LaVine Headed For Surgery Tuesday
- Timberwolves shooting guard Zach LaVine will undergo surgery to reconstruct the torn ACL in his left knee on Tuesday, according to a league press release. Lavine, who suffered the season-ending injury driving to the basket against the Pistons on Friday, February 3rd, was averaging 18.9 PPG and 3.0 APG. Brandon Rush and Shabazz Muhammad have shared the shooting guard spot since LaVine was sidelined.
Pelicans With High Praise For Recently Signed Stephenson
Newly acquired Timberwolves guard Lance Stephenson squared off against his former team Friday and Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry had nothing but positive things to say about the 26-year-old journeyman, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.
“We had no problem whatsoever with him,” Gentry said regarding New Orleans’ decision to waive the then-15th man on their roster after a groin injury in November. “As a matter of fact, he probably raised our energy level as much as anyone. I think he’ll be fine. He’s playing for a great [Timberwolves] coach who loves energy and toughness and stuff like that.”
The Pelicans faced criticism at the time for parting ways with Stephenson as he recovered from the long-term injury but did so to free up space on their roster for Archie Goodwin (who has since been waived). Now Stephenson is back at full strength and on a 10-day contract looking to stick in Minnesota with a Timberwolves roster led by head coach Tom Thibodeau.
In two games with the Timberwolves so far, Stephenson has posted 3.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 16.0 minutes per game. He’ll make $72K with Minnesota over the duration of his 10-day contract, in addition to the $1.2MM he’s owed by the Pelicans.
Timberwolves Sign Lance Stephenson
FEBRUARY 8: After announcing yesterday that they were bringing him in for a workout, the Wolves have now confirmed that they’ve signed Stephenson to a 10-day contract (Twitter link).
FEBRUARY 7: The Timberwolves are set to sign Lance Stephenson to a 10-day contract, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical. Minnesota had been carrying 14 players, so the club won’t need to make a corresponding move to create an opening on its 15-man roster.
Stephenson, 26, was one of several veteran free agents to participate in a workout last week for the Cavaliers, but his deal with Minnesota will ensure that he’s not an option for Cleveland — at least for the next 10 days.
After signing a one-year contract with the Pelicans last summer, Stephenson got off to a solid start for the club, averaging 9.7 PPG and 4.8 APG in his first six games this season. However, a groin injury sidelined him in November, at which point he underwent surgery and was waived by New Orleans, since the team needed to use his roster spot to add reinforcements.
Now healthy following that procedure on his groin, Stephenson will provide the Timberwolves with some depth at the wing position. Minnesota saw Zach LaVine suffer a torn ACL on Friday, which will keep him out of action for the remainder of the 2016/17 campaign.
While Stephenson’s signing will bring Minnesota’s roster to 15, the team will retain some roster flexibility. Stephenson’s deal will be a 10-day pact, so the Wolves could opt to let him go after February 16 if they want to go in another direction. Additionally, the Wolves have the option of pursuing medical retirement for Nikola Pekovic and opening up another roster spot. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link) hears that the club continues to monitor other available options.
Adreian Payne Out Indefinitely
The Wolves announced that Adreian Payne will be out indefinitely with a blood disorder, as USA Today passes along. The team said that Payne has thrombocytopenia, a condition that results in a low platelet count. It can cause bleeding, bruising and slow blood clotting after an injury, according to the publication.
Minnesota said that Payne has a good prognosis for recovery and he should be able to play basketball again once that happens. He’s currently receiving care from team doctors.
Payne hasn’t played much this season, seeing action in just 12 games. He was drafted by the Hawks with the 15th pick in the 2014 draft and Atlanta traded him to the Wolves during the 2014/15 season.
Zach LaVine Tears ACL, Out For The Season
Timberwolves guard Zach LaVine will miss the rest of the season after tearing the ACL in his left knee, according to Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune.
The injury happened during Friday’s loss to the Pistons and will require surgery, which will be scheduled at a later date.
LaVine has become a full-starter for Minnesota in his third NBA season. He was averaging 18.9 points and 3.0 assists through 47 games.
In October, the Wolves exercised their fourth-year option on LaVine, who will make more than $3.2MM next season. He will be eligible for a rookie-scale extension this summer.
Wolves Among Contenders For Larry Sanders
- Three Southwest Division teams are possible destinations for former Bucks center Larry Sanders, according to Gery Woelfel of Woelfel’sPressBox. Sanders, who hasn’t played in the NBA since 2014/15, has hired an agent and will meet with teams next week in Miami. A source told Woelfel that the five clubs with the best shot at landing Sanders are the Rockets, Mavericks, Pelicans, Celtics and Timberwolves. Several teams have contacted the Bucks to get more information on Sanders, who is expected to receive about $300K for the rest of the season if he does sign somewhere.
Timberwolves Offered Muhammad for P.J. Tucker
The Timberwolves offered swingman Shabazz Muhammad for Suns forward P.J. Tucker, according to Basketball Insiders’ Michael Scotto, citing a league source. Minnesota was rumored last month to be one of the teams interested in Tucker, who told Scotto he’d rather stay put in Phoenix.
The salaries don’t quite match up but they’re reasonably close, with the 6’6” Tucker making $5.3MM in the final year of his contract and Muhammad earning approximately $3.0MM. Muhammad’s qualifying offer is priced at $4.24MM this summer.
Tucker, 31, is one of the hottest trade candidates this month because of his cheap, expiring contract and his reputation as a solid defender. Tucker, who is averaging 6.9 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 28.3 MPG this season, has posted a positive Defensive Box Plus/Minus rating ever since he joined the Suns for the 2012/13 season, according to Basketball Reference.
“This is the last year of my contract, but as of now, I’m a Phoenix Sun,” he told Scotto. “So, I’m going to keep playing until somebody tells me otherwise. In this league, it’s part of the business, especially coming up in a contract year.”
Tucker added that he’s not seeking a trade.
“Phoenix has been great to me. I’ve been here five years,” he told Scotto. “It’s been a great five years, somewhere I would love to be for a long time. So places like this, where I just fit and they understand me and let me be myself. It’s a big factor for me.”
The Clippers, Bulls, Cavaliers and Hawks have also been linked to Tucker. The Clippers reportedly offered a second-round pick last month but the Suns held out for a first-rounder.
Windhorst: Will Cavs Ever Regret Trading Wiggins?
- In a separate piece for ESPN.com, Windhorst explores whether Andrew Wiggins will ever make the Cavaliers regret the deal that sent the No. 1 pick to the Timberwolves in a package for Kevin Love. As Windhorst observes, the fact that the Cavs won a title with Love makes it unlikely that the team would ever want a mulligan on the move.
Timberwolves Facing Decision On Nikola Pekovic
Nikola Pekovic last appeared in an NBA game on January 31, 2016, which means that as of today, the Timberwolves are eligible to move forward with removing the veteran center from their books. In the event that a player like Pekovic – or fellow big man Chris Bosh – is deemed medically unfit to continue his basketball career, his team has the opportunity to take his salary off its cap, one year after his last game.
There are a few aspects to take into account as the Wolves consider their next move with Pekovic. For one, the determination on Pekovic’s health must be made by a doctor who is jointly approved by the NBA and the players’ union, so the team’s own doctor won’t be able to make that judgment.
If that independent doctor indeed rules Pekovic medically unfit to continue playing, Minnesota would immediately be able to eliminate his cap charges for the rest of his contract. The Wolves are currently on the hook for $12.1MM this season for Pekovic, and $11.6MM in 2017/18. The team would still have to pay that money, and it would continue to count toward the salary floor, but it would free up cap room, creating some spending flexibility for the franchise.
Before the Wolves move forward on this front, however, they’ll have to consider Pekovic’s stance. In Miami, Bosh has said he’ll do everything he can to return the court, despite blood clot concerns — if the Heat were to wipe his cap hits from their books and he’s eventually medically cleared and plays 25 games for another club, those salary charges would go back onto Miami’s cap, potentially creating major problems.
In Pekovic’s case, things look a little simpler. The big man is only under contract for one more year beyond 2016/17, and his cap hit isn’t as substantial as Bosh’s, so the financial risk of the move wouldn’t be as great for Minnesota. Additionally, Pekovic himself has acknowledged that his career may be over due to ankle and Achilles issues that have plagued him in recent years.
“For two years I have struggled with this injury,” Pekovic said last month. “I have been mentally exhausted. This year I went to Minneapolis for two months and I did everything possible to return to the court, but there are times when you simply can’t. I can’t run without pain.”
The Wolves are currently almost $13MM below the 2016/17 cap, so it’s not as if they need the extra space this season. But if Pekovic is prepared to accept medical retirement, it’s probably in the best interest of both sides to go down that road — he would still get paid, while Minnesota would gain significant financial flexibility for the coming summer. We should find out soon whether that’s the plan for the Wolves.
Wolves Remain In Market For Frontcourt Help
The Timberwolves remain on the lookout for a big man, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link). That’s not a new revelation — a report in mid-December suggested that Minnesota was interested in adding some frontcourt help to its roster. Still, at that time, the trade deadline was more than two months away. February 23 is inching closer, so if the Wolves do indeed intend to address their frontcourt rotation via the trade market, they’ll have to do so within the next few weeks.