnesota will have no cap flexibility this offseason. But with three picks in the top 33 of the draft, including the top pick overall, the Wolves have the opportunity to reload their roster -- via the draft, via trade or both.
The Timberwolves hold the No. 1 pick, plus the Nets' pick (No. 17) and their own second-round pick (potentially No. 33).
Here are some questions they'll try to solve before the Oct. 16 draft:
1. Can the roster sustain three draft picks?
Minnesota finished the season as the youngest team in the NBA, with an average age of 24.1. Adding three picks to a roster that returns 11 players would make the Wolves even younger.
That might push them to consider trades.
2. Can we find the same player in the 4-6 range instead of No. 1?
Unlike last year when there was a consensus No. 1 in Zion Williamson, this year there are no impact players staring at them with the top pick.
Does swapping firsts with a team like New York (No. 1 for No. 8) and getting other draft assets (the two first-round picks from Dallas) plus a young player like Kevin Knox make sense?
As a related question, should they prioritize "best available" or "best fit"? Typically, in the top 10, teams aim to choose the best available player. That thinking could shift a little this year.
For example, does Minnesota take a player like LaMelo Ball, whom many consider the best prospect in the draft? Or do the Wolves draft a player like Anthony Edwards, who might be a better fit?
3. How about a trade into the lower part of the lottery?
Does the combination of the Nets' first and the Wolves' second get Minnesota into the lottery (10-14 range)? Is there a team like San Antonio that would drop back four spots to acquire an early second (No. 33)?
Those are the questions that teams ask themselves -- and other teams -- leading up to a draft.
4. What is the value of the Nets' first?
One way to treat the draft like free agency is to trade a pick for a player. Last year the Suns, for instance, traded the No. 24 pick to Boston for Aron Baynes.
The Wolves have players, including Jacob Evans ($2.0 million salary) and Omari Spellman ($2.0 million), who can be used as salary filler in a trade. There are four teams -- Houston, Indiana, LA Clippers and Memphis -- without a first-rounder in October.
The Nets' pick could also be traded for a future first-round pick.
5. Can pick No. 33 turn into multiple future draft assets?
A recent example of a similar move: Detroit traded the No. 30 pick last year to Cleveland for four future second-round picks.
Because second-round picks are not on a rookie-scale contract, teams have the flexibility to structure the terms of the deal. Last year, Minnesota signed second-round pick Jaylen Nowell to a four-year, $6.6 million contract, but only the first year of the contract was guaranteed.
The free agency of Beasley and Hernangomez
The February trade for Malik Beasley and Juancho Hernangomez was supposed to be a job audition as they approached restricted free agency. Minnesota expected to have two months to evaluate them. Instead, the Timberwolves' season would end in mid-March with Beasley and Hernangomez playing just 14 games.
Still, both showed enough to prove they should be priorities for the Wolves.
Beasley bet on himself, turning down a three-year, $30 million rookie extension in Denver. With no cap space to protect, the Wolves can be aggressive in re-signing Beasley and offer him something in the range of three years at $39 million total -- a deal comparable to Orlando's with Terrence Ross last summer.
They could also let one of the few teams with cap space come in with an offer sheet and see how that plays out, knowing they can choose to match or not.
The price tag of Hernangomez could be determined by what the Timberwolves do in the draft. For alternatives at power forward, Minnesota has only 33-year-old reserve James Johnson, and his contract expires after the 2020-21 season.
A salary comp for Hernangomez is the three-year, $14.5 million contract Kevon Looney signed with the Warriors.
Starting salaries for Beasley at $13 million and Hernangomez at $5 million would see Minnesota with $126 million in salary, $6 million under a luxury tax threshold of $132.7 million.
At a minimum the Timberwolves will extend a $3.8 million, one-year qualifying offer to Beasley and $4.6 million to Hernangomez.
Offseason cap breakdown
Minnesota has $96 million in committed salary but is over the cap.
The Timberwolves have two first-round picks that count for $12 million in cap holds, plus $18 million in free-agent holds for Beasley and Hernangomez.
The Timberwolves will have the $9.3 million midlevel and $3.6 million biannual exceptions available.
They also have a $1.7 million trade exception.
Resources available to build the roster
The draft: The No. 1 pick and two more draft picks in the top 35
Their restricted free agents: Malik Beasley and Juancho Hernangomez
Young core: Jarrett Culver, Josh Okogie and Naz Reid
$9.3 million midlevel and $3.6 million biannual exception
$2.0 million to receive and $5.6 million to send in a trade
Dates to watch
• Minnesota will tender Malik Beasley and Juancho Hernangomez one-year qualifying offers by Oct. 17.
• Naz Reid ($1.5 million), Jaylen Nowell ($1.5 million) and Jarred Vanderbilt ($1.7 million) have non-guaranteed contracts. The Vanderbilt contract becomes fully protected if he is not waived by Nov. 1.
Restrictions
• Until their contracts are guaranteed, Reid's, Nowell's and Vanderbilt's salaries do not count in a trade.
• Because there is a $5.6 million cap on how much money a team can receive each year in trades, Minnesota is restricted to $2.0 million. The Timberwolves took in $3.6 million from Golden State to offset the contracts of Treveon Graham and Shabazz Napier. The full amount will be replenished on Oct. 19.
Extension candidates
James Johnson and Jared Vanderbilt are the lone players who are extension eligible. Neither player will likely see a new contract.
The draft assets
Here's how ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz have Minnesota selecting in October:
No. 1 (own): LaMelo Ball | PG | Illawarra
No. 17 (via BKN): Jalen Smith | PF | Maryland
No. 33 (own): Zeke Nnaji | C | Arizona
The Timberwolves will send Golden State a 2021 top-three-protected first-rounder. The pick will become unprotected in 2022 if not conveyed.