Timberwolves agree to 3-year, $57 million deal with point guard Jeff Teague

Hours after trading their starting point guard, the Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to terms with free agent point guard Jeff Teague, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

The person requested anonymity because the deal wasn’t announced publicly.

The three-year deal is for $57 million with a player option for the third year. 

The Timberwolves, who dealt Ricky Rubio to the Utah Jazz on Friday afternoon for a protected first round pick, land Teague, who’s coming off a solid year in one season with the Indiana Pacers. Teague started 82 games for the Pacers, averaging 15.3 points and career highs with 7.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds.

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Teague may not be the most highly sought after point guard on the market (Kyle Lowry, George Hill), but he’s still a reliable ball handler who will have plenty of capable offensive threats at his disposal, including Karl-Anthony Towns and new acquisition Jimmy Butler. The latter occasionally handled point guard duties last season for the Bulls.

Teague’s Pacers were swept out of the postseason this year, and he’ll be essential in helping the Timberwolves end their playoff drought, which extends to 2004.

Last year in his first summer as an executive, Thibodeau chose not to use all of the Timberwolves’ cap room in anticipation of this summer. He didn’t wait long into this offseason to begin upgrading his roster.