Minnesota Timberwolves NBA Trade and Roster Rumors: Wolves Interested in Bringing Back Shabazz Muhammad
Early last month, the Minnesota Timberwolves renounced their rights to restricted free agent Shabazz Muhammad to free up cap space to sign veteran forward Taj Gibson to a two-year deal worth $28 million.
Now that he's an unrestricted free agent, Muhammad can sign anywhere he wants. However, the only National Basketball Association (NBA) team he ever played for seems to be interested in bringing him back.
According to ESPN 1500's Darren Wolfson, the Timberwolves have expressed interest in re-signing Muhammad. However, convincing him to rejoin the team isn't going to be easy because they can only offer him the veteran's minimum at this moment.
Muhammad obviously wants to earn more, but he will probably have a hard time finding a new home unless he's willing to take less. Teams just don't have the cap space available to give him a lucrative contract this late in the free agency period.
"He likely doesn't want to return to Minnesota on a minimum deal, but what other offers are on the table? There has been interest from Orlando and other teams, but at this point in the summer there is not a lot of money left, just some teams with exceptions remaining and the others offering minimum deals," NBC Sports' Kurt Helin said in his report.
"He can afford to wait, the minimum deals will still be there closer to the start of training camps. But the wait for a much better offer may be fruitless," he added.
Despite his struggles on the defensive end of the floor, Muhammad is a valuable role player who can provide some scoring off the bench. In 78 games (one start) last season, Muhammad averaged 9.9 points and 2.8 rebounds while playing 19.4 minutes per game. He also shot 48.2 percent from the field and 33.6 percent from beyond the arc.
