The Minnesota Timberwolves‘ already-thin frontcourt just lost another potential reinforcement.
Free agent forward Trendon Watford agreed Monday to a one-year, $2.9 million contract with the New Orleans Pelicans, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Watford considered multiple opportunities before choosing New Orleans after spending last season with the Philadelphia 76ers.
For most teams, a minimum-level free agent coming off the board in August wouldn’t register as much more than an offseason footnote.
For Minnesota, the timing matters.
The Timberwolves have spent the summer trying to rebuild a frontcourt depleted by the trades of Julius Randle and Naz Reid. They are limited financially in how they can replace them, with a veteran-minimum contract essentially their remaining avenue in free agency.
And the list of realistic options keeps getting shorter.
ClutchPoints insider Brett Siegel reported last month there had been “rumblings” connecting Minnesota to Watford and Jeremy Sochan.
Neither is available anymore.
Sochan signed with the Portland Trail Blazers earlier this month. Watford is headed to New Orleans.
Timberwolves’ Frontcourt Depth Getting Dangerously Thin
Getty The Minnesota Timberwolves are looking to rebuild their frontcourt after losing Julius Randle and Naz Reid this offseason.
Minnesota’s current depth chart illustrates the problem.
Jaden McDaniels, who has primarily played small forward throughout his Timberwolves career, is projected to move up a position and start at power forward.
Behind him?
Not much proven NBA frontcourt depth.
ESPN currently lists Enrique Freeman as McDaniels’ primary backup at power forward, followed by Terrence Shannon Jr. and Trey Kaufman-Renn. Rudy Gobert remains the starting center, with young big men Joan Beringer and Rocco Zikarsky behind him.
It’s a strikingly different frontcourt from the one Minnesota carried into last season.
That helps explain the Wolves’ reported interest in Watford.
The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 6.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 16.3 minutes across 53 games for Philadelphia last season. He also showed his versatility with a 20-point, 17-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in November.
Watford wouldn’t have replaced Randle or Reid individually. But his size, passing and ability to play multiple frontcourt roles could have given coach Chris Finch another experienced option behind McDaniels.
Instead, he’ll play in New Orleans.
Trendon Watford Joins Jeremy Sochan Off the Board
GettyTyrese Maxey and Trendon Watford of the Philadelphia 76ers celebrate a 110-108 win over the Los Angeles Clippers at Xfinity Mobile Arena on November 17, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Watford’s decision becomes more significant when paired with Sochan’s.
Siegel linked Minnesota to both players as possible frontcourt additions. Sochan subsequently landed in Portland, and now Watford has found his next team.
There has been no indication Minnesota made Watford a formal offer, so this shouldn’t be characterized as the Wolves losing a bidding war.
But the practical problem remains.
Their options are dwindling.
Minnesota doesn’t have the financial flexibility to simply outbid teams for the best remaining free agents. The Wolves need to find a player willing to accept a veteran-minimum deal and a role in a frontcourt that suddenly has minutes available.
Watford’s $2.9 million agreement made him precisely the type of low-cost addition Minnesota could have pursued.
Now the Wolves have to keep looking.
McDaniels can handle minutes at power forward. Gobert remains one of the NBA’s most established centers. Minnesota also has intriguing young big men to develop.
But asking that group to replace the collective production, experience and versatility lost with Randle and Reid is another matter entirely.
First, Sochan disappeared from Minnesota’s list of potential solutions.
Now Watford has followed him.
Training camp is getting closer, the veteran-minimum market is getting thinner, and the Timberwolves’ frontcourt problem remains unresolved.
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