Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wolves Waive Andre Miller In Apparent Buyout

February 25th, 2016 at 4:18pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Timberwolves have officially waived Andre Miller, the team announced. The two sides were reportedly working on a buyout arrangement, which is likely the case, though no mention of any agreement was relayed in the team’s official statement. Minnesota team owner Glen Taylor indicated earlier today that the team would probably reach a buyout agreement with Miller that would allow the 39-year-old point guard to appear in the postseason with another franchise.

Miller is on a one-year deal for the minimum salary, which the Wolves will be on the hook for the remainder of provided he clears waivers. Releasing the veteran playmaker leaves Minnesota with a roster count of 14 players, one below the regular season maximum.

The 39-year-old has appeared in 26 games this season for the Wolves averaging 3.4 points, 0.9 rebounds and 2.2 assist in 10.8 minutes per night. Miller’s career averages since being the No. 8 overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft are 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 6.6 assists to accompany a slash line of .460/.217/.807.

And-Ones: Wolves, Joe Johnson, Rockets, Mavs

February 25th, 2016 at 2:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Timberwolves are at a “standstill” in talks with Grizzlies minority-share owner Steve Kaplan about a potential deal that would see Kaplan and his partners take 30% of the Minnesota franchise, Wolves owner Glen Taylor told Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. The sides can’t proceed until Kaplan sells his stake in the Grizzlies, Taylor said to Zgoda, and Memphis principal owner Robert Pera isn’t making it easy, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (on Twitter). The deal had reportedly been on track to be complete by the end of this month, but Taylor, who remains optimistic it will ultimately get done, said it will probably take months, not weeks, Zgoda relays. That arrangement would reportedly involve Taylor eventually ceding control of the Wolves to Kaplan, but Taylor plans to remain the primary owner for another few years, Krawczynski tweets. See more from around the NBA:

New Nets GM Sean Marks essentially confirmed the reported buyout talks with Joe Johnson today in an appearance on the “Joe & Evan” show on CBS New York radio (Twitter transcription via Devin Kharpertian of The Brooklyn Game). Marks said the team would talk to Johnson to see “what he really wants to do,” adding that he thinks the 15th-year veteran has “deserved the right” to go to a playoff team if he wants.
The relationship between James Harden and soon-to-be free agent Dwight Howard is nuanced, but the idea of tension between the Rockets stars is overblown, as Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com examines.
The Mavericks didn’t really receive trade offers of picks likely to fall in the middle of the first-round for Dwight Powell and Justin Anderson, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link). That conflicts with an earlier report.

Timberwolves, Andre Miller Likely To Work Buyout

February 25th, 2016 at 12:38pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:38pm: Miller and the Wolves are already finalizing a buyout deal, agent Andy Miller tells Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

12:35pm: Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor indicated that he’ll probably reach a buyout agreement with Andre Miller that would allow the 39-year-old point guard to appear in the postseason with another team, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Taylor added that while he’s open to a buyout with Kevin Martin, Martin’s side would have to initiate those talks, as Zgoda details. Miller is on a one-year deal for the minimum salary, while Martin is making $7.085MM this season with a $7,377,500 player option for next year. Both would have to hit waivers no later than Tuesday to remain playoff-eligible for other teams.

Taylor said he’s willing to work with Miller’s camp, pegging him as more likely to end up with a buyout than fellow veteran Tayshaun Prince, with whom the owner said he has yet to engage in any buyout talks, Zgoda writes. Prince, 35, has played a prominent role, appearing in the starting lineup for 44 of his 56 appearances, including Wednesday’s game against Toronto. Interim coach Sam Mitchell has used Miller only off the bench and in just 26 games. Mitchell has given rookie point guard Tyus Jones an increased role of late, and Miller hasn’t played in any of Minnesota’s last four games, Zgoda notes.

Martin has played in each of those four games after sitting for the previous nine, and while he’s still averaging double-figure points, at 10.6 in 21.4 minutes per contest, it was no secret that he was available for a trade before last week’s deadline. Would-be suitors were apparently reluctant to take him on without knowing what he’d do about his player option. GM Milt Newton said after the deadline passed without a Martin trade that a buyout discussion would probably take place between Martin and the team in the near future, but Taylor told Zgoda that Newton hasn’t called agent Dan Fegan to start any such conversation.

Several teams were linked to Martin before the deadline, as I noted in his trade candidate piece, and that includes the Bucks, who reportedly made a run at him as the clock ticked down. At least one team asked the Wolves about Miller as the deadline approached, though it’s unclear which team that was.

Western Notes: Jazz, Varejao, Lakers

February 21st, 2016 at 10:44pm CST by Will Joseph

The Jazz acquired Shelvin Mack because he can defend bigger guards and can handle the ball, Jody Genessy of the Deseret News relays (on Twitter). Mack is in line for playing time with Utah, Genessy tweets. “We traded for him to help us — and he is different than the other guys, so he’s going to play,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. Mack averaged only 7.5 minutes in 24 games with the Hawks, but he doesn’t believe conditioning will be an issue, per Genessy (Twitter link).

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

The most significant reason why Anderson Varejao agreed to sign with the Warriors was Golden State assistant Luke Walton, a former teammate of Varejao’s, Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports tweets.
Lakers star Kobe Bryant gave coach Byron Scott a vote of confidence days after Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak declined to comment on Scott’s future, Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com relays. “I think he’s been channeling his inner Zen,” Bryant said. “It’s been very tough for him. It’s been very tough. I think he’s managing it very well. He’s remaining consistent and continuing to try to bring the best out of these young guys and demanding the best from them. He’s doing the best that he can in the situation.”
Scott said today that D’Angelo Russell will start for the rest of the season, Mike Trudell of Lakers.com tweets.
The Wolves‘ needs for this summer after not striking a deal at the deadline consist of a veteran athletic wing who can defend and shoot, another athletic big man and a scoring point guard, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune writes.
The Thunder recalled Mitch McGary from the D-League, the team announced via press release.
The Mavs recalled Jeremy Evans and Justin Anderson from their D-League affiliate, Dallas announced in an emailed press release.

Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Thunder, Wolves

February 21st, 2016 at 2:56pm CST by Will Joseph

D.J. Augustin proved to have the ability to learn on the fly in his Nuggets debut on Friday and will have to continue to play well because he is the primary backup at point guard, behind Emmanuel Mudiay, Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post writes. Augustin had eight points, six assists and three steals in 19 minutes as the reserve point guard Friday despite dealing with a hectic 24 hours, Dempsey details. Nuggets point guard Jameer Nelson remains out with a wrist injury and there is no clear timetable for his return. The Nuggets acquired Augustin from the Thunder Thursday in exchange for Randy Foye.

Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:

Speaking of Foye, his addition to the Thunder doesn’t seem to move the needle much, but his versatility as a back-up shooting guard and capable point guard gives Oklahoma City another option off the bench, at the very least, Royce Young of ESPN.com explains.
That trade, which involved the Thunder moving Steve Novak as well, helps the franchise from a financial perspective, as Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman details. The Thunder saved about $9.8MM when adding the remaining $1.3MM on Novak’s contract and the $8.5MM taken off the Thunder’s luxury tax bill by clearing him off the books, Slater relays.
Wolves interim coach Sam Mitchell deserves to lead the team beyond this season because of the way Minnesota improved heading into the All-Star break, Sid Hartman of The Star Tribune argues. There remains a lot of hope for the second half of the season for the Wolves because their young players have started to mesh well together under Mitchell’s guidance, Hartman adds.

Western Notes: Martin, Howard, Green

February 18th, 2016 at 10:21pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Trail Blazers didn’t want to part with any of their young core of players at this year’s trade deadline, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian writes. “We went into the trade deadline trying to be opportunistic,” Portland president of basketball operations Neil Olshey told Freeman. “We wanted to gather assets. Clearly this group is really overachieving. There’s a lot of young guys that have a future and we wanted to make sure we were giving them the chance to win. We didn’t want to touch the core group of guys that have exceeded expectations. [Coach] Terry [Stotts] is comfortable with those guys, they’re doing what we need them to do on the court. But we need things in the future to continue to build the roster and that’s what we did today.”

There is a chance that the team will re-sign Tim Frazier, who was waived earlier today, Freeman adds. “Tim was a casualty. He’s been great for us,” Olshey said. “He’s great in the locker room, he’s close with our guys. We told him, ‘Look, if we don’t have an opportunity to add another player at your position, we would look at bringing you back if you clear waivers.’ I can’t speak to that right now. But at the time he was the most viable candidate to be waived to create the roster spot for Anderson Varejao.” Varejao was subsequently waived by Portland.

Here’s more from out West:

Timberwolves GM Milt Newton said the team hasn’t discussed a potential buyout arrangement with shooting guard Kevin Martin but added that it’s a conversation that will probably come up in the near future, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune relays (on Twitter). Martin, who possesses a player option worth nearly $7.378MM for next season, was reportedly a trade deadline target of the Knicks, but the teams didn’t strike a deal. The 33-year-old has appeared in 35 games for Minnesota this season and is averaging 11.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 22.6 minutes per night.
The Grizzlies‘ players have let team management know that they don’t want newly acquired swingman Lance Stephenson waived, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports tweets.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey noted that the team never came close to trading center Dwight Howard, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle relays (Twitter links). “It was going to have to take something significant to make us look at anything and even then we probably wouldn’t have,” Morey said. “Part of my job is I have to explore everything. We believe in James [Harden] and Dwight together.“
Numerous teams were interested in Howard, but any deal was contingent on the big man agreeing to opt in next season, something Howard wasn’t keen on, relays Marc Stein of ESPN.com. “Not surprisingly, as the deadline approached, several teams called stating they had worked out the trade parameters with Houston for a Dwight deal but were not prepared to give up their assets unless Dwight agreed to opt into the last year of his contract and forgo free agency. Dwight declined,” Dan Fegan, Howard’s agent, said.
Point guard Erick Green has officially rejoined the Reno Bighorns following the expiration of his second 10-day pact with the Jazz, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor relays (via Twitter). Reno is the D-League affiliate of the Kings.
The Jazz have assigned big man Tibor Pleiss to the Idaho Stampede, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Pleiss’ fourth stint in the D-League on the season.

Central Notes: Rubio, Forman, Harris

February 18th, 2016 at 9:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Bulls held off on making any major trade deadline moves because no offers significant enough to improve the team materialized, according to GM Gar Forman, K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune relays. “We understand the frustrations. Up to this point, it has been a disappointing year,” Forman said. “We all realize — from ownership to the front office to the players to the coaching staff — we haven’t done as well as we thought we would do. We hold ourselves accountable that we haven’t met expectations. With that said, we certainly were not in any type of panic mode. We looked at the big picture. Obviously, the injuries that we’ve had have hurt. But that’s not the only reason. … We explored heavily and were very, very active with talks with a lot of teams. There wasn’t something we felt … significant enough to do something right now.”

Here’s the latest from the Central Division:

The Pistons believe that Tobias Harris is still on the rise as a player and that he will be able to help the franchise in a variety of ways, Keith Langlois of NBA.com writes. “The interesting thing is being able to look at what he was doing this season but going back to our free-agent preparation for the summer and the review of last year’s performance,” GM Jeff Bower told Langlois. “We feel that showed us a player with a variety of skills that can help a team in numerous ways. We also think that his play and the projection of his performance over the next five years is on a steady incline based on what we’re seeing and think he has a lot of room to grow as a player. We really like that this is a move that can be looked at as a long-term move as well as one that will fit with our core group of players and we’ll be able to keep them together due to contract certainty. Those are all pieces that were pretty important.”
The protected first round pick the Cavaliers sent to the Trail Blazers as part of the Channing Frye trade will become two second round picks if it is not conveyed in 2018 or 2019, Erik Gunderson of The Columbian relays (on Twitter).
The Bulls never attempted to trade power forward Pau Gasol, though the team did receive numerous inquiries about his availability, Forman insists, as Nick Friedell of ESPN.com notes (Twitter links). Forman also indicated that the team still hopes to re-sign center Joakim Noah, who will become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, Friedell adds.
Cavs GM David Griffin noted that the team had a deal in place with Frye when he was a free agent in 2014, but Cleveland couldn’t make the numbers work because it needed all of its cap space to sign LeBron James, Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal tweets.
The Bucks made several attempts to pry point guard Ricky Rubio away from the Wolves but balked when Minnesota requested shooting guard Khris Middleton in return, Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press reports (Twitter link).

Eastern Notes: Gasol, Knicks, Heat

February 18th, 2016 at 4:03pm CST by Will Joseph

The Bulls plan to make a run at re-signing Pau Gasol this summer, Chicago GM Gar Forman told K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). Gasol intends to use his player option to become a free agent this summer, but added the Bulls are the front-runners to re-sign him, Johnson notes in a full story. The Bulls turned down at least two offers for Gasol, according to Johnson.

“This is where I wanted to be and where I want to be right now. I don’t want to give up on this team just because we’re going through some difficulties and challenges right now,” Gasol said. “Things really haven’t turned out the way I wanted them to. But at the same time, there are things that I couldn’t anticipate. All I can do is continue to give my best. And I do still believe we can still turn this thing around a little bit or a lot and put ourselves in a good position.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

The Bucks made a run at Dwight Howard within the last 24 hours before the deadline, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports said on The Vertical online trade deadline show, as RealGM transcribes. The talks broke down because Howard wouldn’t pick up his player option for next season, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
The Knicks rejected an offer from the Rockets involving point guard Patrick Beverley because the asking price of a first-round pick and two rotation players was too high, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets.
The Heat made attempts to add a rotation player, but changed course and looked for ways to cut costs after realizing a deal was not going to be made, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports (on Twitter). Miami got beneath the tax threshold and the specter of repeat-offender penalties with its moves today.

Mavs Make Long Shot Run At Ben McLemore

February 18th, 2016 at 1:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:39pm: The Mavs took several calls regarding McLemore, but are not expected to pull the trigger on a deal involving the shooting guard, Sam Amick of USA Today Sports tweets.

1:28pm: The Mavericks are making a late push for Ben McLemore, reports Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Twitter link). Haynes calls the Mavs a darkhorse candidate for the shooting guard. The Kings are reportedly “desperate” to move McLemore with the Bulls, Timberwolves and Cavaliers also in the hunt.

Haynes’ report comes after Mavs GM Donnie Nelson told reporters that Dallas will not be making any moves today. The Mavs reportedly called the Nets about Thaddeus Young, and considering they were unable to strike a deal it is conceivable that they are looking elsewhere.

McLemore, the seventh overall pick from 2013, is making almost $3.157MM in year three of his four-year rookie scale contract. McLemore is averaging 7.7 points per game this year, a figure that is down from his 12.1 points per game last season.

Wolves Receive Late Pitches On Rubio, Martin

February 18th, 2016 at 12:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bucks and Timberwolves had a renewed discussion about Ricky Rubio today but were unable to gain traction, and while the Knicks made a run at trading for Kevin Martin today, it appears unlikely Minnesota will trade him to New York, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

This jibes with recent reports that indicated while Rubio is currently on the block, Minnesota doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to deal him for the time being. Martin, meanwhile, is unlikely to end up in a trade unless he turns down his player option, worth nearly $7.378MM for next season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. It would not make much sense for Martin to do that because he’d have a tough time making up that money on the free agent market this summer.

Kidd is said to be a longtime admirer of Rubio. Yet the Bucks head coach, who holds sway over the team’s personnel decisions, expressed doubt last week that Milwaukee would make any moves.