Brian Reed: Hey — did you see the Shams tweet land this morning?
Eliza Ward: Yeah, and I had to read it twice because — okay, Minnesota traded Josh Green to Utah, received two players, and then immediately waived one of them. That's the whole headline.
Brian Reed: John Konchar was on the roster for the length of a work meeting.
Eliza Ward: Exactly. And the reason it matters — this whole sequence, the Green trade, the Konchar stretch, all of it — the sole purpose was to sign Jonathan Kuminga. Two years, thirteen million, player option. That's what Tim Connelly's shop was buying.
Brian Reed: So Konchar's contract was the mechanism, not the man.
Eliza Ward: That's — yeah, that's the cleanest way to put it. His roughly six-point-two million gets stretched over three seasons, and suddenly Minnesota has the room to use the taxpayer mid-level on Kuminga.
Brian Reed: And they kept Cody Williams — the other player Utah sent over — instead of Konchar. So they chose a 2024 lottery pick over a veteran 3-and-D wing they just acquired.
Eliza Ward: Wait — August 29 matters here too. That's the last day under the current CBA when you can waive and stretch against this season's salary. Miss that deadline and Konchar's full hit lands all at once. This wasn't leisurely planning.
Brian Reed: And not leisurely by, like, a few days — Tim Connelly's office had until midnight that night. August 29 is it, full stop. Miss it and the stretch provision doesn't apply to this season's salary at all. Konchar's six-point-two million lands whole.
Eliza Ward: Which kills the Kuminga room entirely.
Brian Reed: Right — so everything that looks like clever cap choreography, the trade, the waiver, the stretch, it's actually one forced sequence. Pull one piece and the whole thing collapses. That's — I mean, that's not the same story as 'Minnesota found a creative path.'
Eliza Ward: Wait, the numbers make that concrete though. Stretched over three years, Konchar's cap hit drops to roughly two-point-oh-five million per season. Minnesota pockets about six-point-six million in savings total — that's what gets them ten-point-six million below the second apron.
Brian Reed: Ten-point-six below. And after the Kuminga signing, four-point-five million of breathing room left. So they're not just clearing space — they're actually functional again under the apron.
Eliza Ward: Right, and there's a fifteenth roster spot still open on a minimum deal. But — okay, here's what I keep getting stuck on — Marc Stein reported Konchar doesn't even officially clear waivers until Monday, August 31, five PM Eastern. So the outcome isn't fully sealed yet.
Brian Reed: Hold on — Monday at five? So Minnesota executed this whole sequence under a Saturday deadline, and the actual resolution is 48 hours later?
Eliza Ward: That's the waiver clock. They had to pull the trigger on August 29 to qualify for the stretch — but Konchar sitting on waivers through Monday, that's standard. The deadline was about when you initiate, not when it clears.
Brian Reed: So the headline is 'bold cap move' — and the actual story is Tim Connelly's staff at two PM on a Saturday running down a clock they couldn't extend, executing a trade, a waiver, and a stretch all in sequence, and then waiting two days to find out if anyone claims Konchar off waivers before it's done.
Eliza Ward: And that 'bold cap move' framing is exactly the take I want to push back on. Because every writeup I've seen calls this brilliant cap engineering — and I think it papers over what Utah actually got.
Brian Reed: You mean Green specifically.
Eliza Ward: Utah didn't take Josh Green as a favor. They specifically wanted an additional 3-and-D wing. That's — that's not incidental. Green is a real player. His fourteen-point-six-eight million expiring deal made the math work, sure, but the Jazz wanted him because of what he does on the floor, not just what he earns on paper.
Brian Reed: Okay, but isn't the expiring contract the actual value here? Like, a team with cap space takes a lot of 'real players.'
Eliza Ward: Right, except — wait — Green originally came to Minnesota as part of the LaMelo Ball trade. So this roster has now completely shed the last piece of that acquisition. That's not nothing. And calling him purely a cap vehicle ignores that Minnesota just subtracted a perimeter defender from a starting five that already has Kuminga, who shot 21.4% from three last season, slotting into that wing rotation.
Brian Reed: No, I don't buy that the three-point shooting is the whole case against this — but the part I don't get is: sources can't even agree on whether this was a two-team deal or a three-team deal. That discrepancy is still unresolved. If we can't nail down the structure of the trade, maybe we pump the brakes on calling it airtight genius.
Eliza Ward: That's — yeah, Jon Krawczynski confirmed cash considerations were involved, Shams reported it differently. The structure is genuinely unsettled. Which, I mean — if you're grading the execution, that matters.
Brian Reed: And whether Cody Williams actually fills the hole Green left — or whether he exposes it — that's the question this whole move still hasn't answered, and that's the part I think is going to define how we actually remember August 29.
Eliza Ward: That's the concrete watch item right there — not the cap math, it's Williams in actual playoff minutes. Because Shams has the projected starting five as Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Kuminga, Jaden McDaniels, Gobert. That's the vision. And Williams isn't in that five.
Brian Reed: Right — so he's the sixth man who has to cover for whatever that starting five can't do on the perimeter. And his three-point shooting last season was 21.4%. That's not a depth piece, that's a liability you're hoping develops.
Eliza Ward: And Konchar — the guy they just released — was specifically a perimeter disruptor. There's commentary from @dlee4three warning that losing him 'could prove to be a miss.' That's not nothing.
Brian Reed: Okay, but here's what I actually want to sit with — Minnesota chose Williams over Konchar. That was a decision. The No. 10 pick in 2024 over a known, functional veteran. And I get the logic, you don't give up a lottery pick, but... I mean, if Kuminga gets nicked in November and suddenly Williams is your primary wing off the bench, that 21.4% number becomes the whole story.
Eliza Ward: Right — Aaron Turner confirmed the Kuminga deal terms to ESPN. Two years, thirteen million, player option. So Kuminga himself has an exit after year one if Minnesota isn't working. That's a separate fragility.
Brian Reed: The player option is — wait, that cuts both ways. If he's great, he opts out and they lose him anyway.
Eliza Ward: Exactly. And if he's not great, they're stuck. So Williams basically has to actually, no — let me back up — the question isn't whether Williams has upside. It's whether a lottery pick at 21.4% from three is the right bet when your competitive window is right now, with Edwards and LaMelo Ball and Gobert all on the roster.
Brian Reed: And Konchar clears waivers Monday at five PM Eastern. Any team can claim him before then. So Minnesota didn't just pass on him — they handed a perimeter defender to the rest of the West.
Eliza Ward: That's the number to watch Monday. Five PM. If he's claimed by a Western Conference team, this whole sequence looks different than if he goes unsigned.
Brian Reed: And that's — I mean, that's not a hypothetical. Denver's right there. Phoenix is right there. Any team in the West that needs a perimeter defender can just... claim him off the waiver wire before Monday at five. Minnesota solved a cap problem and potentially armed a playoff rival.
Eliza Ward: Which is the uncomfortable version of this whole sequence. Because the cap math is clean — they still have room to add a fifteenth on a minimum deal, they're functional under the apron — but the basketball question is actually still open until that Monday deadline closes.
Brian Reed: And if this works — if Kuminga is actually the third star next to Edwards and LaMelo Ball — every team above the second apron is looking at this and running the same calculation. Acquire, waive, stretch, sign. That becomes the template. But if Kuminga doesn't perform, or a starter goes down and Williams is covering at 21.4% from three, I don't think we call it a template. We call it the move that cost them their window.
Eliza Ward: And we genuinely don't know yet. Five PM Monday — that's where this actually lands.
