LeBron James picked the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, and the Minnesota Timberwolves — who traded two power forwards to clear the runway for him — are left reconstructing their frontcourt with minimum-salary parts and a coach who has no intention of forcing his best wing out of position.
The pursuit was genuine. Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball got on the phone with James. Alex Rodriguez led the ownership pitch. Tim Connelly leaned on his relationship with Rich Paul. Team sources told The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski that Minnesota believed it was receiving real consideration for James’s 24th season, even as the odds stayed long. The vision: James at the four alongside Edwards, Ball, Jaden McDaniels, and Rudy Gobert — a lineup with enough size, shooting, and star power to threaten the West.
Instead, James chose Philadelphia, and the Timberwolves are staring at a roster with a glaring hole at power forward and roughly zero cap flexibility to fill it. Trading Julius Randle to Brooklyn and Naz Reid to Charlotte for Ball’s $41 million salary pushed Minnesota against the second-apron threshold of $221.7 million. The remaining free agents who could have helped — Rui Hachimura, John Collins, Sandro Mamukelashvili — all signed elsewhere for more than the minimum the Wolves could offer.
What they landed on was Trey Lyles, a 6-foot-9 stretch four who spent last season playing in Europe. Lyles, who previously played for Connelly in Denver, signed for the minimum and was told he could compete for a starting job. On a vlog discussing his decision, he put it plainly: “Opportunity to be a starter on an NBA team after being out for a year. What, am I gonna say no?”
The more interesting question is what Finch does with McDaniels. Conventional roster logic says slide the 6-10 McDaniels from small forward to power forward and solve the size problem internally. Finch told Krawczynski that is not the plan. He wants McDaniels at the three, where the improved shot creation from last season — career highs of 14.8 points, 41.2 percent from three, and 11.1 field-goal attempts per game — can expand further with a pass-first point guard like Ball feeding him.
“I see Jaden playing largely the same role he’s always played,” Finch said. “But of course he can slide over to play four, and you get a chance to get other guys on the floor.”
Instead, Finch envisions a matchup-driven starting five where the power forward changes night to night. “Maybe it’s a different person starting at the four based on who we’re playing. Why not?” The candidates include 6-6-and-under incumbents Jaylen Clark, Terrence Shannon Jr., and Josh Green — a group that would leave Minnesota vulnerable on the glass — and 6-11 center Joan Beringer, who got a look at the four in summer league but presents major spacing concerns next to Gobert. Finch even floated the idea of Edwards guarding physical fours like Zion Williamson or Jaren Jackson Jr., while leaning on Ball, one of the league’s better rebounding point guards, to help on the boards.
The numbers flag the risk. Minnesota’s identity for three seasons was frontcourt size — the Gobert-Towns pairing, then Gobert-Randle. Both iterations reached at least the second round. Trading that away for a Ball-Edwards backcourt is a bet that offensive dynamism and floor spacing can compensate for what is, on paper, a significant downgrade in rebounding and rim protection alongside Gobert. Finch’s counter is that trying to replace like-for-like only ever gets you “80 cents on the dollar,” and that leaning into your best players — whatever that looks like — beats chasing a replica.
Edwards, for his part, is not mourning the miss. During the recruiting process, James asked him how he would feel if he chose another team. According to Krawczynski, Edwards did not hesitate: that would be fine, because it just meant he could “tear James’s head off on the court when their two teams met.”
The Timberwolves and 76ers will meet at least twice in the regular season. Whether Minnesota’s reconfigured roster gives Edwards the firepower to back that up is the question that will define their year.
