The Minnesota Timberwolves are one of the few NBA franchises with zero Finals appearances and championships. The best players who have played for the team were either acquired by trade or in the draft, but most of them didn't spend their entire careers with the Wolves, such as Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love for example.
Big-time free agents aren't going to sign with the Timberwolves because they don't want to live in Minnesota, one of the coldest cities in America during the winter. Jimmy Butler is the most recent star to have played for the Timberwolves and he was acquired from the Chicago Bulls via trade.
Unfortunately, the Timberwolves will likely always struggle to get star players via free agency due to their location. D'Angelo Russell signed with the Golden State Warriors in the summer of 2019 instead of the Wolves because of the weather. Fortunately for Minnesota, the franchise traded for Russell at the 2020 trade deadline.
For this piece, we'll be taking a look at the five best free-agent signings in Timberwolves history. They aren't pretty, but the value of the deals and the production the players put up were decent.
5. Andrei Kirilenko
The Timberwolves signed Andrei Kirilenko to a two-year, $20 million contract in the summer of 2012. However, he only played one season in Minnesota after declining his second-year player option for the 2013-14 campaign.
During the 2012-13 season, Kirilenko averaged 12.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting 50.7 percent from the field, 29.2 percent from beyond the arc and 75.2 percent from the free-throw line. He made $9,779,349.
The Timberwolves won 31 games in 2012-13 and missed the playoffs, but Kirilenko played pretty well.
4. Troy Hudson
The Timberwolves signed Troy Hudson before the start of the 2002-03 season. He started 74 games in 2002-03 and averaged a career-high 14.2 points per game while making only $2 million. It was a really good value signing for the Timberwolves, who were seduced to sign him to a six-year deal after that season since he was a good friend of Garnett.
Hudson played four more years with the Timberwolves, but injuries derailed his production. He made $2,100,000 in 2003-04, $4,903,000 in 2004-05, $5,253,000 in 2005-06, $5,603,000 in 2006-07 and $5,953,000 in 2007-08.
Hudson finished his Timberwolves career with averages of 10.0 points and 3.8 assists in 257 games.
3. Chauncey Billups
Before he became a legend with the Detroit Pistons, Chauncey Billups was a journeyman in the NBA. He played for the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets before signing a two-year, $4.7 million deal with the Timberwolves in 2000.
During the 2000-01 season for the Timberwolves, Billups averaged 9.3 points and 3.4 assists per game while making $2,250,000. He increased his points per game average to 12.5 in 2001-02 and his assists per game average to 5.5. Billups made $2,475,00 during the 2001-02 campaign and set himself up for a nice payday.
In the summer of 2002, the Timberwolves lost Billups to the Pistons, where he won the 2004 Finals MVP after the Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers. Minnesota probably should have kept Billups next to Garnett.
2. Derrick Rose
The Timberwolves signed Derrick Rose for the rest of the 2017-18 season after the Cleveland Cavaliers traded him to the Utah Jazz, who then waived the former MVP. Tom Thibodeau coached Rose on the Bulls, so Thibs had a lot of faith in Rose.
During the 2018 playoffs, Rose averaged 14.2 points per game for the Timberwolves, who lost to the Houston Rockets in five games.
In the summer of 2018, the Timberwolves re-signed Rose to a one-year deal that paid him only $2,176,260. The youngest MVP in NBA history averaged 18.0 points per game while shooting 48.2 percent from the field in 2018-19. He also scored a career-high 50 points on Halloween against the Jazz, a special performance considering Rose has undergone four knee surgeries since winning his MVP award in 2011 with the Bulls.
Rose finished his brief Timberwolves career with averages of 16.2 points and 3.9 assists in 60 games. Minnesota lost Rose to the Pistons in the summer of 2019.
1. Sam Mitchell
The Timberwolves signed Sam Mitchell a few times, with the first instance coming in July of 1989. He only made $500,000 during the 1990-91 season and averaged 14.6 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 44.1 percent from the field.
After playing for the Indiana Pacers from 1992 to 1995, Mitchell came back to the Timberwolves in the summer of 1995. He made $1 million in 1995-96 and put up 10.8 points and 4.3 boards. Mitchell earned $1.2 million in 1996-97 and $1.4 million in 1997-98. The most money he made with the Timberwolves was in 2000-01 when he got $2.37 million a year.
Mitchell finished his Timberwolves career with averages of 9.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 757 games. He's second in franchise history in games played, second in minutes, fourth in field goals, third in free-throws, fifth in total rebounds, fourth in steals, 10th in blocks and fourth in points.
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