International Moves: Baldwin, Kilpatrick, Hunter, Liggins
Former NBA guard Wade Baldwin, who was drafted 17th overall in 2016, is poised to spend a second consecutive season in Europe, having reached an agreement with German club Bayern Munich, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
After appearing in 56 games over three seasons with the Grizzlies and Trail Blazers from 2016-19, Baldwin spent this past season with Olympiacos in Greece. He only played a part-time role for the EuroLeague club, averaging 5.5 PPG, 1.8 APG, and 1.8 RPG in 16.3 MPG (24 games).
Here are more updates on former NBA players who have agreed to – or signed – new deals overseas:
- Veteran shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick has agreed to a deal with Tofas Bursa, the Turkish club announced in a press release. The 30-year-old hasn’t played in the NBA since he was waived by Chicago during the summer of 2018, having previously logged 157 career appearances with six teams.
- Former first-round pick R.J. Hunter has signed a one-year contract with Turkish team Galatasaray, per a press release. The 28th overall selection in 2015, Hunter finished the 2018/19 season on a two-way contract with Boston before spending the ’19/20 campaign in Turkey and in the G League.
- Veteran NBA journeyman DeAndre Liggins has signed with the London Lions of the British Basketball League for the 2020/21 season, the team announced in a press release. Liggins, who played for the Bucks and Pelicans in 2017/18, has appeared in a total of 177 NBA games with seven teams since making his debut in 2012.
Glen Taylor Discusses Potential Timberwolves Sale
4:04pm: The Raine Group approached the Vikings owners a few months ago to gauge their interest in purchasing the Timberwolves, sources tell Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, according to Krawczynski, while there were some initial discussions, there are no active talks with the Wilf family about the Wolves at this time.
10:12am: After word broke on Tuesday that Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor had retained The Raine Group to explore selling the franchise, Taylor spoke to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic about the possibility of a sale.
As Taylor explained, he’s willing to get more serious about the idea at this point because he feels as if the organization is in a good place with Gersson Rosas installed as the head of basketball operations and Ryan Saunders as the head coach.
“I think I put a really good team together with the Timberwolves,” Taylor said, referring to those franchise leaders. “I feel really good about that. There’s a good team there. Both the player bunch and the business bunch. So I think I’ve done my responsibility there to have that so it can go on and become better.”
Former Timberwolves star Kevin Garnett is part of one group that has emerged as a serious suitor for the team, as we relayed on Tuesday. Garnett posted a message on Twitter on Tuesday night expressing his “passion” for the Wolves and his deep affection for the city of Minneapolis, noting that he hopes he and Taylor can work out a deal.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Wilf family – which owns the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings – is also a serious candidate to purchase the NBA franchise. The Wilfs oversaw the construction of U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota and are building a state-of-the-art training facility for the Vikings. Zygi Wilf, Mark Wilf, and Leonard Wilf also been active in the community, donating $5MM to COVID-19 relief and another $5MM to social justice causes this year.
Both Garnett and the Wilfs have strong local ties, which should strengthen their potential bids. As Krawczynski details, Taylor has made it clear to possible buyers that they must commit to keeping the Wolves in Minnesota in order to receive serious consideration.
“People have inquired who are interested, and very interested and have the money, but they want to move a team,” Taylor said. “They are not a candidate. We’ve made that very clear. In those terms, nothing has changed.”
Here’s more on a possible sale of the Timberwolves:
- According to both Schefter and Krawczynski, New York real estate developer Meyer Orbach is one potential bidder to watch. Orbach is a current Wolves minority stakeholder who has amassed more and more shares of the franchise and is a highly visible member of the ownership group, per Krawczynski.
- Sources have told The Athletic that Taylor will be seeking north of $1 billion for the team. It remains to be seen just how far north of $1 billion that price tag could go — the club was valued at $1.375 billion by Forbes earlier this year.
- Brian Windhorst, Bobby Marks, and Tim Bontemps of ESPN took a closer look at the possibility of a Wolves sale, citing sources who estimated Taylor could get more than $1.5 billion for the team if he were willing to allow it to be moved. Since he’s not, the price could be closer to the $1.25 billion valuation the Grizzlies received last year when Robert Pera bought out his partners.
- It’s possible that a buyer would want to purchase a smaller portion of the team before eventually taking over for Taylor as the controlling owner, like Joe Tsai did in recent years with the Nets. However, there’s a strong chance that Taylor will “hand over the keys to the castle” immediately if a sale is completed, according to Krawczynski. “I own a whole bunch of companies and my life is pretty complex,” Taylor said. “… Just another year or two have gone by. I just think as time goes on, I’m more inclined to say I should probably get my house in order here.”
Nuggets Notes: Starting Five, Porter, Barton, Cancar
After a layoff of nearly four-and-a-half months, basketball returned today, and the Nuggets celebrated the occasion by running out the most unusual five-man starting lineup we’ve seen all season in their inter-squad scrimmage vs. Washington.
As Kendra Andrews of The Athletic relays (via Twitter), Denver’s starting five consisted entirely of power forwards and centers, with Nikola Jokic, Jerami Grant, Paul Millsap, and Mason Plumlee joined by rookie Bol Bol, making his Nuggets debut after having been limited to eight G League appearances so far in his first professional season.
The Nuggets rolled with that gigantic lineup in large part because a handful of their players were unavailable on Wednesday. Here are updates on a few of those players:
- Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. is traveling to Orlando today, a source tells Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Porter hadn’t initially traveled with the team two weeks ago and had yet to arrive at the NBA’s campus, but should be able to begin his two-day quarantine period on Wednesday evening.
- Will Barton was held out of the Nuggets’ first inter-squad scrimmage today due to knee soreness, Singer writes in a separate Denver Post story. According to head coach Michael Malone, Barton could have played today if he were needed, but the team preferred to take a cautious approach (Twitter link via Singer). Jamal Murray was also held out of today’s scrimmage as a precautionary measure.
- Nuggets forward Vlatko Cancar is dealing with a left foot injury and has yet to arrive in Orlando, per Singer. Cancar was listed on the Nuggets’ official summer roster announced by the NBA on Monday, so presumably the team still believes he has a chance to report to the Disney campus.
Aron Baynes Reveals He Tested Positive For COVID-19
Suns center Aron Baynes revealed in a conversation with Shams Charania of Stadium (video link) that he recently tested positive for COVID-19 and is going through the NBA protocol in the hopes of joining the team at the league’s campus in Orlando.
According to Baynes, his immediate family members tested positive as well, but they’ve since recovered and are testing negative, while he’s still returning positive tests. The big man added that he was hit harder by the virus than his wife and children.
“They all had very minimal symptoms, whereas it actually put me on my butt for a good week,” Baynes said. “I slept for four days straight.”
Although Baynes says he’s feeling better now, he must return two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart before he can receive medical clearance to travel to the Orlando campus and report to the Suns. Once he gets clearance and arrives at Walt Disney World, he’ll need to briefly quarantine again and return two more negative tests.
“Can’t wait for @aronbaynes to join us in Orlando,” the Suns tweeted this afternoon in response to Baynes’ interview with Charania.
Baynes is one of a handful of Suns players whose arrivals to Orlando have been delayed. Ricky Rubio, Elie Okobo, and Jalen Lecque also didn’t initially travel with the club on July 7, though head coach Monty Williams and GM James Jones have declined to offer any specific details on anyone’s absence. Rubio has since reported to the NBA campus and returned to practice; it’s not clear where things stand with Okobo or Lecque.
No Timetable Yet For Zion Williamson’s Return
The Pelicans have issued an update on forward Zion Williamson, who left the NBA’s Disney World campus last week to attend to an urgent family matter. While the Pelicans say that Williamson “fully intends” to rejoin the team, there’s still no timetable for his return to the campus, per today’s announcement.
Williamson has been getting tested for the coronavirus on a daily basis while he has been away from the club and continues to return negative results, according to the club. That’s good news for the Pelicans. Based on the NBA’s protocols, that means the star rookie should be quarantined for as few as four days once he eventually reports back to Disney.
Given Williamson’s ongoing absence, it seems increasingly unlikely that he’ll participate in any of the Pelicans’ exhibition scrimmages within the next week. New Orleans’ regular season schedule will resume on July 30 when the team faces Utah in the first official game on the NBA’s summer calendar. It remains to be seen whether 2019’s first overall pick will be available for that contest.
Williamson has averaged 23.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 2.2 APG in 19 games (29.7 MPG) in his first NBA season, and figures to play a key part in the Pelicans’ quest to secure a playoff spot in the West. New Orleans is currently 3.5 games back of the Grizzlies and can force a play-in tournament by remaining within four games of Memphis while finishing ahead of Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio, and Phoenix.
Restart Notes: Media Sessions, Mental Health, Super-Teams, More
The NBA has been successful so far in its efforts to keep the coronavirus out of its Walt Disney World campus, but the league continues to take additional precautions as it looks to avoid any sort of outbreak.
Sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) that the NBA sent an email to teams on Tuesday asking players and coaches to wear face coverings during Zoom calls now that a small group of media members are attending those sessions in person.
“We want to make sure we are staying within rules of campus and since we’re indoors and they aren’t working out, wearing masks apply here,” the league said in its memo.
Here’s more on the NBA’s restart and what’s happening on the Disney campus:
- ESPN’s Malika Andrews shares a handful of entertaining stories on life on the NBA’s campus and noting that things have been running as smoothly as could be expected so far. “What the league is working to pull off is just f—ing epic,” one executive told ESPN. “I do feel really good about how things are going thus far.”
- The “most looming unknown” in Orlando is how players and coaches will respond from a mental health perspective, according to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes, who observes that every team will be on campus for at least five or six weeks, and at least a couple will be there for three months.
- One coach who spoke to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports believes that the close-quarters campus setting will result in more recruiting than would typically take place in a postseason, essentially functioning like USA Basketball camps have in the past. “The next super-team will come out of this,” the coach said. “I believe it’s inevitable.”
- Chris Mannix of SI.com and Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports are among the reporters who have written about their unique experiences covering the restart at the Disney campus.
Pacific Notes: Clippers, Rubio, Caruso, Bjelica, Warriors
The Clippers‘ proposed Inglewood arena took an important step forward on Tuesday, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, who writes that the Inglewood City Council unanimously approved the environmental impact report for the building.
As Youngmisuk details, the Clippers intend to build a “sprawling campus” that will include an outdoor plaza, as well as the club’s corporate offices and practice facility. Barring any setbacks, the plan is for construction to begin in the summer of 2021 and for the team to begin playing in the new arena at the start of the 2024/25 season, after the Clippers’ Staples Center lease expires.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Ricky Rubio has reported to the NBA’s campus and cleared quarantine, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, who says that the Suns‘ point guard participated in Tuesday’s practice. The status of Aron Baynes, Elie Okobo, Jalen Lecque – who, like Rubio, didn’t initially travel with the team to Orlando on July 7 – remains unknown.
- Lakers guard Alex Caruso made the difficult decision to skip his sister’s wedding on July 18, since he may have been subject to a quarantine period of 10 days upon returning to Orlando. Zach Lowe of ESPN has the story, along with quotes from Caruso.
- With Marvin Bagley having been ruled out for the rest of the season, Nemanja Bjelica is once again ready to take on a larger role for the Kings, writes James Ham of NBC Sports California.
- Anthony Slater of The Athletic makes a case for why Spurs veterans Rudy Gay and Patty Mills could be logical trade targets for the Warriors this offseason. Gay will make $14MM, while Mills will earn $13.3MM, so either player would fit in Golden State’s $17MM+ trade exception.
Westbrook Returns To Practice, Mbah A Moute Cleared To Travel
The Rockets announced some good news on Wednesday, as Russell Westbrook participated in his first summer practice after clearing quarantine, while Luc Mbah a Moute has been cleared to travel and should arrive soon at the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus.
As Tim MacMahon of ESPN reports, Westbrook spoke to reporters before Houston’s Wednesday practice, indicating that he’s “thankful and blessed” to be able to get back on the court after recovering from the coronavirus. Westbrook, who said he only experienced very minor COVID-19 symptoms, added that he was able to do conditioning workouts at home while quarantined.
According to MacMahon, head coach Mike D’Antoni said today that Westbrook may play in the Rockets’ first scrimmage on Friday against Toronto, though that hasn’t been decided yet.
“Whatever he wants is cool,” D’Antoni said. “He knows his body. Again, we’re not talking about just a normal athlete. We’re talking about a super athlete, and I sometimes underestimate it. I know today I might have a hard time getting through practice, but he might not have any problem. We rely on him and the medical staff to make an informed decision, and whatever that decision is, we’ll go with it.”
Meanwhile, D’Antoni also provided an update on Mbah a Moute, indicating that the veteran forward could arrive in Orlando as soon as Wednesday (Twitter link via Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle).
The Rockets signed Mbah a Moute as a substitute player for Thabo Sefolosha, but his arrival has been delayed by a couple weeks, reducing the likelihood that he’ll earn regular minutes once the seeding games begin next week.
Atlantic Notes: Anderson, Nets, Kemba, Waters, Horford, Raptors
Nets swingman Justin Anderson reached a deal with the team back in June, but didn’t officially sign his substitute-player contract until this past Saturday. As Brian Lewis of The New York Post details, that delay was a result of a case of COVID-19.
“It’s something we wanted to try and keep in-house because we weren’t quite sure when we’d be able to pass the protocols,” Anderson said on a Zoom call on Tuesday. “Battling between negative and positive tests, battling between trying to make sure I got here in a car service rather than a plane to make sure I continue to follow protocol. It was just a long journey.
“… (I) spent time here in Orlando outside of the bubble, about five days to get everything situated and past the protocol with two negative tests. It was a process, and I’m just glad that I’m finally here.”
Although Anderson has finally joined the Nets and cleared quarantine, he won’t be among the players who see action during the team’s first scrimmage on Wednesday. According to Lewis, Jamal Crawford and Tyler Johnson also won’t play in that game — neither will Donta Hall, who remains in quarantine.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Over the weekend, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens downplayed concerns about the status of Kemba Walker‘s knee, per Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. Stevens offered an update on his star point guard on Tuesday, telling reporters – including ESPN’s Tim Bontemps – that Walker likely won’t play in the team’s first scrimmage on Friday. “But he’s pretty darn close right now,” Stevens said.
- Rookie guard Tremont Waters, who is on a two-way contract with the Celtics, suffered a concussion last week, but is in the later stages of the league’s concussion protocol, Stevens told reporters on Monday (link via Justin Leger of NBC Sports Boston).
- Sixers big man Al Horford will likely be looking at a reduced role this summer, and head coach Brett Brown said on Tuesday that Horford has been “great” in handling that change, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
- With a full and healthy roster for the first time all season, Raptors head coach Nick Nurse will have plenty of lineup options available to him when play resumes, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. As Blake Murphy of The Athletic relays, Nurse is interested in experimenting with some five-man groups that are heavy on bigs. “It seems to me we started really dominant on the defensive end with the jumbo lineup,” he said.
Western Notes: G. Harris, Craig, Kings, Mitchell
The official Nuggets summer roster, announced on Monday by the NBA, features 17 names, the maximum allowed by the league. However, a number of those players didn’t arrive at the Orlando campus with the rest of the team earlier this month and have been slowly trickling in.
Two key players traveled to the campus on Sunday, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN details, with Gary Harris and Torrey Craig reporting for their quarantine period. Mike Singer of The Denver Post provided an update on Harris and Craig today, tweeting that they’ve now cleared their quarantine period. The two Nuggets didn’t practice today because they also must complete cardiac testing before being fully cleared.
With Harris and Craig nearly ready to start practicing, the Nuggets are a little closer to being whole, but that won’t happen in time for the team’s first inter-squad scrimmage on Wednesday. Earlier this week, head coach Mike Malone said that he expects to have only nine players available for that exhibition game (Twitter link via Chris Dempsey of Altitude Sports). Fans who tune in can expect to see some unusual lineups for Denver, including the possibility of Bol Bol at small forward.
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- De’Aaron Fox, who is recovering from an ankle sprain, returned to practice for the Kings today and took part in non-contact drills, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Richaun Holmes also participated in his first practice since clearing his extended quarantine.
- In addition to improving as a player, Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell also wants to improve as a teammate, writes Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. As Walden relays, head coach Quin Snyder has been impressed by Mitchell’s development in both areas. “That maturation process has been going on,” Snyder said. “And some of it you guys don’t see as much. Some of it we see on the floor, some of it we see in the locker room, some of it we see during video (review). … There’s an awareness and a care factor there that has manifested itself in even more leadership.”
- John Hollinger of The Athletic questions whether the Warriors really need to prioritize acquiring a center this offseason and explores how the Timberwolves might address their shooting guard and forward spots.