Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Saunders, Gordon, Prigioni

October 26th, 2017 at 10:07pm CST by Austin Kent

It’s been two years since Timberwolves icon Flip Saunders, then the franchise’s president of basketball operations, passed away from Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The man’s impact on the organization is still felt to this day, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes.

Saunders played a vital role in the club’s recent return to relevance both from a business and personnel perspective. The celebrated executive’s touch can be seen at all levels of the organization from the new practice facility that Saunders helped design to the transactions he made in the wake of David Kahn‘s time at the helm from 2009 to 2013.

Saunders remains the only head coach in franchise history to lead the team to the playoffs, having done so eight times from 1997-2004 during his first run with the franchise. Since 2006, the team has cracked a .400 win percentage only once.

“I made a promise to Flip Saunders that we would win and end the playoff drought,” current franchise cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns said on the media day of his rookie season shortly before Saunders passed. “And I intend to keep that promise.”

There’s more from around the league:

Former NBA player Ben Gordon has run into trouble with the law, Jonathan Bandler of The Journal News writes. The 34-year-old wasn’t ultimately charged following a confrontation between himself and a woman at his business but police were called to the scene and he was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation.
The journey into the business world continues for Kobe Bryant. As Darren Rovell of ESPN writes, Bryant has approached his investments with the same obsessiveness that he did his NBA career.
Retired NBA guard Pablo Prigioni is stepping down from his role as the head coach of Liga ACB team Baskonia, Orazio Cauchi of Sportando writes. The team has gotten off to a rocky start and it’s said that Prigioni has lost control of the situation.

Gorgui Dieng Sees Reduced Role So Far

October 26th, 2017 at 5:23pm CST by Austin Kent

The Timberwolves will need to figure out just how Gorgui Dieng fits into their plans now that they’ve revamped their roster, Michael Rand of The Star Tribune writes. After playing 32.4 minutes per game last season, the 27-year-old advanced stat darling has seen just 13.8 through five games so far in 2017/18.

Teams With Open Roster Spots

October 19th, 2017 at 1:54pm CST by Luke Adams

For the first time, NBA teams are permitted to carry up to 17 players this season. In addition to carrying up to 15 players to the NBA roster, teams can add two more players on two-way contracts. The rule changes related to roster sizes have allowed teams to maintain a little extra flexibility, and many clubs are taking advantage of that added flexibility to open the season, carrying the full 17 players.

Several teams still have open roster spots though, affording those clubs a different kind of flexibility. A team carrying only 14 NBA players, for instance, has the opportunity to sign a free agent or add a player in a trade at any time without waiving anyone, all the while avoiding paying for a 15th man who almost certainly won’t see much playing time.

With the help of our roster count page and our two-way contract tracker, here’s a breakdown of the teams that have at least one open NBA or two-way spot on their rosters:

Teams carrying just 14 NBA contracts:

Boston Celtics
Charlotte Hornets
Detroit Pistons
Houston Rockets
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Clippers
Minnesota Timberwolves
Oklahoma City Thunder
Portland Trail Blazers

It makes sense that a few of these teams would avoid carrying a 15th man to open the season. The Rockets, Thunder, and Trail Blazers are all taxpayers, and teams like the Clippers and Hornets are close enough to the tax threshold that avoiding a 15th salary is logical. Among these clubs, the Celtics seem like perhaps the best bet to fill their final roster opening soon, now that the team has likely lost Gordon Hayward for the season.

Teams carrying just one two-way contract:

Atlanta Hawks
Houston Rockets
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
New York Knicks
Portland Trail Blazers

The Trail Blazers don’t currently have a G League affiliate of their own, but the other five teams on this list do, so that’s probably not the reason Portland has waited to fill its second two-way slot. In all likelihood, these six teams will add a second two-way player in time for G League training camps, which open next week. The season tips off on November 3.

Haberstroh: Will Thibodeau Overwork Timberwolves?

October 19th, 2017 at 1:06pm CST by Luke Adams

In an extensive and in-depth piece for ESPN.com, Tom Haberstroh takes a closer look at the job Tom Thibodeau is doing in Minnesota as the Timberwolves‘ head coach and president of basketball operations, exploring whether the club is ready to take a leap forward and whether there’s any risk of Thibodeau overworking his key players.

Wolves' G League Team Has Interest In Baldwin

October 18th, 2017 at 10:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

The 17th pick in the 2016 draft, Baldwin was waived Monday after just one year in Memphis. The Rockets, Knicks and Pelicans have reportedly expressed interest in the 21-year-old guard, but of those three teams only Houston has an open roster spot. The Wolves have both a roster opening and a two-way slot available if they decide to make an offer to Baldwin.

The Timberwolves‘ G League affiliate has expressed interest in point guard Wade Baldwin, who cleared waivers earlier today, tweets Darren Wolfson of Eyewitness 5 News. Baldwin would obviously prefer to land another NBA opportunity, but he may have to consider the G League if that doesn’t happen.

Guarantee Kicks In For Marcus Georges-Hunt

October 18th, 2017 at 6:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

Timberwolves small forward Marcus Georges-Hunt received a $275K guarantee by staying on the roster through today, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. His next deadline is January 10, when his $1,312,611 — and all other NBA salaries — will become fully guaranteed.

Georges-Hunt was the only player without a guaranteed contract to win a spot on Minnesota’s roster, surviving the final cut on Saturday. He saw some time in the G League last season and may end up there again.

Georges-Hunt got into five games at the NBA level last year, all with the Magic. Undrafted out of Georgia Tech, he signed with the Celtics for training camp, but was waived before the season began. He got a 10-day contract with the Heat in February, but never appeared in a game, then signed with Orlando in early April.

Rockets, Knicks, Pelicans Eyeing Wade Baldwin

October 17th, 2017 at 9:26am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets, Knicks, and Pelicans are among the teams with some level of interest in point guard Wade Baldwin, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link). The Timberwolves, Wolfson’s local team, haven’t shown interest in Baldwin at this point.

Baldwin, a Vanderbilt alum, was the 17th overall pick in the 2016 draft and spent his rookie season with the Grizzlies. After 33 up-and-down games with the club, Baldwin was a somewhat surprising victim of the roster crunch in Memphis on Monday, with the team waiving him and fellow 2016 draftee Rade Zagorac to get down to the 15-man limit.

Although Baldwin struggled to adjust to the NBA in his rookie season, he’s still just 21 years old, so there will likely be clubs that view him as a project with some upside.

Currently, Baldwin remains on waivers. If a team wanted to claim him, that club would need to be willing to take on his $1.874MM guaranteed salary for 2017/18, and would need to have enough cap space – or a big enough trade exception – to accommodate that money. It’s more likely that Baldwin will clear waivers and perhaps sign a minimum salary deal with a new team.

If Baldwin doesn’t receive an NBA offer, he could end up playing overseas or in the G League, either on a two-way contract or a straight G League deal. Nine NBA teams have at least one open two-way slot at the moment.

Timberwolves Pick Up Options On Towns, Jones

October 15th, 2017 at 4:54pm CST by marksuleymanov

The Timberwolves have picked up their fourth-year options (2018/19) on budding superstar Karl-Anthony Towns and Tyus Jones, the team announced in a press release Sunday. Minnesota faced an Oct. 31 deadline to pick up the options for 2018/19. Towns will make a hefty $7,839,435 next season while Jones will pocket $2,444,053.

Towns, 21, enters his third NBA season as one of the league’s top players. The Kentucky product has not missed a game in his first two seasons while racking up honors such as the 2016 NBA Rookie of the Year and the NBA Skills Challenge trophy the same year. The 7’0″ Towns improved across the board last season, averaging a double-double with 25.1 PPG and 12.3 RPG in 37 minutes per game.

Jones, also 21, appeared in 60 games last year, averaging 3.5 PPG and 2.6 RPG. The point guard from Duke has shown glimpses of his talent and this season, he will part of the Wolves’ second unit.

For all of this year’s decisions on 2018/19 rookie scale options, be sure to check out our tracker.

Timberwolves Waive Three Players

October 14th, 2017 at 12:20pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves have waived three players from their roster, the team announced today in a press release. Amile Jefferson, Melo Trimble, and Shawne Williams were the players cut, and they’ll become free agents on Monday, assuming they clear waivers.

The three cuts appear to signal that the Wolves have finalized their roster for the regular season. The team is now carrying 15 players in total, including 13 on guaranteed salaries, one (Marcus Georges-Hunt) on a non-guaranteed deal, and one on a two-way contract. Minnesota figures to head into the season with 14 players on its NBA roster, though the club may add a second two-way player.

As for Jefferson, Trimble, and Williams, they’ll likely end up playing for the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s new G League affiliate.

Cole Aldrich Trade Prediction Has 'Legs'

October 13th, 2017 at 6:59pm CST by Austin Kent

A prediction that the Timberwolves could send Cole Aldrich and a second-round pick to the Suns for Jared Dudley has legs, Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News tweets. Minnesota has been particularly interested in Dudley’s recovery from offseason toe surgery.