Coming off back-to-back conference finals appearances, the Minnesota Timberwolves prioritized their continuity this offseason by re-signing Julius Randle and Naz Reid. Additionally, they dodged the second apron, which priced them out of re-signing Nickeil Alexander-Walker or finding a high-level replacement on the open market. However, Rudy Gobert took a pay cut last October, which quietly allowed the Wolves to re-sign Reid without dipping into the second apron or trading another part of their core.
On a recent episode of The Dane Moore NBA Podcast, Moore and his guest, Kyle Theige, discussed how Gobert taking a pay cut gave Minnesota the flexibility needed to re-sign Reid.