NBA trade news: Minnesota Timberwolves bid farewell to 6-foot-6 guard for two Utah Jazz stars to pair with Anthony Edwards

Minnesota traded Josh Green and cash to Utah for Cody Williams and John Konchar on Friday night, per ESPN's Shams Charania. The move frees roughly $14.7 million in salary, enough for the Wolves to officially sign Jonathan Kuminga to a two-year, $12.4 million deal via the taxpayer midlevel exception. Minnesota plans to waive-and-stretch Konchar's $6.2 million contract over three seasons and keep Williams, the No. 10 pick in 2024.Tim Connelly needed to clear a specific number, and Josh Green's expiring contract was the cleanest way to do it. Minnesota sent Green and cash to Utah for Cody Williams and John Konchar, a trade built entirely around making room to sign Jonathan Kuminga through the taxpayer midlevel exception.Green's $14.7 million deal was the realistic piece to move. Without a trade, the Wolves' fallback was stretching Green's own money at a cost of nearly $5 million in dead cap over three years. Instead, they moved him outright and absorbed a smaller, calculated hit elsewhere.CategoryPlayerCurrent TeamContract StatusSalary Cap HitOutgoing (MIN)Josh GreenUtah Jazz (incoming)Expiring$14.7 millionIncoming (MIN)Cody WilliamsMinnesota (incoming)Rookie scale, $7.67M team option for 2027-28~$6.5 million/yearIncoming (MIN)John KoncharWaived, to be stretchedN/A$6.2 million (stretched to ~$2.05M/year over 3 years)Why Minnesota needed the money to moveShams Charania wrote: "The Minnesota Timberwolves are trading Josh Green and cash to the Utah Jazz for Cody Williams and John Konchar, sources tell ESPN."Konchar, a 30-year-old rebounding specialist, doesn't fit a crowded wing rotation in Minnesota. He'll be waived and his $6.2 million salary stretched across three seasons, creating roughly $2 million a year in dead cap instead of one lump hit. That maneuver, combined with moving Green's money, is what actually unlocks the Kuminga signing.Utah's side: Perimeter defense now, a project for laterFor the Jazz, it's a straightforward add. Green, 25, is a career 38.7 percent three-point shooter who profiles as a plug-in perimeter defender, exactly what a Utah team that's ranked 29th or 30th defensively three years running needs. He joins Josh Okogie, signed this summer, as another defensive-minded wing.Cody Williams goes the other way as the bigger swing. The younger brother of Jalen Williams struggled through two lottery-pick seasons in Utah, shooting 21.4 percent from three last year. But his defense improved late in the season, enough that ESPN's Zach Lowe said "there's a world in which he's a functional eighth to tenth guy" on a good roster. SB Nation's SLC Dunk named him Utah's second-most-improved player of the year.Minnesota now has 14 players under contract with all three two-way spots filled, leaving one open roster spot. The Wolves have until Oct. 31 to decide on Williams' $7.67 million option for 2027-28. Whether he ever cracks the rotation is a separate question from whether the money worked.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.