Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Knicks Granted Permission To Speak To Wolves’ Prigioni

July 23rd, 2025 at 1:56pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have requested and been granted permission to speak to Timberwolves assistant Pablo Prigioni about the possibility of him joining Mike Brown‘s coaching staff, reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link).

A former NBA point guard who spent two-and-a-half seasons in New York as a player from 2012-15, Prigioni transitioned to coaching following his retirement in 2017. He spent one season on Brooklyn’s bench in 2018/19 before landing with the Wolves.

Prigioni, 48, was originally hired under Ryan Saunders, but carried over to Chris Finch‘s staff in 2021 and has now been with the Timberwolves for six seasons in total. He’s “highly regarded in coaching circles,” Begley writes.

Before they eventually hired Brown, the Knicks attempted to speak to five current NBA head coaches and were turned down by each of those coaches’ respective teams. They’ve found themselves in a somewhat similar position as they look to hire a lead assistant under Brown.

New York was reportedly denied permission to speak to Pelicans assistant James Borrego and Mavericks assistant Jay Triano. The club was also thought to have interest in Darvin Ham, but the Bucks weren’t willing to let him go either. Additionally, Begley reported this week (via Twitter) that Warriors assistant Terry Stotts wouldn’t be leaving Golden State, though it’s unclear whether the Knicks had any real interest in him or if that was just speculation.

Begley doesn’t confirm that Prigioni is being considered specifically for the Knicks’ lead assistant role, but the Timberwolves likely wouldn’t have given a rival team permission to meet with him for what would be a lateral move.

Northwest Notes: Shannon, A-Rod, Avdija, Hansen

July 22nd, 2025 at 9:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Terrence Shannon Jr. was named to the All-Summer First Team on Tuesday. The Timberwolves guard stood out in Las Vegas and he’ll look to parlay that success in his second NBA season, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes.

Shannon could be as the main candidate to fill the void left by Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who averaged 25.3 minutes per game last season and signed with the Hawks as a free agent. Shannon will battle Jaylen Clark and Rob Dillingham for those minutes. A late first-round pick in 2024, the 24-year-old appeared in 32 regular season games as a rookie.

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

A conversation with Magic Johnson early in his pro baseball career inspired Alex Rodriguez to become an NBA owner after his retirement. Rodriguez and Marc Lore were unanimously approved as majority owners of the Timberwolves last month. “When I was 21 years old, Magic sat with me. I was supposed to have 30 minutes,” Rodriguez told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears. “And that 30 minutes went to about three and a half hours and nine pages of notes. I asked him a few years later, ‘Magic why did you give me three-plus hours?’ And he said, ‘Because you came in, you were focused, you were making eye contact and you were engaged. I saw your passion. I saw you writing all those notes.’ The main thing he said is, ‘When you do your thing, your obligation is to pass it down to the next generation of us.’”
Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija is focused on playing for Israel in the upcoming EuroBasket tournament this summer, according to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net. “I am not currently thinking about the NBA. Playing for the national team of Israel is the most important honor for any player,” he said in a press conference, “Joining players I grew up with from the junior national teams is exciting. We have an amazing squad here, capable of great things. I will do everything possible to make this team successful.” Israel will face Iceland, Poland, France, Belgium, and Slovenia between Aug. 28-Sept. 4 in the preliminary round. “I am aiming for the top. I have always aimed for the top,” Avdija said.
Suns draft pick Rasheer Fleming found out during a pre-draft workout with the Trail Blazers how skilled Yang Hansen was. Portland wound up using the No. 16 pick on the Chinese big man. “They’ve been saying he’s the next Jokic,” Fleming told Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “He’s so skilled. We got to see all of that in the workout. He was on my team. He threw me some dimes. He can really pass.”

NBA Names Kyle Filipowski Summer League MVP, Announces All-SL Teams

July 22nd, 2025 at 3:24pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jazz forward/center Kyle Filipowski has officially been named the Summer League Most Valuable Player for 2025, the NBA announced today (via Twitter). Filipowski is also one of five players who earned a spot on the All-Summer League first team.

Here are the full All-Summer League teams, per the league (Twitter links):

First Team

Kyle Filipowski (Jazz)
Nique Clifford (Kings)
David Jones-Garcia (Spurs)
Jordan Miller (Clippers)
Terrence Shannon Jr. (Timberwolves)

Second Team

Ron Holland (Pistons)
Isaac Jones (Kings)
Kon Knueppel (Hornets)
Ajay Mitchell (Thunder)
KJ Simpson (Hornets)

Filipowski, who is entering his second NBA season after playing 72 games as a rookie, appeared in a total of six Summer League contests (Salt Lake City and Las Vegas). He averaged 23.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 blocks in 27.6 minutes per game. He especially excelled in Las Vegas, averaging 29.3 PPG and 7.7 RPG in three outings.

Clifford, a rookie drafted with the No. 24 pick last month, posted averages of 15.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals in six contests. Jones-Garcia, who is seeking a contract, finished an eight-game summer campaign with averages of 22 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists. He posted averages of 21.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists in a handful of games in Vegas.

Miller (22.0, 7.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists) racked up impressive number in five summer games after being waived earlier this month by the Clippers. Entering his second season with Minnesota, Shannon (22.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists) excelled in three contests.

After competing in the Summer League championship game on Sunday, both the Hornets (Knueppel and Simpson) and Kings (Clifford and Jones) had multiple players recognized for their play in Las Vegas. Knueppel was named the MVP of the championship game.

Fischer’s Latest: Simmons, Brogdon, Kuminga, Celtics

July 20th, 2025 at 10:32am CST by Arthur Hill

The Kings and Knicks appear to be the most likely destinations for Ben Simmons in free agency, Jake Fischer said in a recent Bleacher Report stream (hat tip to BasketNews). Simmons, who played 51 combined games with the Nets and Clippers last season, is one of several prominent veterans who remain unsigned.

“We are still anticipating the Kings to be bringing in another veteran guard, and Ben Simmons is on that list of potential targets, in addition to Russell Westbrook, to Malcolm Brogdon, and I think he’d make an interesting addition there,” Fischer said. “I personally think Ben Simmons would be interesting in Minnesota, but I haven’t heard that they have interest in him.”

Sacramento currently has 12 players on fully guaranteed contracts, along with non-guaranteed deals for Keon Ellis ($2.3MM) and Terence Davis ($2.5MM), so there’s flexibility to add an established guard. The Kings are nearly $9.9MM below the first apron.

Simmons, 29, was a rotation player with Brooklyn before being waived in early February, averaging 6.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 33 games. His role was reduced once he joined the Clippers, but he still offers versatility and defensive upside.

Fischer shared a few more rumors in his stream:

The Bucks likely won’t pursue Brogdon after landing Cole Anthony, but Fischer said there’s still plenty of interest around the league in the veteran guard. Along with the Kings, he names the Pelicans, Timberwolves and Warriors as potential landings spots for Brogdon, who appeared in 24 games with Washington last season.
Fischer doesn’t believe the Warriors have enough interest in Bulls center Nikola Vucevic to make him the main piece in a potential Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade. Vucevic has an expiring contract, and Golden State is expected to fill its need for a stretch five by signing Al Horford. Chicago is among several teams that have expressed interest in Kuminga, but Fischer says the most likely scenario has him remaining with the Warriors on “a short-term agreement.”
The Celtics remain active on the trade market as they try to get their roster younger and cheaper, Fischer adds. He states that Boston had discussions with the Grizzlies recently, but doesn’t provide any other details. He states that rival teams believe the Celtics are trying to unload both Anfernee Simons and Georges Niang.

Celtics Notes: Norris, Gonzalez, Lillard, Scheierman

July 19th, 2025 at 6:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

Miles Norris only appeared in three games after signing a two-way contract with the Celtics in early March, so he has tried to make a strong impression during Summer League, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. The 25-year-old power forward had 11 points, including four dunks, in Thursday’s win over the Lakers. He said everything has been positive since he came to Boston, and he’s hoping to eventually move into a larger role

“The whole organization, you know, it’s been good to me,” Norris said. “Basketball has been enjoyable since I’ve been here, the environment has been great. So, you know, everyone’s having fun. I’m having a lot of fun. It’s good, I’m just trying to go out there and compete. I’m the two-way now, you know, trying to get work my way. Yeah, I’ve been enjoying it so far.”

Norris spent time with Atlanta and Memphis after going undrafted out of California Santa Barbara in 2023, but the Celtics gave him his first on-court experience. The organizati0n hopes he can develop into an effective three-and-D player, and he’s been instructed to study Michael Porter Jr. and Obi Toppin. He said he benefited from being part of a playoff atmosphere during the spring as the Celtics advanced to the second round.

“The thing I noticed was the preparation, before the court, off the court, you know, guys taking care of their body,” Norris said. “The real professionalism. That’s the biggest thing I’ve seen from the veterans you know. JT (Jayson Tatum), JB (Jaylen Brown), Al (Horford), I (saw) Al every day (last season) working on his body. It’s good to see guys you know, have that longevity, yeah, see how important it is. So I try to take some things from them every day, watch them every day. You know, try to follow them.”

There’s more on the Celtics:

First-round pick Hugo Gonzalez has been his own toughest critic during Summer League, Washburn adds in a separate story. The 19-year-old Real Madrid star could be seen talking to himself in Spanish after a few early errors in Las Vegas. “I’m just trying to have a positive message to my mind after a turnover or missed shot,” he said. “I’m trying to have the mindset of I’ve got to make the best decision on the next play. I try to live with the mistakes. That’s what basketball means.”
Appearing this week on NBA Today, ESPN’s Shams Charania said Damian Lillard gave strong consideration to Boston before returning to the Trail Blazers, per Brian Robb of MassLive. “Over a dozen teams made minimum and mid-level exception offers to Dame,” Charania said. “Two teams in particular, I’m told, that Damian Lillard really considered: Celtics and the Timberwolves. He held calls with both teams at different points, but to be in Portland, back home with his three young kids, was by far the most important factor in his return to the Trail Blazers.” Robb points out that Boston’s offer was limited to the $5.9MM taxpayer MLE and that signing Lillard would have required other moves to get below the second apron.
Baylor Scheierman is trying not to get discouraged by his poor shooting in Summer League, according to Souichi Terada of MassLive. Last year’s first-round pick is connecting at 27.4% from the field and 20.5% from three-point range. “Just keep shooting,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’ve practiced a lot in my career to get here, shooting-wise. I’ve shot a lot of shots in a game — made a lot of shots in a game. It’s just a slump that I’m in right now. At the end of the day, the only way I’m going to get out of it is to keep shooting.”

Damian Lillard Returns To Trail Blazers On Three-Year Deal

July 19th, 2025 at 5:40pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 19: Lillard’s new contract is official, the Trail Blazers announced in a press release.

JULY 17: Star point guard Damian Lillard is finalizing a three-year, $42MM contract to return to the Trail Blazers, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports that the deal is expected to feature a player option for the 2027/28 season and a no-trade clause.

Zach Lowe of The Ringer first stated (Twitter link) that the Blazers and Lillard had mutual interest in a reunion, with Bill Oram of The Oregonian reporting shortly thereafter that the two sides were in “deep discussions” about a contract and that Lillard was “strongly considering” a return to Portland.

Lillard is expected to miss the entire 2025/26 campaign after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in late April during Milwaukee’s first-round playoff series vs. Indiana. The Bucks waived the 35-year-old guard earlier this month and used the stretch provision on his previous contract in order to create the cap space necessary to sign Myles Turner.

It’s a stunning turn of events considering the contentious way in which Portland’s all-time leading scorer exited the franchise after he requested a trade two years ago.

According to Charania, Lillard met with general manager Joe Cronin and head coach Chauncey Billups multiple times in recent weeks to “bond” and hash out a new deal. Lillard’s family and children live in Portland and he considered it to be of the utmost importance to reunite with the organization and city, says Charania.

Lillard drew interest from several teams on the open market and had multiple offers for both the mid-level exception and the veteran’s minimum, sources tell Charania. The Timberwolves were among the teams that checked in on Lillard, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, though it’s unclear how serious those talks were.

NBA insider Chris Haynes hears (Twitter link) that Cronin and Lillard “made amends” at the nine-time All-Star’s house “weeks ago.” The goal is for Lillard to retire as a Trail Blazer, Haynes adds.

As Marc Stein of The Stein Line observes (via Twitter), despite not playing for the Trail Blazers for the past two seasons, Lillard is eligible for a full no-trade clause because he has at least eight years of NBA service time and spent at least four years with Portland. He spent his first 11 NBA seasons as a Blazer after being selected No. 6 overall back in 2012.

Lillard remained highly productive last season when healthy, averaging 24.9 points, 7.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 58 regular season contests (36.1 minutes per game). Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with a blood clot in his right calf in March, and suffered the major Achilles injury in his third game back after a remarkably fast recovery from the deep vein thrombosis.

Timberwolves’ New Owners Prepared To Continue Paying Tax

July 18th, 2025 at 4:08pm CST by Luke Adams

After paying a franchise-record $90.4MM in luxury tax penalties last season, the Timberwolves are now under new ownership. But the transfer from Glen Taylor to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez won’t make the team any less inclined to pay a tax bill, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

As Vorkunov relays, Lore said this week that he and Rodriguez are prepared to continue being taxpayers as long as they think it benefits the franchise in both the short and long term.

“We think about it like we do a startup, where startups lose money, but they’re investing because it’s creating enterprise value over the long term,” Lore said. “And I think that’s the way we think about. It is investing in the team, in winning, creates long-term franchise value. That’s not over the next three to five years, but 10 to 20, the next 50 years, even.

“So, we’re prepared to invest, we’re prepared to lose money to create a winning culture. But a sustainable winning culture, not just a one year — you’re not going to see us do what maybe people might expect us to do, which is come in as owners and make some big flashy move. We’re being very methodical about the decisions we make, and we’re thinking in every decision what’s in the best interest of building a long-term, sustainable culture of winning.”

While the Timberwolves have fallen short of a championship, they’ve appeared in the Western Conference Finals in back-to-back seasons and were able to re-sign forwards Julius Randle and Naz Reid to new deals in free agency this month. Those signings pushed Minnesota’s team salary well above the tax line again in 2025/26.

However, because the Wolves aren’t as far above the tax line this season, don’t qualify as a repeater taxpayer, and will benefit from reduced penalties for the first two tax brackets, their year-end tax bill should come in significantly lower than last season’s $90MM+. Their projected bill will depend on how they fill out their roster — they currently have 13 players on guaranteed standard contracts.

International Notes: Bacon, Anderson, Hall, Gobert

July 18th, 2025 at 10:17am CST by Luke Adams

Ahead of the team’s first season in the EuroLeague, Dubai Basketball is loading up on former NBA players. The team announced this week in a pair of press releases that it has signed free agent shooting guard Dwayne Bacon and wing Justin Anderson.

Bacon, who will turn 30 next month, hasn’t been on an NBA roster since being waived by the Lakers in October 2022, but the former No. 40 overall pick out of Florida State appeared in 207 regular season games for Charlotte and Orlando from 2017-21. He averaged 7.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 19.4 minutes per game – with a shooting line of .402/.314/.780 – during that time and has since played in Monaco, Greece, China, Puerto Rico, and Russia.

Anderson, meanwhile, is a 2015 first-round pick who made 242 NBA regular season appearances for six teams from 2015-22. The 31-year-old, who averaged 5.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game on .410/.292/.775 shooting in the NBA, has played for three separate clubs in Spain since 2023.

In addition to Bacon and Anderson, Dubai recently added former Brooklyn swingman Dzanan Musa and former Dallas guard McKinley Wright. The roster also features longtime NBA big man Davis Bertans, who played for Dubai last season.

Here are a few more notes from around the international basketball world:

Big man Donta Hall, who suited up for three NBA teams from 2020-21, has agreed to a three-year deal with the Greek team Olympiacos, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. Hall also drew interest from Panathinaikos, tweets Marc Stein, while his former team in Spain (Baskonia) will receive a buyout payment, as Aris Barkas of Eurohoops details.
Speaking to the French outlet L’Aisne Nouvelle, Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert explained why he won’t be suiting up for France at this year’s EuroBasket tournament. “I’ve had busy summers in recent years, and it’s taken a toll,” Gobert said (hat tip to Eurohoops). “People don’t always realize how intense the EuroBasket is. It finishes just before the NBA resumes, and it’s a big responsibility. I had said I’d wait until the end of the season to decide, and now I have. This summer, I’m focusing on myself, my family and my son.”
We’ve passed along several international basketball updates over the course of this week, including updates on Nassir Little‘s new team overseas, a Cavaliers second-round pick signing in Italy, and former NBA guard Vasilije Micic ending up in Israel. Our full archive of international basketball stories can be found right here.

Latest On Bradley Beal

July 17th, 2025 at 11:08pm CST by Luke Adams

After he was hired as the Suns‘ head coach in June, Jordan Ott met with Bradley Beal and shared his plan for how the team could use the veteran shooting guard next season, writes ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. However, according to Windhorst, Beal had already decided after meeting with agent Mark Bartelstein that he wanted to move on from Phoenix.

“We couldn’t take the chance [of another lost year],” Bartelstein told Windhorst. “This decision was about basketball. Bradley wants to play in big games and in big moments.”

When Phoenix traded Kevin Durant to Houston for a package headlined by another shooting guard – Jalen Green – it cemented Beal’s decision.

According to Windhorst, the Suns and Timberwolves had discussed the possibility of a Durant package that would’ve included Rudy Gobert, Donte DiVincenzo, Terrence Shannon Jr., and the No. 17 pick in this year’s draft, which could’ve left an opening for Beal in the Suns’ lineup. But with Durant uninterested in playing in Minnesota, the Wolves were unwilling to move forward on those talks and Phoenix pivoted to the Rockets’ offer.

After the Durant trade was completed, the Suns gave Beal and Bartelstein permission to speak to other teams, and more than 20 showed interest, sources tell ESPN. Beal ultimately met via Zoom with about a half-dozen of them, and after trading Norman Powell to Miami earlier this month, the Clippers emerged as the clear frontrunner.

According to Windhorst, while Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and head coach Tyronn Lue spoke to Beal about what the club could offer him, the most noteworthy pitch came from star guard James Harden, who lobbied the front office to pursue Beal and then reached out directly to the guard (and to Bartelstein) to recruit him.

In addition to selling Beal on the Clippers’ depth and how he would fit in with the current group, Harden pointed out that his own career has been rejuvenated in Los Angeles after disappointing stints in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, Windhorst notes. After a couple discouraging years in Phoenix, Beal is in a similar spot — he’ll be looking to bounce back next season and views L.A. as a good spot to do it.

“No one wants to be released. There’s heartache with that,” Bartelstein said. “But Bradley wants to be in a position where no one remembers he got released, that they’ll remember how he plays next season.”

Here’s more on Beal:

The Suns needed Beal to give up at least $13.9MM of the $110.8MM still owed to him in order to legally waive-and-stretch his contract. Phoenix’s front office actually pushed for the 32-year-old to give up more than that, resulting in buyout talks getting “heated,” per Windhorst, who says Beal ultimately forfeited not a penny more than he needed to for the Suns to use the stretch provision. “There were some intense conversations,” Bartelstein said.
Bartelstein also spoke to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda about why things didn’t work out for Beal in Phoenix and why he chose the Clippers over other suitors. Citing Beal’s existing relationship with Lue, along with the Clippers’ vision for his client, Bartelstein explained that L.A. checked all their boxes. “He was heavily pursued by pretty much everybody in the NBA and certainly almost every top-tier team,” Bartelstein said. “I had made it known in conversations around the league that we were looking to go somewhere where he could play in really big games and big moments. We knew there were places he can go to and score 30 points a game again. But he really wanted to go to a place where he can compete for a championship. With that in mind, we quickly narrowed down to six or seven teams that we thought were in that world and with the roster shaped up, it would be a great fit for Brad. … It was a really tough choice. … We felt at the end of the day that the Clippers was the very best fit.”
The Suns’ trade for Beal will go down as one of the biggest missteps in franchise history, contends Doug Haller of The Athletic. Haller doesn’t blame Beal, noting that he was willing to change his game and continued to score efficiently. However, his production didn’t match his salary, Haller writes, which was a microcosm of the Suns as a whole — the league’s most expensive roster failed to win a playoff game during the two years after acquiring Beal.

And-Ones: Jokic, DiVincenzo, 2027 Draft, Sheehey

July 17th, 2025 at 12:09pm CST by Rory Maher

Superstar Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is expected to confirm that he’ll play for the Serbian national team at this summer’s EuroBasket tournament, according to Dorde Matic of Meridian Sport. In fact, the same group that led Serbia to a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris is expected to be available when EuroBasket 2025 tips off in late August, Matic writes.

Jokic also won a silver medal with Serbia at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, notes Kevin Martorano of Sportando.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo, who spoke in April about his desire to suit up for Italy at EuroBasket 2025, has been granted Italian citizenship, clearing the way for him to play at the tournament, per BasketNews.com. The 28-year-old will formally be sworn in as an Italian citizen in Chicago after Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, approved the proposal to make DiVicenzo a citizen on Thursday, reports Alessandro Maggi of Sportando.
While the top of the 2026 NBA draft class is viewed very favorably, executives are not enthusiastic about the prospects who could be selected in 2027, writes Jonathan Givony of ESPN. “This is one of the weakest high school classes I’ve seen in a long time,” one grizzled talent evaluator with extensive experience in the amateur youth space told ESPN. “There might not be a single All-Star in this group, and after the first few prospects, I’m not sure how many NBA starters I see either from the other five-star recruits. New players always emerge, but by now we usually have a pretty good idea of who the most elite prospects are, and it’s looking like slim pickings, even more so than the weak 2024 NBA draft, which at least had several high-end international prospects we could point to.”
Will Sheehey, who has spent the past four years in various coaching-related roles with the Warriors, has officially signed a one-year deal with the Bakken Bears to become an assistant coach and head of the Danish club’s player development program, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. Sheehey’s most recent title with Golden State was assistant director of player development and innovation, Askounis adds.