The Minnesota Timberwolves spent all of last season living with the financial backdrop of an otherwise great season.

“What will they do next summer when Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Karl-Anthony Towns get extensions?”

We all learned the answer to that now, as Towns is setting screens for Jalen Brunson in New York. The Wolves decided to go the route of financial flexibility and acquired Julius Randle, who will enter with a player option next summer, and Donte DiVincenzo, which is currently one of the best contracts in the NBA.

You’d think that would be the end of it all. Guess again.

Wolves are once again looking at a summer that could force major change, this time with a player who has captured the imagination of Wolves fans: Naz Reid.

1.80 tall 9 Reid became the favorite and this strengthened him Fans get his name tattooed on their bodies and his name is used as an argument for how good he is. It’s not uncommon to see signs in the crowd at Timberwolves games that simply read “Naz Reid”; It’s an almost elegant simplicity that boils down to the fact that his impactful play has found a direct path into the hearts of Timberwolves fans.

Reid, who won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award last season, is an extremely talented scorer who puts up 13.5 points in just 24.6 minutes per game while also providing a legitimate floor-range component (41.4% on five 3-point attempts per game). ) in Minnesota’s run to the Western Conference finals.

So why would Minnesota let a player like Reid go?

If he could control the situation, he wouldn’t do it. But unfortunately, the Timberwolves were put in a tough spot due to CBA regulations that limit veteran salary extensions to 140% of the last salary year; Considering that a new extension would start at just $21 million, it’s an extremely low percentage for Reid to accept. He will receive his $15 million salary when he is eligible for an extension next season.

(The 140% veteran extension cap allows teams to choose the highest amount between 140% of final salary or 140% of leaguewide average salary for good measure, but neither should be enough to convince Reid.) )

To be fair, the Wolves could keep Reid next summer even if he gave up last season and the aforementioned $15 million. They own his Bird Rights and can take him back in any deal they want, but he will enter unrestricted free agency, which means he will automatically be at risk of defection.

It would certainly be shocking if Reid didn’t enter free agency, considering the Wolves couldn’t even offer him an extension until June 25, 2025.

With the Wolves trying to sell him for a future playing behind Randle and Rudy Gobert, would Reid agree to return to the Wolves if a team competing for his services offered him more money and a chance to start?

That’s a question only Reid can answer, and maybe he likes Minnesota enough to do it. Strange things happened. But no matter how the pizza is sliced, there is significant risk in allowing him to reach unrestricted free agency.

Does this mean the organization will try to move him before the February trade deadline to get something back in return? It’s unlikely, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility, especially if the franchise’s reading of the situation suggests Reid is leaning towards going somewhere he can start and establish himself as a potential star.

Of course, the Reid situation highlights a larger problem that is not unique to Wolves.

The 140% overtime cap actively penalizes good bargaining teams and hurts both teams and players.

Let’s go 408 miles southeast of Target Center to the United Center in Chicago, where the Bulls find themselves in a similarly difficult situation.

The organization gave both Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu new deals that are very team-friendly in the summer of 2023. As a result, White will make just $12 million this season, while Dosunmu will make $7 million.

White is borderline All-Star and Dosunmu will start on most teams in the league, meaning they are underpaid.

The Bulls could offer 140% of the league average salary, which only Dosunmu would consider, but that remains an offer with a fairly set cap. If Dosunmu plays the entire 2024-2025 season as he did last year, averaging 16.3 points and 4.4 assists on 52/43/83 shooting, he too will certainly be looking for more money than the Bulls can offer in an extension. .

The Bulls could wait that out and allow both to hit unrestricted free agency, which will be in 2026 for White and Dosunmu, and offer them big deals. But considering Chicago has been a mediocre team over the past decade, both players could leave.

Once again, the origins of this issue can be traced back to the 140% rule, which was 120% in the old CBA. The percentage increase was so marginal that only one All-Star level player, Dejounte Murray, signed an extension under the new rule. At $120 million over four years, this extension was widely considered to be below market value.

The 140% cap does not help teams and players.

The Wolves and Bulls would arguably love to have the option to extend their players and not risk them entering free agency.

Players would love to have long-term financial stability based on their market value.

It seems interesting that both the players’ association and the team owners actively increased the extension limit, but never realized how the problem would continue. The salary cap is on the verge of a 10% annual explosion due to the new TV deal, with even supermax contracts receiving a smaller percentage of the cap from year to year.

When asked if team owners and the players association could come together to change the CBA, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum told Yahoo Sports that such a scenario could be technically possible.

“We always evaluate the impact and outcome. Are the rules we put in place having the intended impact? “In some special cases, we’ll revisit and look at it, and as long as the owners and the players agree to make an adjustment, a change, we can do that,” Tatum said.

As for whether the 140 percent extension limit is specifically being considered for a change, Tatum said that is an issue that has not yet been discussed.

“In this particular case, we haven’t had that conversation yet, but we continue to evaluate and analyze, and if we feel a change is necessary, then we will make a change subject to agreement of both parties,” Tatum said.

After all, 140% was never going to be a high enough number for either side to benefit from, especially when you’re dealing with players who leveled up over the life of their non-rookie contracts, and until the players association and team owners realized their common problem and dealt with it, too many players and too many The team will find themselves in unstable situations, some of which will lead to unnecessary trades.