Andrew Wiggins Plans To ‘Eventually’ Sign Extension
With the October 16 deadline barely a week away, it’s not clear why Timberwolves star Andrew Wiggins hasn’t signed a five-year, $148MM extension, writes Sam Amick of USA Today.
Minnesota made the offer two months ago in hopes of securing the former No. 1 pick for the long term. Wiggins mysteriously fired agent Bill Duffy of BDA Sports two weeks later when the deal appeared to be complete and has yet to finalize the extension.
“I’m just taking it day by day, you know?” Wiggins said today. “There’s no rush to do it, yet. I’ve still got some time before the day before that first game.”
There appears to be no concern that Wiggins is pondering a future somewhere else, as he has said Minnesota is “definitely where I want to be.” The Timberwolves made serious upgrades to their roster over the offseason and are expected to compete for a playoff spot in the West for the first time since Wiggins joined the team.
Wiggins and the Wolves will wrap up a trip to China with a game against the Warriors on Sunday, and it sounds like he will wait until he returns home before addressing the extension.
“I’m just going to take it day by day,” he said. “There’s no rush to do it. We’re going through preseason and I’m all the way here in China.”
Taj Gibson Working On Outside Shot For Wolves
Outside shooting is one potential area of concern for the Timberwolves heading into the 2017/18 season, as many of the team’s major offseason additions, including Jimmy Butler, aren’t exactly marksmen from three-point range. However, as Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune outlines, the Wolves may end up getting some shooting from an unlikely source, with Taj Gibson – who has made four career three-pointers – working to extend his range.
Outside shooting is one potential area of concern for the Timberwolves heading into the 2017/18 season, as many of the team’s major offseason additions, including Jimmy Butler, aren’t exactly marksmen from three-point range. However, as Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune outlines, the Wolves may end up getting some shooting from an unlikely source, with Taj Gibson – who has made four career three-pointers – working to extend his range.
“He worked on it all summer,” said head coach Tom Thibodeau after Gibson made a pair of threes in the Timberwolves’ preseason opener. “He always had a pretty good corner jump shot from 17 feet. He has stretched it out. As long as he works on it and he’s comfortable shooting it, I’m good with it.”
Thibodeau went out and signed the former Bull this offseason because he valued Gibson’s selflessness and toughness, but if the veteran big man can develop a reliable outside shot, it would give the Timberwolves a much-needed boost.
NBA GMs: Wolves Had One Of Best Offseasons
- NBA general managers loved the Thunder‘s acquisition of Paul George. George received 59% of the vote for which offseason addition would make the biggest impact, easily beating out Jimmy Butler (17%), Chris Paul (10%), and Kyrie Irving (7%). Additionally, Oklahoma City was chosen as the team that made the best offseason moves, with 43% of the vote. The Celtics (25%), Timberwolves (14%), and Rockets (11%) were runners-up.
- The Timberwolves (69%) were the runaway choice for most improved team, beating out the Sixers (17%) and a handful of other clubs. Of course, it’s worth noting that Minnesota was also the GMs’ pick for that question a year ago.
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2017 Offseason In Review: Minnesota Timberwolves
Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2017 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2017/18 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Signings:
- Jeff Teague: Three years, $57MM. Third-year player option.
- Taj Gibson: Two years, $28MM.
- Jamal Crawford: Two years, $8.872MM. Second-year player option.
- Shabazz Muhammad: Two years, minimum salary. Second-year player option.
- Aaron Brooks: One year, minimum salary.
- Anthony Brown: Two-way contract. One year, $50K guaranteed.
Camp invitees:
- Marcus Georges-Hunt: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed.
- Amile Jefferson: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
- Melo Trimble: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
Trades:
- Acquired Jimmy Butler and the draft rights to Justin Patton (No. 16 pick) from the Bulls in exchange for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and the draft rights to Lauri Markkanen (No. 7 pick).
- Acquired the Thunder’s 2018 first-round pick (top-14 protected) from the Jazz in exchange for Ricky Rubio.
Draft picks:
- 1-16: Justin Patton — Signed to rookie contract.
Departing players:
- Omri Casspi
- Kris Dunn
- Jordan Hill
- Zach LaVine
- Adreian Payne
- Nikola Pekovic (waived; medical retirement)
- Ricky Rubio
- Brandon Rush
Other offseason news:
- Expected to finalize rookie scale extension with Andrew Wiggins.
- Bought Iowa Energy, renamed the G League team as the Iowa Wolves.
Salary cap situation:
- Used up all cap room and room exception. Over the cap, carrying approximately $104MM in guaranteed salaries. Only minimum salary exception available.
Check out the Minnesota Timberwolves’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.
Story of the summer:
Heading into June’s draft, it looked like the Timberwolves were on track to add another young prospect – perhaps Malik Monk or Lauri Markkanen – to a core that already featured Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kris Dunn, and Zach LaVine. Throw in a free agent addition or two, and that young group would have had a chance to make the leap into the top eight in the West, earning the Wolves their first playoff berth since 2004.
Head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau had other ideas though, signaling that he wasn’t satisfied with simply taking another incremental step forward. Instead of playing it safe on draft day, the Wolves flipped Dunn, LaVine, and the team’s No. 7 pick to the Bulls for old friend Jimmy Butler.
Once free agency got underway, Thibs and the front office added another familiar face from his Bulls days by signing Taj Gibson, and filled out the backcourt with a couple more veterans, signing Jeff Teague and Jamal Crawford.
When the dust settled, the Timberwolves still looked like a team capable of making strides based on the development of former top picks Wiggins and Towns, but the veteran additions – headlined by Butler – had significantly increased the ceiling for the club. Suddenly, Minnesota looked ready not just to end the franchise’s postseason drought, but to potentially grab a top-five seed in a competitive Western Conference.
Pelicans Re-Sign Dante Cunningham
SEPTEMBER 25: The Pelicans have officially re-signed Cunningham, the team announced today in a press release.
SEPTEMBER 19: Free agent forward Dante Cunningham has made a decision on where he’ll play in 2017/18, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical, who reports that Cunningham has agreed to re-sign with the Pelicans.
According to Charania, Cunningham will get a one-year, $2.3MM deal from New Orleans. The minimum salary for a player with Cunningham’s NBA experience is $2,106,470, so if his salary exceeds that, the Pelicans would have to use a different exception — they also wouldn’t get any help from the NBA to cover the full amount, like they would for a one-year, minimum salary deal.
Either way, Cunningham is set to return to the franchise with which he spent the last three seasons. In 2016/17, the 30-year-old forward averaged 6.6 PPG and 4.2 RPG in a rotation role for New Orleans, and also added a reliable three-point shot to his arsenal — Cunningham’s 1.1 3PG and .392 3PT% were both career highs by a wide margin.
While it looked initially like Cunningham’s improved outside shot might make him a more coveted target on the free agent market, he didn’t draw as much interest as expected. A handful of teams – including the Timberwolves, Bucks, and Raptors, per Charania – were said to be in the running for him, but his new 2017/18 salary will be worth less than the $3.1MM player option he turned down in June.
Still, the Pelicans are likely happy to get Cunningham back at a reduced rate, particularly with Solomon Hill expected to miss a significant portion of the 2017/18 season with a torn hamstring. While New Orleans has an All-NBA caliber duo up front in Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, the club doesn’t have a ton of depth at forward and could use more shooting help. Cunningham’s ability to play at both forward spots and his improved three-point shot should be valuable.
Once they finalize their reported agreements with Cunningham and Martell Webster, the Pelicans will have 19 players under contract. Cunningham’s deal would represent the club’s 14th fully guaranteed salary.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Northwest Notes: Anthony, Wolves, Nurkic, Nuggets
Agreeing on a trade to acquire Carmelo Anthony on Saturday took the Thunder roster from formidable to elite. Joining the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player, Russell Westbrook, and fellow offseason acquisition, Paul George, gives Anthony the winning culture he craved in New York the last four seasons. Despite the upgrade, the Thunder are still far from the Western Conference’s best team, Fred Kerber of the New York Post writes.
Several rival executives explained to Kerber that the defending champion Warriors are still the best team in the West. While the Thunder can give Golden State a challenge, and possibly fend up the Spurs and Rockets for second place, one scout said the underwhelming package the Knicks received for Anthony is also alarming.
“Are the Thunder a better team than they were yesterday? Yes. Are the Knicks a worse team than they were yesterday? Yes. The fact they got a second-round pick says they really wanted Carmelo gone. And they needed another center? Unless they’re going to buy [Joakim] Noah out. Kanter is a horrible defender,” the scout said to Kerber.
The Warriors have been to the last three NBA Finals, winning two of them. Factoring in a roster that has two-time MVP Stephen Curry, one-time MVP Kevin Durant, and stalwarts Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, the Thunder will have a lot of work to do before claiming dominance over the West.
Below you can read additional news around the Northwest Division:
- With the addition of Anthony, the Timberwolves may be one of the team’s most impacted by the deal, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune writes. Minnesota revamped its roster, acquiring Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, Jamal Crawford and others to join Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins; but a revamped Thunder team may have surpassed the Wolves as a Western Conference favorite.
- In a Q&A with the Star Tribune, 2017 first-round pick Justin Patton talks about his foot injury, his time at Creighton, and expectations for 2017/18.
- ESPN’s Zach Lowe rates the Blazers’ Jusuf Nurkić as one of the most intriguing players heading into next season. NBA.com’s Casey Holdahl provides further analysis on the 23-year-old.
- NBA.com’s Christopher Dempsey writes that the 2017/18 season will have a lot of expectations for the Nuggets.
Latest On The Carmelo Anthony Trade
Carmelo Anthony recently added the Thunder to the list of teams he would waive his no-trade clause to join, but Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti and New York GM Scott Perry had been discussing a deal for weeks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Talks intensified over the last 24 hours before the agreement was reached earlier today. Anthony had reportedly insisted for most of the summer that he would only go to Houston, but he expanded that list this week to include the Thunder and Cavaliers.
The deal will be formally completed Monday, and Oklahoma City expects to have Anthony on hand when training camp begins Tuesday.
More has emerged since the trade was announced:
- Sources tell ESPN’s Ian Begley that Anthony believed yesterday there was a good chance he was headed to Cleveland (Twitter link). Anthony has a tight relationship with LeBron James, and the Cavaliers could use another scorer while Isaiah Thomas is sidelined with a hip injury.
- The addition of Anthony could put the Thunder in the running to sign Dwyane Wade once he reaches a buyout with the Bulls, tweets Chris Mannix of the Vertical. Wade probably wouldn’t start in Oklahoma City and the team can’t offer much money, but he may be willing to accept a sixth man role to take another shot at a ring beside Anthony, Russell Westbrook and Paul George.
- Presti should be lauded for rebuilding the Thunder without surrendering a first-round pick, tweets Michael Lee of The Vertical. OKC send Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to Indiana in exchange for George, then shipped Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-rounder to the Knicks to get Anthony. The Thunder already owe their 2018 first-round pick to Minnesota (lottery protected) and another first-rounder to Orlando two years later.
- Oklahoma City had a secret weapon, Lee adds, in vice president and assistant GM Troy Weaver, who helped recruit Anthony when he was an assistant coach at Syracuse (Twitter link).
- The trade establishes the Thunder as the greatest threat to the Warriors’ dominance in the West, writes Dieter Kurtenbach of The San Jose Mercury News. He sees Anthony stepping into a much better role as a complementary stretch four in Oklahoma City, rather than a primary scorer in New York. OKC added free agent Patrick Patterson this summer and re-signed defensive ace Andre Roberson and may now have the pieces to challenge Golden State in a seven-game series.
- ESPN’s Kevin Pelton graded the deal, giving the Thunder an A and the Knicks a D. Kanter and McDermott were both defensive liabilities, Pelton states, and the new alignment gives Oklahoma City a small-ball lineup that matches up much better with the Warriors. The Knicks didn’t take on any long-term contracts, but they also didn’t fill any pressing needs unless McDermott develops into a reliable wing scorer. Pelton expects New York to explore the trade market for Kanter before the February deadline.
- Oklahoma City used two key pieces from the Bulls to pull off today’s deal, and Chicago doesn’t have much in return, writes Scott Krinch of CSNChicago. McDermott and the 2018 second-rounder that was shipped to the Knicks both came to OKC in a February trade that sent Cameron Payne, Joffrey Lauvergne and Anthony Morrow to the Bulls. Lauvergne and Morrow left as free agents over the offseason, and Payne will miss three to four months after foot surgery.
- Kanter posted a message on Twitter, thanking the fans and management in Oklahoma City and saying, “Please beat the Warriors for me.”
Timberwolves Sign Aaron Brooks
8:44pm: The Wolves have signed Brooks, Zgoda confirms, citing a press release from the club.
4:43pm: Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press has tweeted that he believes the deal is done.
3:15pm: The Timberwolves are expected to sign Aaron Brooks before training camp opens on Saturday, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweets. The 32-year-old point guard played 65 games for the Pacers last season.
A Brooks deal would reunite the nine-year veteran with former head coach Tom Thibodeau. Brooks played 151 games for the Bulls from 2014-2016, averaging 9.6 points and 2.9 assists per game in the process.
The Wolves currently have 16 players on their roster, only 12 of whom have guaranteed deals, so there’s certainly room for Brooks to carve out a role for himself into the regular season although no details of what a potential contract might look like have been revealed.
Don’t expect the vet to siphon any time or opportunity away from incumbents Jeff Teague or Tyus Jones but he could fill a niche as an aggressive guard familiar with Thibodeau’s style.
Timberwolves Eyeing Aaron Brooks, Other Free Agents
Having missed out on free agent forward Dante Cunningham, the Timberwolves remain on the lookout for a couple more veterans to fill out their roster, and Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News suggests (via Twitter) that it’s worth keeping an eye on Aaron Brooks. While Minnesota wants to sign a wing player, the team also continue to seek a backup point guard, and Tom Thibodeau has a history with Brooks, a former Bull.
Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune also identifies Brooks as a potential target for the Timberwolves, suggesting that C.J. Watson and Kirk Hinrich – another player with a Thibodeau connection – may be options as well. As for possible fits at the forward spot, Zgoda indicates that Gerald Green and Thomas Robinson are among the veteran free agents who could be in play for Minnesota.
NBA Teams That Can’t Offer More Than The Minimum
At this point in the NBA offseason, most free agents who remain on the open market will have to settle for minimum salary contracts, if they receive an NBA offer at all.
There are some exceptions, particularly on the restricted free agent market, where Mason Plumlee just signed a three-year, $41MM deal with the Nuggets. Within the last week or two though, we’ve seen top remaining unrestricted free agents like Shabazz Muhammad, Tony Allen, and Andrew Bogut settle for minimum salary contracts.
That’s good news for several teams who have used all their available cap room and/or exceptions and can only offer minimum salary contracts for the rest of the 2017/18 league year. They won’t necessarily be at a disadvantage when it comes to signing free agents if those players aren’t being offered more than the minimum by teams with the means to do so.
In some cases though, an inability to offer more than the minimum can handicap a team. Dante Cunningham‘s free agent decision this week reflects this — according to multiple reports, the deal Cunningham agreed to with the Pelicans is actually worth $2.3MM, which is more than his minimum salary of $2.1MM. While we haven’t seen the official terms of Cunningham’s new contract yet, it’s possible that the $200K difference was one reason Cunningham chose New Orleans over a suitor like the Timberwolves, who could only offer the minimum.
Teams with the flexibility to offer more than the minimum could also benefit later in the NBA season. For instance, if Dwyane Wade negotiates a buyout with the Bulls and considers which team to join as a free agent, the fact that the Heat have retained their $4.328MM room exception could be a factor — it would allow Miami to make a stronger offer than the Cavs could.
With that in mind, here’s a breakdown of the teams that currently don’t have the ability to offer more than the minimum salary, which is $815,615 for a first-year player:
- Boston Celtics
- Detroit Pistons
- Golden State Warriors
- Houston Rockets: $350 of mid-level exception available
- Los Angeles Clippers: $774,770 of mid-level exception available
- Memphis Grizzlies: $1,440,385 of mid-level exception available, but will use at least $815,615 to sign Ivan Rabb.
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New York Knicks
- Oklahoma City Thunder
Meanwhile, the following teams have less than $3.29MM (the value of the bi-annual exception) to offer to free agents:
- Cleveland Cavaliers: $2,549,143 of taxpayer mid-level exception available
- Utah Jazz: $1,128,000 of room exception available
- Washington Wizards: $1,902,000 of taxpayer mid-level exception available
Of course, just because a team has an exception available, that doesn’t mean the club will be eager to use it. Teams like the Bucks or Pelicans, for instance, still have various MLE and BAE exception money available, but their proximity to the luxury tax threshold will make them reluctant to offer more than the minimum salary to anyone the rest of the way.
For a full breakdown of how teams have used their mid-level, room, and bi-annual exceptions for the 2017/18 league year, be sure to check out our MLE tracker and BAE tracker.