A week into NBA free agency, Minnesota has been relatively quiet. The Timberwolves were able to bring back Naz Reid on a three-year, $42 million contract — the move that fans of the organization rejoiced after speculation that the team wouldn’t be able to afford him. Still, has Minnesota gotten any better? Not quite.

Aside from Reid’s return, Minnesota’s financial situation has prevented them from much activity. They brought back Luka Garza and waived Taurean Prince for cap reasons. However, they’re yet to bring in any new talent and have five players from last year’s roster still weighing their options — namely, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jaylen Nowell and Austin Rivers. Alexander-Walker is expected to sign a two-year deal with Minnesota, according to reports from The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski, but the Timberwolves remain strapped for cash without any answer for their issues from last season.

Minnesota did add some wing depth in the draft, taking Leonard Miller of the G-League Ignite in the second round, but Miller’s style is in some ways redundant to what the Timberwolves already have. He’s a strong, versatile wing defender who struggles with avoiding fouls. Sound familiar on a roster with Jaden McDaniels?

That being said, Miller can certainly become a helpful piece in helping the Timberwolves elevate themselves to a contender. The concern, though is that they’ve doubled down on their strengths instead of looking to fix their weaknesses so far this offseason much in the same way they did last offseason.

The acquisition of Mike Conley during the season helps Minnesota’s need to find a facilitator to help the young talent find itself in the flow of an NBA offense. Still, in a league where the 3-ball reigns supreme, the Timberwolves still haven’t done anything to find perimeter scoring. It’s not impossible to win on a team without shooters coming off the bench, but it doesn’t help when your offense revolves around a slasher in Anthony Edwards and features a dominant defender in Rudy Gobert that has had his struggles on the offensive end. Putting those two on the floor together limits both of their ceilings if Minnesota doesn’t bring in some players that can force the defense to spread out.

The closest thing the Timberwolves have done so far is bring in Shake Milton and Troy Brown. Milton struggled to find consistency in his tenure with the 76ers while Brown — another athletic wing — is a below-average career shooter, sitting at 35% from beyond the arc. His jump to 38% last season is encouraging, but considering it’s his only season in five years in the league over 35%, the question of whether it’s an improvement or an outlier remains.

The Timberwolves front office isn’t all to blame for its lack of activity, though. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, the effects of going past the luxury tax and into the second apron can be disastrous for a team. It prevents teams from using their midlevel exception, moving players in sign-and-trades and combining multiple players’ salaries for matching purposes in trades. The second apron also limits teams’ ability to move their first-round picks in trades.

Simply put, going into the second apron is the nuclear option. It’s a win-now move that can destroy a team’s future. Tim Connelly is limited in what he can do in free agency while remaining below the apron, but the lack of viable options remaining on the market should ring some alarm bells if he doesn’t have something up his sleeve on the trade market.

For more from Jake McNeill, listen to The Ankle-Breaker podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Amazon Podcasts with new episodes every Friday. He can also be found on Twitter @JakeMcNeill_ or on Threads @Jakemcneill___