It's Friday, which means Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities has checked in with his weekly edition of Scoops. Here are Wolfson's Timberwolves updates from his latest piece:
- The Timberwolves are likely to make a deal before the February trade deadline, but aren't making any calls yet while they wait to see how the lineup looks when Ricky Rubio returns.
- David Kahn has been answering incoming calls, however. Wolfson reports that the Raptors and Cavaliers have both been in touch with the Wolves, to gauge interest in Andrea Bargnani and Anderson Varejao, respectively. Minnesota likes Varejao a lot, according to Wolfson, though in my opinion it would take a massive package for the Cavs to move him this season.
- One league source doesn't believe money is a source of frustration for Kevin Love, since the All-Star forward is still in position to earn as much or more over the long-term as he would have if he'd received a five-year extension. The source points to a Kahn quote from 2009 ("On a championship-contending team… Kevin might be the fourth-best player") as something that still irks Love.
- Obrad Fimic, the agent for Alexey Shved, on the Timberwolves recruitment of his client: "Honestly, the whole deal was done thanks to David, who convinced us that Shved is a perfect fit for coach Rick Adelman's system. Alexey and I liked what we heard and here we are."
- Although Brandon Roy denied that retirement wasn't something he thought about following his latest knee procedure, a league source insists to Wolfson that Roy at least considered it.
- There should be closure on the Martell Webster compensation case soon, with the Wolves expecting to receive cash and/or a second-round pick from the Trail Blazers.
“On a championship-contending team… Kevin might be the fourth-best player”
David Kahn should be fired. He sucks so bad.