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Tom Thibodeau Talks Offseason, Western Conference

July 16th, 2017 at 3:42pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Wolves arguably had one of the best offseasons in the league, adding Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, and Taj Gibson to a core of Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns. Executive/coach Tom Thibodeau recently sat down with Nick Friedell of ESPN.com to discuss the team as well as several topics from around the league. Here are the highlights:

On Coaching Butler And Gibson Again:

I think they fit our team very well. I think what Jimmy can add to our team, some of the things he’s just gone through, both Karl and Andrew are going through themselves. So I think Jimmy can share that with them. I think having a defensive wing like Jimmy will be great to have next to Andrew.

And I think when you look at Taj, he’s probably the best switching big man in the league. He’s got great feet, can guard multiple positions, adds a lot of toughness to our team. Put him next to Karl, that adds a lot.

On What He’s Expecting From Butler:

Just do the right things each and every day. Put everything you have into each day. Be a good leader, be a good teammate, and play. We didn’t bring Jimmy here just for leadership. We brought him for his ability, his talent and all the things that he adds to a team. Same for Taj, Jeff and hopefully Jamal as we get that wrapped up. But I think that experience will be invaluable to us.

On His Expectations For This Season And Beyond:

There’s really good teams that we’re chasing. So we know that there’s going to be a lot of work that has to go into it. And you do it day by day, you do the necessary things, you win and build and improve.

But we’re excited about our opportunity and that’s the way we’re approaching it. As we always say, you don’t want to look ahead, you don’t want to look back, you want to focus in on exactly what’s in front of you, and we think the future is real bright, but we got to do the work day to day. And that’s what we’re locked into.

On The Stacked Western Conference:

You’d like to see more balance, but there’s always going to be certain teams that have the opportunity to attract elite players, and when that happens it could create an imbalance. I think players look around and they look at the teams that they’d like to join and it’s usually teams that already have good players on those teams.

Timberwolves Pursuing Backcourt Depth

July 14th, 2017 at 10:52pm CST by marksuleymanov

The Timberwolves have arguably been the most active and become the most improved team this offseason. And the team appears far from done as Minnesota is pursuing depth at both the point and shooting guard positions, according to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter).

Scotto mentions Aaron Brooks, Anthony Morrow, and Alan Anderson as players currently on the Timberwolves’ radar. None of those veterans played a huge role for their respective teams during the 2016/17 season, but all bring a track record of prior success.

To this point, the Timberwolves have added Jimmy Butler, Jamal Crawford, Taj Gibson, and Jeff Teague to a core that already featured Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns. At this juncture, the team’s focus will be to add depth and veteran leadership. Tyus Jones is the only other perimeter player on the Timberwolves’ roster, so the team figures to be active in this market.

With no real cap space left and the room exception ticketed for Crawford, Minnesota’s aforementioned targets can only sign for the veteran’s minimum.

Timberwolves Limited To Minimum Salary Deals

July 13th, 2017 at 2:18pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves are essentially limited to minimum salary contracts at this point, making them an unlikely destination for Jonathon Simmons or any of the other top free agents remaining on the market, says Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link).

FA Rumors: Muhammad, Farmar, Mbah a Moute, Allen

July 12th, 2017 at 10:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hawks, Nets, Bucks, Knicks and Magic have all expressed interest in swingman Shabazz Muhammad, according to Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com (Twitter links). The Bulls are on that list as well, tweets Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype. Muhammad became an unrestricted free agent last week when Minnesota pulled his qualifying offer to create enough cap room to sign Taj Gibson. He has been with the Wolves for all four of his NBA seasons and averaged 9.9 points in 78 games last year.

There’s more tonight on the free agent front:

Jordan Farmar is hoping to return to the NBA and spoke to Lakers coach Luke Walton today about a possible opportunity, Kennedy relays (Twitter link). The 30-year-old point guard played two games for the Kings in November of last season.
The Raptors have talked about making a play for former Clippers forward Luc Mbah a Moute, reports Michael Grange of Rogers Sportsnet (Twitter link).
The Clippers and Timberwolves are both considering Tony Allen, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Coaches Doc Rivers in L.A. and Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota have connections with Allen from their time with the Celtics.
Veteran point guard Beno Udrih is talking to several teams in Las Vegas, tweets Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Now 35, Udrih believes he can play for several more years. He got into 39 games with the Pistons last season.
Former Baylor standout Royce O’Neale is considering several NBA offers, according to Kyler (Twitter link). The 24-year-old forward went undrafted in 2015 and has been playing in Lithuania, but he has an NBA opt-out in his contract through July 20th.

Hornets Targeting Jordan Hill

July 12th, 2017 at 7:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hornets could be the next team for journeyman center Jordan Hill, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.

Hill, who has played for five franchises in his eight-year career, was waived by the Timberwolves in late June before his 2017/18 contract became guaranteed. A free agent addition last summer, Hill played in just seven games for Minnesota.

Charlotte is a little more than $2MM below the luxury-tax line with 14 players under contract. A source told The Sporting News the team would like to add one more low-cost, veteran big man to its roster. Deveney lists Ersan Ilyasova, Terrence Jones and Willie Reed as other possibilities.

Hill played for Hornets coach Steve Clifford in 2012/13 when Clifford was an assistant with the Lakers. The eighth pick of the 2009 draft by the Knicks, Hill has also spent time with the Rockets and Pacers. If he does sign with Charlotte, Hill will serve as a backup to Dwight Howard, who was acquired from the Hawks in a trade last month.

Western FA Rumors: Lakers, Canaan, Wolves, Kings

July 12th, 2017 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

After committing all of their remaining cap room, the Lakers continue to debate how to address their point guard spot, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The team has explored possible free agent targets who could be veteran mentors for Lonzo Ball, but with just the $4.3MM room exception remaining, L.A. may no longer have the flexibility to sign some of those players.

Per Shelburne (Twitter link), the Lakers still have Rajon Rondo on their radar, but are debating signing a younger player such as Ian Clark, Tyler Ennis, or Isaiah Canaan for that backup point guard job. It’s not clear whether Rondo and/or Clark would be willing to sign a one-year deal worth the room exception — their respective markets were believed to be more robust, but it’s possible that has changed as free agency nears the two-week mark.

Here are a few more free agency notes from around the Western Conference:

Speaking of Isaiah Canaan, his camp has “touched base” with the Timberwolves, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who tweets that Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson are believed to have put in a good word for their former Chicago teammate.
The Kings reportedly made a maximum salary offer to Otto Porter earlier in free agency, but J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com hears from multiple sources that there was confusion about whether Sacramento put such an offer sheet on the table. “We just talked,” Kings GM Vlade Divac said of Porter. This may just be an issue of semantics — perhaps the Kings expressed a willingness to go up to the max, but didn’t draw up a formal offer sheet. Porter eventually got his max offer sheet from Brooklyn anyway.
The Warriors made quick work of 2017 free agency, retaining virtually all their key players and adding a couple interesting new pieces. However, they’ll face a tricky situation next summer when Patrick McCaw becomes eligible for restricted free agency. Anthony Slater of The Bay Area News Group examines the challenge of McCaw’s looming free agency and speaks to the 21-year-old guard about it.

Free Agent Rumors: Dedmon, Teague, Timberwolves, Heat

July 10th, 2017 at 9:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hawks are interested in free agent center Dewayne Dedmon, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders tweets. They are also looking at Willie Reed, Scotto passes along in the same tweet via Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype. The Nets and Celtics have also been mentioned as possibilities for Dedmon, who played for the Spurs last season. Reed, who played for the Heat last season, met with the Clippers on Friday and has drawn interest from several other clubs.

In other developments involving free agency:

The Kings and Nuggets along with his former team, the Pacers, were interested in Jeff Teague before he signed with the Timberwolves, Darren Wolfson of KSTP-TV tweets via his colleague Joe Schmit. The Kings wound up signing point guard George Hill, while the Nuggets spent most of their free agent money on power forward Paul Millsap. Teague signed a three-year, $57MM deal with Minnesota.
Timberwolves coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau is still shopping for two wings and a point guard to upgrade their bench, Wolfson notes in a separate tweet. However, Thibodeau has likely filled one of those wing spots with Jamal Crawford, who agreed to a two-year contract after negotiating a buyout agreement with the Hawks and being placed on waivers. Crawford has cleared waivers and is expected to sign sometime this week, Chris Haynes of ESPN tweets.
The Heat are in discussions with forwards Luke Babbitt and Udonis Haslem, according to an Associated Press report. Those deals, if completed, would likely be veteran minimum, the report adds. Babbitt appeared in 68 games, including 55 starts, for the injury-depleted Heat last season. Haslem saw action in just 16 games.

Clippers Sign Milos Teodosic

July 10th, 2017 at 3:27pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 10, 3:27pm: Teodosic has officially signed his contract with the Clippers, according to a tweet sent out by his agency.

JULY 6, 1:44pm: European point guard Milos Teodosic has reached an agreement with the Clippers, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com. It will be a two-year, $12.3MM contract with a player option on the second season (Twitter link).

Several teams have been in competition for the 30-year-old, who is considered to be one of the top players outside the NBA. He was reportedly seeking a three-year deal worth $25MM to $30MM, but his new contract is substantially less, at least in the first season.

The Heat, Kings, Nuggets, Jazz, Nets, Bulls and Timberwolves were among the other teams that expressed interest. Minnesota offered its room exception, but understood that he could get more money elsewhere, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Brooklyn decided that Teodosic’s defensive shortcomings made him a poor candidate for big money or big minutes, according to NetsDaily (Twitter link).

A star with Serbia at the 2016 Olympics, Teodosic made his current team, CSKA Moscow, one of the best in the Euroleague. He has averaged 16.1 points per game over the past two seasons and 6.5 assists over the last three. The Russian squad was hoping to keep him, but admitted that it couldn’t compete financially with NBA teams.

Teodosic’s signing may end the Clippers’ interest in Derrick Rose, who met with the team on Wednesday. With Patrick Beverley and Lou Williams already on the roster, there doesn’t seem to be any room for Rose.

T-Wolves Inquired On Bullock, But Aren't Frontrunners

July 10th, 2017 at 1:39pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves inquired early in free agency on Reggie Bullock, but the Pistons and two other teams are pushing hardest for the swingman now, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. According to Wolfson, Bullock figures to make a decision this week.

Timberwolves Sign Taj Gibson

July 10th, 2017 at 12:54pm CST by Eddie Scarito

JULY 10: The Timberwolves have officially signed Gibson, the team confirmed today.

JULY 2: The Timberwolves have agreed to sign free agent power forward Taj Gibson, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). According to Charania, Gibson will receive $28MM on a two-year deal from Minnesota.

The pact doesn’t include an option (player or team) for the second year, per Sam Amick of USA Today (on Twitter). News of the agreement comes on the heels of a report from Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link) that the Wolves’ interest in Gibson had “increased.”

[RELATED: 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker]

By agreeing to join the Wolves, Gibson will reunite with Tom Thibodeau, who coached the forward in Chicago. He’ll also be joining former Bulls teammate Jimmy Butler, who was acquired by Minnesota in a blockbuster trade. The market for Gibson’s services was relatively quiet, with the only other team reportedly interested in him being the Kings.

Inking Gibson will wipe out most, if not all, of Minnesota’s remaining cap room. The Wolves are still armed with their Room Exception, valued at about $4.33MM, which can be used to further bolster their ever-improving roster. However, adding Gibson almost certainly eliminates the Wolves from the Paul Millsap sweepstakes, which may make the Nuggets the frontrunner to land the versatile forward.

The Timberwolves will likely have to renounce their qualifying offer for Shabazz Muhammad in order to sign Gibson, which would make the swingman an unrestricted free agent. Muhammad could – in theory – still return to Minnesota, but the Wolves would no longer have matching rights, allowing him to sign outright with another club.

Gibson, 32, split his time between the Bulls and Thunder last season. He appeared in a total of 78 contests, averaging 10.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists. He shot .515/.231/.715 from the field.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Luke Adams contributed to this post.