Kevin Love, Klay Thompson, and David Lee will attend Team USA training camp starting on July 27, and Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities tweets that he thinks the Wolves and Warriors view that date as an unofficial deadline to complete a trade involving those players. Here’s more from out West:
- Flip Saunders defended the Wolves‘ choice to sell two second round draft picks to Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune, saying the moves don’t signify a lack of commitment to winning at all costs. “If you don’t have a player who you think will be in your program, I’m not going to draft somebody just to say we drafted him,” said Saunders. “When I look at our salary cap, we’re up in the high [$60 millions] and, I think, last year were the highest salary-cap team that didn’t make the playoffs. I look at the commitment that [owner Glen Taylor] has made last year and moving forward, we’re committed to winning. Those picks had nothing to do with trying to get money.” Saunders’ assertion is incorrect: the Knicks, Celtics, and Lakers all had higher team salaries than Minnesota and did not make the playoffs.
- Unrestricted free agents James Johnson and Beno Udrih appear unlikely to re-sign with the Grizzlies, writes Ronald Tillery of Commercial Appeal.
- However, the Grizzlies are poised to make a strong pitch for free agent Mike Miller to re-sign with the team, the Commercial Appeal scribe reports.
- Tillery adds that Memphis is likely to retain Kosta Koufos‘s partially-guaranteed $3MM contract for 2014/15.