Timberwolves Sign No. 33 Overall Pick Leonard Miller to Multi-Year Contract

The Minnesota Timberwolves announced Sunday afternoon the team signed Leonard Miller, the No. 33 overall selection in last month’s 2023 NBA Draft.

According to our friend Darren Wolfson of KSTP and SKOR North, Miller’s contract is a four-year deal with at least two seasons guaranteed.

Based on that information, and the fact that the Timberwolves are operating well over the $136 million salary cap and leaving a roster spot open, Miller was likely signed using the brand new second-round pick exception, added in the league’s new collective bargaining agreement signed last month.

This means that, like a first-round rookie scale contract, the money used on the deal does not have to come out of the mid-level exception or bi-annual exception pools. Where the second-round pick exception differs from the rookie scale contracts is that there is no scale involved based on draft position; all players signed by this method will make the veteran’s minimum salary in the first two years of the contract, while the third and fourth years are likely to not fully guaranteed and be at the minimum salary allowed by the NBA in a rookie deal.

These deals are a win-win for players and teams alike. Players get to make significantly more than the minimum rookie salary — guaranteed — for two years, while the team gets control for four years and doesn’t have to use MLE or BAE money to complete the non-two-way second-round pick signings, like they did in previous years. For example, Josh Minott was signed to a four-year deal last summer, so the team had to dip into its MLE pool to be able to sign it.

The Wolves now have roughly $2.6 million below the luxury tax and one roster spot remaining. Here’s a look at the most updated cap sheet.

(Editor’s note: Tap/click on the image for better zoom.)

Miller certainly impressed in his 2023 NBA Summer League debut; the former G League Ignite stand-out scored 16 points on 7/11 shooting, grabbed 11 rebounds (five offensive, six defensive), dropped two dimes, collected two steals and blocked a shot as well.

Our Gabe Schneider wrote plenty on the Toronto, Ontario product in his instant reaction recap of the Wolves’ 102-88 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, while Charlie Walton wrote more about the promising young rookie in his day-after thoughts.