Minnesota Timberwolves massive man Karl-Anthony Cities would not need to go wherever, and he believes he’ll be again subsequent season. “I have been right here 9 years,” Cities informed reporters after the Timberwolves’ season-ending 124-103 loss towards the Dallas Mavericks in Recreation 5 of the Western Convention finals on Thursday. “I’d love for the tenure to maintain going.”
Cities elaborated: “I am assured that I am going to have the ability to be right here with my brothers and proceed to do what I like right here at residence. So that is the plan. Nothing’s ever modified on my aspect, and I like this metropolis, I like this group.”
The Timberwolves’ massive man, drafted No. 1 general in 2015, made his fourth All-Star look this season, and Minnesota superior past the primary spherical for the primary time in his profession. Subsequent season, his tenth with the franchise, Cities will enter 12 months 1 of the four-year extension that can pay him an estimated $221.1 million. Below the NBA’s new collective bargaining settlement, there are extreme penalties and team-building restrictions for large spenders, which is related right here as a result of, not solely is Cities’ 2024-25 wage virtually $50 million, however the mixed 2024-25 salaries of Rudy Gobert, Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels complete virtually $109 million.
Commerce rumors could also be inevitable on this context, however on condition that Cities performed an infinite position within the Wolves knocking out the defending champion Denver Nuggets within the second spherical, it could be an odd time to maneuver him. On Thursday, Cities expressed his appreciation for Minnesota’s greatest season in twenty years and lamented that it was over.
“I am simply blissful, after all of the years I have been right here and all of the ups and downs, to see the town come collectively a lot for this workforce, it is heartwarming,” Cities stated. “For somebody who’s been right here, who’s seen each side, to simply see how a lot love these followers have given us and the way a lot pleasure we have given them on this playoff run as nicely, and this season, it brings pleasure to me. As a result of, like I stated, I’ve seen the opposite aspect of it.
“I feel that is what makes this so disappointing,” he continued. “These followers deserved an opportunity to see the Finals. I feel this workforce, after all, we really feel that we deserved it, we put the work in, however these followers, in any case these years, they’ve given us a lot this playoff run, this season. It hurts once you really feel you let ’em down. So it is a powerful one.”
Individually, Cities struggled within the first three video games of the convention finals, and these struggles contributed to the Wolves discovering themselves in a 3-0 gap. His uneven play towards Dallas just isn’t in itself a motive to invest about his future, however, due to the wage crunch, the continued possession battle between Glen Taylor and the duo of Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez and the ensuing uncertainty about workforce president Tim Connelly, nobody could be certain what is going to occur to the roster this summer season.
Connelly left the Nuggets for Minnesota in 2022 with the understanding that Lore and Rodriguez would assume full management of the workforce heading into this offseason. His contract has an opt-out clause after this season. Within the coming days, Connelly intends to satisfy with Taylor, per The Athletic’s Jon Krawczyski and Shams Charania, however he must decide about whether or not or to not stick round with out figuring out how the dispute will play out.
“That is not for me to fret about,” Cities stated of the possession scenario. He added, “I can not converse on that, I can not management that.”
