Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

NBA Fines Anthony Edwards $35K

March 1st, 2025 at 5:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

The NBA announced that Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has been fined $35K for his actions in Thursday’s game against the Lakers.

A release from the league states that after being ejected for picking up a second technical foul, Edwards failed to leave the court in a timely manner and threw the ball into the stands (Twitter video link).

Edwards and L.A. forward Jarred Vanderbilt were whistled for double technicals for shoving each other in the first quarter. The ejection came in the third quarter after Edwards complained to officials about a no-call.

The two technicals brought Edwards’ total to 16 for the season. That carries an automatic one-game suspension, which he served Friday night during Minnesota’s loss at Utah. The Wolves were already missing Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle due to injuries, so Edwards’ absence left them without three starters.

Edwards will receive another one-game suspension for every two technical fouls he is assessed for the remainder of the season. At 32-28, the Timberwolves are one game away from moving into the top six in the West and three and a half from sliding out of the play-in tournament, so it will be crucial for Edwards to stay on the court.

The latest fine brings Edwards’ total for the season to $320K for six separate incidents. That doesn’t include the $242K he lost as a result of Friday’s one-game suspension or the smaller fines automatically assessed for each technical foul.

Northwest Notes: Watson, SGA, R. Williams, Timberwolves

February 28th, 2025 at 11:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets forward Peyton Watson, who has been sidelined since January 31 due to a sprained right knee, was ruled out for at least four weeks when the injury was first diagnosed. His absence is expected to extend a little beyond that initial timeline, head coach Michael Malone said on Thursday.

“He’s still got some hurdles to clear,” Malone said on Thursday, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscription required). “Heading in the right direction. … I don’t know, maybe another seven to 10 days, kind of see what happens after this road trip, when we get back after the Boston game (on Sunday). Kind of reassess everything. But he’s definitely making progress, and hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later.”

According to Durando, Watson played 3-on-3 with teammates this week, but continued to wear a brace on his right leg during that session.

Watson has further solidified his place in the rotation in his third year with the Nuggets after averaging 18.6 minutes per game across 80 appearances in 2023/24. Through 48 games this season, he has averaged 8.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.2 blocks in 24.1 minutes per night, with a .471/.340/.752 shooting line.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Asked about his decision to part ways with his agents before becoming eligible for a super-max extension this summer, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said it wasn’t just about avoiding agent fees on his upcoming mega-deal, per Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman (Twitter link). “It wasn’t entirely that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think, for myself, I wanna be a well-rounded human being. Not just a basketball player — a business man, a father, a husband. I want to check all the boxes. I think it would be a good experience for me to learn and get better in another area of life.”
Trail Blazers big man Robert Williams, who is dealing with a left knee sprain, will remain inactive for the rest of the team’s road trip, which runs through next Friday in Oklahoma City, reports Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Williams has been out since February 20 and hasn’t played in two consecutive games in over a month.
Anthony Edwards‘ one-game suspension, which he served on Friday, will cost him $242,393, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That’s 1/174th of Edwards’ $42,176,400 salary for the season. The Timberwolves will receive a tax variance credit of $121,196, Marks adds, which projects to reduce their end-of-season tax bill by about $515K.
Speaking to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker discussed the process of establishing himself as a reliable rotation player in Minnesota and brushed off a question about his upcoming unrestricted free agency. “Truthfully, the preparation is to let the time come when it comes and not get ahead of yourself,” Alexander-Walker said. “It’s something for me to learn now. The season’s not done. I’m still trying to win a championship. This organization has given me so much. So I want to continue to pour into the opportunity that I have and see what I can do with it.”

Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards Suspended For One Game

February 28th, 2025 at 2:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

2:05 pm: The NBA has officially confirmed in a press release (via Twitter) that Edwards has been suspended for one game. He’ll serve the one-game ban on Friday when the Timberwolves visit Utah.

9:17 am: Anthony Edwards was ejected after picking up two technical fouls on Thursday and now faces an automatic one-game league suspension when Minnesota faces Utah tonight. The Timberwolves star guard has reached the 16-technical threshold, unless the league rescinds one of the two he collected in the loss to the Lakers.

Edwards and Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt were called for double technical fouls when they exchanged shoves at the end of the first quarter. Edwards’ second technical occurred during the third quarter when he complained about a no-call.

“{Edwards] was issued his second unsportsmanlike technical foul for directing profanity towards a game official,” crew chief James Williams told a pool reporter, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

According to ESPN Research, the Timberwolves star is the first player to receive 16 technical fouls before March since DeMarcus Cousins during the 2016/17 season. His coach believes Edwards has to learn to control himself.

“He’s got to be better,” Chris Finch said. “He’s had too many outbursts. I think a lot of them are deserved. They’re going to miss some calls from time to time for sure, so he’s got to be better. We’ve been talking to him about it, so it’s on him.”

Edwards tossed the ball into the stands after his ejection, which will likely lead to another league fine. He has already accrued $285K in fines for five separate infractions this season, The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski notes.

Edwards will be suspended an additional game for every two technical fouls he receives going forward for the rest of the year. Point guard Mike Conley believes Edwards isn’t the only player on the team guilty of being overly reactive.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who get emotional when things don’t go the right way, individually. And that can hurt our team as a whole,” he said. “We have to be better. Ant has to be better. He knows that.”

Mavs Inquired About Anthony Edwards Before Trading Doncic To Lakers

February 28th, 2025 at 7:51am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers were not the only team that Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison reached out to regarding a possible Luka Doncic trade. According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, the Mavericks had informal discussions with the Timberwolves regarding a possible Doncic-Anthony Edwards swap in the weeks leading up to the blockbuster deal with Los Angeles.

Those discussions didn’t go anywhere because Minnesota had no interest in trading its All-Star guard. However, the Timberwolves brass was stunned that Dallas was even considering the idea of trading Doncic, sources tell Amick.

From a salary standpoint, the numbers would have matched up pretty neatly — Doncic is making $43MM this season and Edwards is pulling in $42.2MM. Edwards is in the first year of a five-year, max extension that currently adds up to $244.6MM. Recall that the main motivation for Dallas to trade Doncic is that the front office didn’t want to give him a five-year, super-max extension worth a projected $345MM.

Had the Timberwolves been willing to trade Edwards for Doncic, the two franchises would have essentially swapped superstars entering or in their prime. Edwards is still just 23 years old, while Doncic is 26.

Instead, the centerpiece of the package the Mavs received was 31-year old big man Anthony Davis, an oft-injured perennial All-Star who suffered an adductor strain in his Dallas debut and has yet to return. The deal has been extremely unpopular with Mavericks fans but they might have had a different reaction if the team essentially replaced one high-scoring play-maker with a younger one.

Thus far, the Lakers are 4-2 in the games that Doncic has played since the trade, including a 111-102 win over the Timberwolves on Thursday.

Timberwolves Promote Jaylen Clark, Sign Bones Hyland To Two-Way

February 27th, 2025 at 5:15pm CST by Luke Adams

February 27: Clark’s promotion is now official, the Timberwolves announced in a press release. The Wolves have also officially announced Hyland’s two-way contract.

February 26: The Timberwolves intend to promote guard Jaylen Clark from his two-way contract to a standard deal, agent Todd Ramasar tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

While the Wolves’ position above the second tax apron means they’re unable to offer Clark more than a minimum-salary deal, Charania reports that the former second-round pick will receive a fully guaranteed two-year contract, which will lock him up through the 2025/26 season.

The 53rd overall pick in 2023 out of UCLA, Clark spent his rookie season recovering from an ruptured Achilles tendon. The Wolves were aware of that injury when they drafted him, but were willing to be patient with a player that president of basketball operations Tim Connelly referred to in June 2023 as “the best perimeter defender in the draft,” signing him to a two-year, two-way contract.

After recovering from his Achilles tear, Clark opened the 2024/25 season by playing primarily for the Iowa Wolves in the G League, but he has since established himself as a role player in Minnesota.

The 23-year-old has logged double-digit minutes in each of the Timberwolves’ past 13 games, averaging 6.5 points per game on .476/.444/.750 shooting while playing strong point-of-attack defense. He has held opponents to 41% shooting as the contesting defender this season, per Charania (Twitter link).

Once Clark’s promotion to the 15-man roster is official, the Timberwolves will use their open two-way contract slot on free agent guard Bones Hyland, agent Austin Walton tells Charania (Twitter link).

Hyland was selected by the Nuggets with the 26th overall pick in the 2021 draft back when Connelly was running Denver’s front office. The former VCU standout showed some intriguing potential as a scorer and shooter during a season-and-a-half in Denver (10.9 PPG, .371 3PT%). However, the Nuggets – said to be concerned about Hyland’s defensive lapses and his displeasure with his role – sent him to the Clippers at the 2023 deadline.

Hyland never really found his footing in Los Angeles, appearing in just 71 games over the last two years and averaging 7.8 PPG on .392/.349/.812 shooting during that time. He was traded to Atlanta earlier this month as part of the Terance Mann/Bogdan Bogdanovic swap and was quickly waived by the Hawks.

Given that he drafted Hyland and reportedly came close to acquiring him at the 2023 trade deadline, it makes sense that Connelly sought out a reunion with the 24-year-old after he reached free agency. This is Hyland’s fourth year in the NBA, making it the last season in which he’s eligible for a two-way deal.

Minnesota will have a full 18-man roster (15 standard contracts, three two-ways) once the roster moves are official.

Northwest Notes: Nnaji, DiVincenzo, Clark, Avdija

February 26th, 2025 at 11:00pm CST by Rory Maher

Big man Zeke Nnaji has largely been outside of the Nuggets‘ rotation in 2024/25. However, a knee injury to Peyton Watson has opened up minutes at backup power forward, and Nnaji has been performing well of late, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscriber link).

“This is probably the first time in a while that he has an opportunity to play big minutes, important minutes and a lot of minutes. He’s good,” Nikola Jokic said of Nnaji. “He’s decisive. When he’s open, he shoots. He’s aggressive. He’s attacking the boards. He’s still probably trying to kind of figure it out, but I think he’s doing a really good job.”

Nnaji, 24, was involved in trade rumors leading up to the deadline earlier this month in part because he has fifth-highest salary on the team. General manager Calvin Booth later confirmed that Nnaji came up in trade talks, but since he was rarely playing, his long-term contract was almost certainly viewed as a negative asset.

With Watson sidelined and Nnaji playing his preferred position, he has averaged 7.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.4 blocks on .566/.368/.700 shooting over the past 10 games (21.4 minutes per contest). Would Michael Malone be comfortable turning to Nnaji for spot minutes if he’s needed in the postseason?

“Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, just continue to be present,” Malone said when asked if there’s a path to playoff minutes. “Continue to be in the moment. And I think Zeke’s done that. Ever since Peyton Watson went out, Zeke’s been called upon. … He’s stayed ready. He’s gone out there and done his job. And he’s shown that he belongs out there. So I have all the confidence in the world if I have to call upon Zeke Nnaji at any point the remainder of this season, I feel really confident about doing that. And so do his teammates. I think that’s even more important.”

Here’s more from the Northwest:

Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo has been out since Jan. 15 due to a left great toe sprain, but he has a chance to return to action soon. He’s officially listed as questionable for Thursday’s contest at the Lakers, the Wolves announced (via Twitter). ESPN’s Shams Charania reported earlier this week that both DiVincenzo and Julius Randle (right groin strain) could return at some point this week. Randle will be out Thursday, with two additional games (at Utah on Friday, at Phoenix on Sunday) scheduled on Minnesota’s road trip.
Jaylen Clark will reportedly be converted from a two-way contract to a standard deal, with Bones Hyland taking Clark’s old two-way spot. Asked about his impending promotion on Wednesday, the Timberwolves guard said he was thrilled by the news, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune (Twitter link). “I love being in Minnesota, I’m excited,” Clark said. “It feels like I’m officially a part of everything. I can play in the playoffs. It’s been cool. The journey has been long, but it’s been well worthwhile.”
Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija sustained a quad injury in the first half of Wednesday’s win in Washington. After initially being listed as questionable to return, he was later ruled out for the remainder of the contest (Twitter link). It’s unclear if the injury will cause Avdija to miss additional time, but hopefully it’s good news that he wasn’t immediately ruled out.

Northwest Notes: Jokic, MPJ, Blazers, Timberwolves

February 26th, 2025 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Nikola Jokic continued to bolster his case for a fourth MVP award on Monday by racking up a career-high 19 assists in a road win over the Pacers.

Jokic, who grabbed nine rebounds in the victory, narrowly missed his 27th triple-double of the season, but the Nuggets star is now averaging a triple-double on the year, with 29.2 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 10.4 assists per contest. If he can maintain those averages, it would be the first time in his career that he has averaged a triple-double for a full season.

“The guy is just an amazing, complete basketball player,” head coach Michael Malone said, per ESPN. “And I think the most remarkable thing is not just 19 assists, but the satisfaction and joy that Nikola gets from making his teammates better. … He’s a humble person and understands that this whole thing is always much bigger than the individual. It’s the collective.

“But 19? … What is that? … He’s just an incredible player. And what a luxury to have when you can just play through him down the stretch of a close game and you know something good is going to happen each and every time.”

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., who missed the final three games before the All-Star break due to a minor hamstring injury, struggled upon returning last week, scoring 19 total points on 7-of-25 shooting (28.0%) in his first two games back. After contributing 19 points and 11 rebounds in Monday’s win over Indiana, Porter explained that he’s still working on getting his conditioning back to normal, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “I hadn’t ran at all for those three games I missed before the break, and then over the break, I didn’t run, so the first time I really ran was that first game back (last Thursday),” Porter said. “Now I’m just kind of getting my wind back and getting my groove back. It’s still not ‘a hundred a hundred’ percent, but it’ll be back in probably the next couple of games.”
How do the Trail Blazers stack up against the NBA’s other rebuilding teams? Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report (Substack link) considers that question, evaluating how the Blazers compare to Brooklyn, Utah, Charlotte, Toronto, and Washington in terms of young talent, future draft assets, and a few other variables. Although the Blazers have a solid base of young talent, they don’t have a clear-cut franchise player, their cap sheet isn’t clean as some of the others, and it’s unclear whether Chauncey Billups will be their long-term answer at head coach, Highkin writes.
The Timberwolves pulled off arguably the most impressive comeback in franchise history on Monday, rallying from a 25-point deficit to knock off the West-leading Thunder in overtime. Chris Hine of The Star Tribune has the story on the improbable, galvanizing victory, exploring how the Wolves got crucial contributions from role players like Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker and rookies Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr.

Checking In On Open NBA Roster Spots

February 24th, 2025 at 12:06pm CST by Luke Adams

There has been no shortage of free agent signings across the NBA since the trade deadline, but several clubs still have at least one open roster spot as we near the home stretch of the season.

Using our roster counts tracker, let’s check in on which teams have openings and which are most likely to fill them in the short term.

Teams with multiple open spots on their standard 15-man rosters:

New Orleans Pelicans
Sacramento Kings

The Pelicans and Kings are both currently carrying 13 players on standard contracts, which teams are permitted to do for up to 14 days at a time or 28 days in total during a season.

New Orleans dipped down to 13 players last Thursday by buying out Javonte Green, which means the club will have until next Thursday (March 6) to get back to 14 players. Two-way player Brandon Boston is considered a strong candidate for a promotion, though he’s still eight games away from his 50-game limit because he has been out since February 8 with a sprained ankle.

Sacramento, meanwhile, dropped to 13 players when Daishen Nix‘s 10-day contract expired last Monday night. The Kings need to re-add a 14th man by next Tuesday (March 4) in order to adhere to the NBA’s roster rules.

Teams with one open spot on their standard 15-man rosters:

Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics
Golden State Warriors
- Note: Two of the Warriors’ 14 players are on 10-day contracts.
Indiana Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
New York Knicks

The Celtics, Bucks, Timberwolves, and Knicks are all deep into luxury tax territory and may not be in any rush to add a 15th man, since that player would cost exponentially more once tax penalties are taken into account. New York is currently restricted by a hard cap but could sign a player as soon as February 28.

The Hawks and Pacers have enough breathing room below the tax not to worry about surpassing that line, so they may look to add someone sooner rather than later, perhaps on a 10-day contract.

The Warriors, meanwhile, will dip back to 12 players once the 10-day contracts for Kevin Knox and Yuri Collins expire this Friday night. Golden State has some hard-cap issues to navigate for the rest of the season and might not want to get back to 14 players right away.

Teams with full standard 15-man rosters that include one 10-day contract:

Brooklyn Nets
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dallas Mavericks
Memphis Grizzlies
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards

These teams each have 14 players on standard contracts and one on a 10-day deal. With one exception, they’re all below the tax line and could continue cycling through 10-day signings or add a player on a rest-of-season contract when their current 10-day deals expire.

The one exception is Dallas. The Mavericks are right up against their hard cap, so once Moses Brown‘s 10-day contract ends, they won’t be able to bring in a new 15th man (or bring Brown back) until April 10.

Teams with an open two-way slot:

Brooklyn Nets
Golden State Warriors

The Warriors will reportedly fill their open two-way slot with Australian guard Taran Armstrong, so the Nets are really the only team with a two-way spot available, having promoted Tyrese Martin to a standard contract last Thursday.

It’s a pretty safe bet Brooklyn will fill that opening at some point before March 4, which is the deadline for two-way signings. You can also count on several other teams promoting, waiving, and signing two-way players before that deadline.

Wolves Rumors: Durant, Randle, Reid, Alexander-Walker

February 24th, 2025 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

Confirming earlier reporting that said the Timberwolves were among the teams who inquired on Kevin Durant prior to the February 6 trade deadline, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) reports that Minnesota was calling potential trade partners in the days leading up to the deadline to explore the possibility of getting below the second tax apron in order to aggregate salaries for the Suns star.

While there was little – if any – “tangible urgency” in Minnesota for major in-season changes to the roster, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to explore the idea of acquiring Durant, according to Fischer, who notes that the veteran executive has a history of operating aggressively on the trade market.

Although nothing came of the Wolves’ pursuit of Durant this month, Fischer wonders if it was connected at all to the impending ownership takeover by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez and whether the team might renew its pursuit of Durant during the offseason if and when Lore and Rodriguez have officially assumed control of the franchise.

Here’s more from Fischer on the Wolves:

Multiple cap strategists from rival teams have suggested to Fischer that it might be in Julius Randle‘s best interest to exercise the $30.9MM player option he holds for the 2025/26 season. Randle, who has battled injuries over the past two seasons and has seen his production slip in Minnesota, seems unlikely to match that first-year salary on the open market if he opts for free agency.
Those same camp strategists consider it likely that Naz Reid will turn down his own $15MM player option this offseason in search of a more lucrative longer-term deal, says Fischer. However, as Fischer writes, teams like Cleveland, Dallas, and San Antonio – who were interested in Reid the last time he neared free agency – may be less inclined to pursue him this time around. The Cavaliers and Mavericks have since added other players to their respective frontcourts, while the Spurs – who were hoping in 2023 to add a floor-spacing center to play alongside Victor Wembanyama – have since begun playing Wembanyama at the five instead.
There’s an expectation that the Wolves and Reid will likely continue their relationship beyond this season, but Nickeil Alexander-Walker‘s future in Minnesota is more uncertain, Fischer writes. Since being traded to the Wolves in 2023, Alexander-Walker has emerged as an excellent point-of-attack defender who can hit outside shots (he has a .393 3PT% as a Timberwolf). Some league executives believe his next contract could get as high as $20MM per year, according to Fischer, which could make life difficult for a Minnesota team that already has plenty of sizable contracts on its books.

Timberwolves’ Randle, DiVincenzo Could Return During Road Trip

February 23rd, 2025 at 9:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Timberwolves are embarking on a four-game road tilt that tips off Monday in Oklahoma City and wraps up on Sunday against Phoenix.

Shams Charania of ESPN reports (Twitter video link) that Minnesota could be getting some reinforcements during that stretch, with starting forward Julius Randle and starting point guard Donte DiVincenzo primed to return from long-term injuries.

Randle has been on the shelf with a groin injury since January 30. As Charania notes, the Timberwolves had gone 10-4 during their last 14 contests with Randle available, including a five-game win streak.

Randle, 30, has struggled somewhat to adjust to his new environs during his first season with Minnesota. In 48 healthy contests, the 6’9″ forward is averaging 18.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

DiVincenzo has been sidelined since January 15 due to a toe ailment. The Villanova alum was elevated to the starting lineup in his last six games before his injury absence and averaged 17.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.5 steals per contest during that stretch.

Reigning Defensive Player of the Year Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, meanwhile, has been on the shelf since February 12 with a back injury and will not be back during this road trip.

Minnesota’s injury woes and general chemistry issues have led the club to a middling 31-26 record on the year so far, good for just the West’s No. 7 seed.