Timberwolves Rumors

The Beat: Jon Krawczynski On The Timberwolves

January 21st, 2016 at 1:20pm CST by Chuck Myron

Jon Krawczynski

Nobody knows NBA teams better than beat writers, save for those who draw paychecks with an NBA owner’s signature on them. The reporters who are with the teams they cover every day gain an intimate knowledge of the players, coaches and executives they write about and develop sources who help them break news and stay on top of rumors.

We at Hoops Rumors will be chatting with beat writers from around the league and sharing their responses to give you a better perspective on how and why teams make some of their most significant moves. Last time, we spoke with James Ham of CSN California and CSNBayArea.com about the Kings. Click here to see all the previous editions of this series.

Today, we gain insight on the Timberwolves from Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. You can follow Jon on Twitter at @APkrawczynski, and check out his stories here.

Hoops Rumors: You reported Kevin Martin‘s availability on the trade market about a month ago. Do you have a sense for how motivated the Timberwolves are to get a deal done?

Jon Krawczynski: The Wolves are definitely motivated to move Martin. They want to open up more playing time for Zach LaVine and Shabazz Muhammad and Martin clearly would prefer to be on a team that is more competitive at this stage in his career, and one that has an offense that better suits his skill set. So far, the Wolves have not found a willing trade partner. One of the road blocks is that Martin has a player option on his contract next year. The Wolves have been told by several teams that they would like assurances from Martin that he will waive that option and become a free agent next summer. Corey Brewer made that gesture last year before he was traded to the Rockets, I believe. So far, Martin has not been willing to make that declarative statement, and understandably so. He’s struggled offensively this year so I think he wants to see if he can turn things around and increase his value before giving up a $7MM payday next year.

Hoops Rumors: The Wolves have fallen off sharply since their 8-8 start. Are they surprised they haven’t won a few more games, or was this strictly a developmental year all along?

Jon Krawczynski: This was a developmental year all along. No one in the organization — other than the players — entered the season believing the playoffs were a realistic goal for this season with this much youth. That said, they did show great flashes early in the season of being competitive, and the muddled state of the West from seeds 5-12 or so makes that 8 seed look more attainable to more teams than it has in years. That’s what has made this latest miserable stretch — a league-worst 5-23 since that 8-8 start — doubly frustrating for them. They knew they would go through their struggles. They knew young guys like Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, LaVine and Muhammad would hit bumps in the road along the way. But when you look at several of their losses — at Philly, home to Denver twice, home to Milwaukee, home to Portland twice, at New Orleans the other night — there are some glaring bad games. They have lost five games this year when leading by at least 17 points. A lot of that is youth. But youth can’t explain away all of their struggles. They have talent. Does the franchise believe it should they be 22-22 and in the thick of the race? Probably not. Should they be 13-31 with some of those bad losses? No.

Hoops Rumors: Is owner Glen Taylor committed to GM Milt Newton as the head of basketball operations for the long term, or do you think Newton is under pressure this season to make personnel moves that show he can handle the front office?

Jon Krawczynski: Taylor told Newton and Sam Mitchell at the beginning of the season that he would give both of them the year in these roles and then re-evaluate it at the end of the season. He wants to see how they both respond to the increased responsibility and the moves they make. Newton did play a major role in shaping the vision of the franchise, assembling the roster and evaluating talent while Flip Saunders was still around. So he’s done a lot of the work already. Now it’s his show. And it’s up to him to show Taylor, and the new minority ownership group that is negotiating to buy 30% of the team, that he is the right man for the job going forward for the foreseeable future. That he’s already had a hand in assembling a lot of the young talent on the roster will certainly work in his favor.

Hoops Rumors: Ricky Rubio has stayed healthy and his shooting numbers are up somewhat from last year’s abbreviated season, but what he is and what he isn’t seem pretty apparent at this point. Is what he is enough for the Timberwolves?

Jon Krawczynski: I’m a believer in Rubio. Is he the Russell Westbrook/Chris Paul who is capable of carrying an offense on his back? No. But I think if he is surrounded by athletes and shooters who can spread the floor and give him room to operate in the pick-and-roll, you can win a lot of games with him. He’s an elite passer, a very good defender and coming into Wednesday, he’d shot 42% from 3 over the previous 22 games, so he is showing that he can knock down open catch-and-shoot opportunities. Where he has to improve is scoring at the rim (44% this year), becoming more consistent midrange and shooting off the dribble. If you surround him with shooters and guys who can get out and run, he can absolutely be the answer, in my opinion. On a team with Wiggins, Towns, Muhammad and LaVine, all players who want to get their own shots, having a pass-first point guard is a good thing.

Hoops Rumors: The team is no doubt planning for Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns to co-exist for many years to come, so how effective have they been at building on-court chemistry with each other?

Jon Krawczynski: They seem to complement each other well. Wiggins is very quiet, not one to seek out the spotlight. Towns seems more comfortable in front of the cameras and acting as more of a spokesman and they appear to get along well. On the court, they are both dynamic in different ways. Wiggins right now prefers to attack the rim and elevate over defenders, though I think his game will evolve from there. Towns has shown a little more finesse and versatility early, being able to go inside and out. Going forward as they both grow their games the sky is the limit for these two.

Hoops Rumors: Has the idea that Saunders had to sign a veteran mentor for each position group — Kevin Garnett for the bigs, Tayshaun Prince for the wings, Andre Miller for the point guards — been a significant help to the team

Jon Krawczynski: I think they have been. Let’s face it, the group as a whole is struggling right now. It’s been a long stretch of futility. I think KG, Prince and Miller have helped the kids keep their eyes focused forward and on the big picture. Most of these young guys are not used to losing as much as they have here. It can be very difficult to deal with. But I think the older guys have made sure that these hard lessons aren’t going in one ear and out other. The plan was viewed with skepticism by some league observers, but I think Flip and Milt had the right idea by doing it and providing some insulation for the young guys. Hard to put a price tag on that.

Northwest Notes: Mitchell, Wolves, Nuggets

January 18th, 2016 at 12:35pm CST by Will Joseph

Wolves interim coach Sam Mitchell reiterated his belief that he is developing players the right way after the Wolves ended their nine-game losing streak Sunday, Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune relays. Mitchell said that he is not frustrated with the Wolves’ struggles because he feels development is more important than wins at this point and added he hopes Wolves owner Glen Taylor understands that commitment.

“It’s bigger than me,” Mitchell said. “It may turn out that I’m here to see it. But it may turn out that I’m not. But the people in this league know there is a certain way we have to do this, and we understand that. And If I’m not a big boy enough to do it, I shouldn’t be standing here talking to you.’’

Here’s more out of the Northwest Division:

Wolves center Nikola Pekovic is exhibiting some rust after returning from the surgery he underwent back in April to repair damage to his Achilles tendon, but that is to be expected, according to Mitchell, Andy Greder of The Pioneer Press relays. “After [five] games and we don’t get to practice because we play every other day, you ask me has Pek scraped off the rust? He is limited to 18 minutes a game, and I’m the person that’s prickly. Did that answer your question?,” Mitchell said. “I don’t think in 18 minutes in [five] games he’s going to scrape it off.”
Jazz rookie Trey Lyles has earned more playing time because of a vastly improved 3-point shot, Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune details.
Small forward Will Barton, who re-signed with the Nuggets this past summer on a three-year, $10.6MM deal after originally having joined the team via the Arron Afflalo trade, has come out of nowhere to contend for this year’s Sixth Man of the Year award, Nick Groke of the Denver Post writes.

Western Notes: O’Brien, Suns, Towns

January 16th, 2016 at 3:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

J.J. O’Brien‘s gamble on the D-League has paid off, according to Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune. The 6’7″ forward signed a 10-day contract with the Jazz today and will be available for tonight’s game with the Lakers. O’Brien played for Utah’s summer league team and earned an invitation to training camp. After being cut, he decided to join the franchise’s D-League affiliate in Idaho rather than seek a larger contract with an overseas team. He averaged 9.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 24 games with the Stampede. “I had a pretty good confidence in myself that I could get to this level,” he said. “It’s the ultimate dream to get here. The best way to do that is to be here playing in the D-League.”

There’s more from the Western Conference:

GM Ryan McDonough is remaining positive about the Suns‘ future, even as losses pile up, writes Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. Phoenix has dropped 12 of its last 13 contests, but is still on the edge of the playoff race, trailing eighth seed Utah by just five games. The team’s performance in the next few weeks will determine McDonough’s course of action. “Over the next month or so,” he said, “we’ll evaluate where we are and what our options are and be realistic about who we are as a team and what we can do this year as we get closer to the trade deadline.”
Karl-Anthony Towns may have landed with a struggling franchise, but he’s very happy to be in Minnesota, writes John Krawczynski of the Associated Press. The top pick in the 2015 draft has made an immediate impact, averaging 15.7 points and 9.4 rebounds over the first half of the season and putting himself in the race for Rookie of the Year honors. He also feels comfortable in Minneapolis, even though the Wolves are off to a 12-28 start. “I think I’m more and more a part of this community every day,” Towns said. “I love it here. I love absolutely everything here.”

Western Notes: Plumlee, Jones, Garnett

January 14th, 2016 at 10:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pelicans‘ season has not gone as planned and the team has begun exploring its options in the trade market, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports relays. In addition to power forward Ryan Anderson, whom New Orleans has reportedly been listening to offers about, the team has also discussed various trade scenarios involving swingmen Tyreke Evans and Eric Gordon, the Yahoo scribe notes. Gordon, who is earning approximately $15.5MM this season, is in the final year of his contract, but Evans’ deal still has one more season on the books valued at $10.2MM. Here’s more from out West:

Blazers big man Mason Plumlee is still trying to make his case that he has what it takes to be a special player, Jason Quick of CSNNW.com writes. “I’m at a point right now where I still very much feel like I’m trying to prove myself in this league,’’ said Plumlee. “I think there are a lot of guys who think they can hang around because they are big or athletic, but I really want to thrive, I really want to be somebody in the NBA. And I don’t think that’s proven yet.’’ Plumlee points to Warriors forward Draymond Green as an example of a player who wasn’t satisfied with merely making it into the NBA, which is the path he wishes to take, Quick adds. “You look at Draymond: a late draft pick, could have been satisfied with establishing himself in the league,’’ Plumlee continued. “But now, he’s doing special things, becoming a special player. So I ask myself: Do I want to just be a player in the NBA, or do I want to excel and be special?’’
Rockets combo forward Terrence Jones has turned a corner as a player and may be on his way to fulfilling some of the promise that made him the No. 18 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com writes. “The talent is there with Terrence,” interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We need to get to a point where it’s there every night and we can depend on Terrence because he’s a big part of what we do. He’s a big part of our big rotation up front — he, Clint [Capela] and Dwight [Howard] right now get all the minutes at the big spots for us. This is the type of performance that he had tonight and [Tuesday, when he scored 20 points] that he’s capable of. We just need him to string those performances together.”
Kevin Garnett is only averaging 14.9 minutes per night for the Wolves, but the veteran has been remarkably efficient during his limited time on the court and his leadership has proven to be a great resource to the team, Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune writes. “He’s still very valuable to what we’re trying to do,” interim coach Sam Mitchell said of Garnett. “Those 10 minutes that he plays, he sets the tone. It’s 10 minutes our young guys get a chance to see one of the greatest defenders ever play. They get a chance to play with him. They’re learning experience, whether KG is on the floor for 10 minutes or 17 minutes. It’s invaluable.”

Scotto’s Latest: Anderson, Gay, Morris, Motiejunas

January 14th, 2016 at 12:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans rejected a trade proposal from the Kings of Ryan Anderson for Rudy Gay, league sources told Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops, a signal that Sacramento is making Gay available. New Orleans has reportedly been listening to offers about Anderson but not shopping him, and coach Alvin Gentry has said it’s unlikely the Pelicans trade him this season. A straight-up exchange of Anderson for Gay trade would move the Pelicans to within $1MM of the luxury tax threshold, so it’s not surprising New Orleans said no. Scotto heard more about Anderson and several other trade candidates, as we’ll summarize here:

The Pistons are expected to pursue Anderson in free agency, league sources told Scotto. Stan Van Gundy said in October that Anderson, incumbent Pistons power forward Ersan Ilyasova and Kevin Love are in a class by themselves among those who combine effective rebounding and 3-point shooting.
The Suns, who reportedly engaged in talks with the Pelicans about a swap of Markieff Morris for Anderson, now prefer young players or draft picks in exchange for Morris, Scotto’s league sources say.
The Clippers are making Josh Smith available for a trade, according to Scotto, essentially a reprise of earlier this season, when Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reported the Clips had gauged interest in him. Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers denied that earlier report, however.
The Rockets have taken Donatas Motiejunas off the trade market, but Terrence Jones remains available, Scotto reports. Houston earlier had talks with Phoenix about a swap of Jones and Corey Brewer for Morris, as Scotto revealed, and those discussions were serious, Marc Stein of ESPN.com later added. Brewer becomes eligible to be traded Friday.
Scotto adds the Mavericks to list of teams with interest in trading for Timberwolves shooting guard Kevin Martin.

Western Notes: Teletovic, Wolves, Grizzlies

January 14th, 2016 at 10:33am CST by Chuck Myron

Mirza Teletovic wondered if his career was over after experiencing blood clots in his lungs that led to his hospitalization last January, notes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Teletovic was initially expected to miss at least the rest of last season for the Nets, though he returned for the playoffs. He wound up signing a one-year, $5.5MM contract with the Suns in the summer that looks like a bargain now that he’s playing a prominent role in the Phoenix rotation and is leading all NBA big men in 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage, Coro points out.

“I never have got the chance that I’ve got here and the chance [coach] Jeff [Hornacek] has given me,” Teletovic said.

That’s a vote of confidence for the Suns coach, who’s job was reportedly in jeopardy a few weeks ago, from a soon-to-be free agent. See more from the Western Conference:

The sale of 30% of the Timberwolves to private equity investor and Grizzlies minority owner Steve Kaplan is on track to be complete by the end of next month, according to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The transfer is reportedly a precursor to Kaplan and his partners eventually taking over majority control from Glen Taylor, though the stipulation that the team remains in Minnesota would be a part of any deal, Walters notes.
The Wolves initially operated on the premise that the late Flip Saunders would be back coaching sometime in November after he took his leave of absence in September to recover from cancer treatment, as interim coach Sam Mitchell recently revealed to Britt Robson of MinnPost. Saunders died in October.
Jeff Green didn’t play in the second half of the Grizzlies‘ loss to Memphis on Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of the trade that brought him to Memphis, a signal that the time has come for the team to trade him, argues Geoff Calkins of The Commercial Appeal.

Bucks Interested In Kevin Martin

January 12th, 2016 at 10:44pm CST by Eddie Scarito

11:09pm: Milwaukee and Minnesota had talks about Martin, but the Bucks merely wanted to explore the idea, sources told Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops, adding that one source described the talks merely as due diligence (Twitter links). The Bucks, like other teams interested in Martin, have reservations about his player option, Scotto also tweets.

10:44pm: The Bucks have expressed interest in acquiring shooting guard Kevin Martin from the Timberwolves, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reports (Twitter link). The 32-year-old was reportedly made available on the trade market by Minnesota last month. The Wolves had spoken with two unnamed teams about Martin earlier this season but were reluctant to move him after getting off to a promising 8-8 start, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press, who reported Martin’s availability last month, after Minnesota fell off its early-season pace. The team wishes to clear up more playing time for its younger wing players like Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, according to Krawczynski.

Milwaukee’s interest in Martin is curious considering that the Bucks are currently the 13th ranked team in the Eastern Conference and seemingly out of playoff contention, though the team has been looking to add some veteran leadership, which Martin could certainly help provide. The Bucks were reportedly interested in acquiring Caron Butler, but they have since apparently cooled on pursing the swingman, and they have also met with power forward Carlos Boozer multiple times in recent weeks, according to reports. The Kings are also interested in Martin, as Wolfson reported earlier, and the Bulls and Grizzlies have looked into trading for him, too, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. However, Memphis has resisted attempts from Minnesota for a swap of Martin for Courtney Lee, as USA Today’s Sam Amick relayed. The shooting guard was also the subject of trade talk last winter, when a series of reports identified the Mavericks, Wizards, Bulls, Kings and Rockets as interested parties, though late Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders didn’t appear willing to part with Martin at the time.

Martin has appeared in 29 games for the Wolves this season, including 12 starts. He is averaging 11.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in just 23.8 minutes per game, which is his lowest amount of playing time since his rookie campaign of 2004/05. Through 688 career regular season games, Martin is averaging 17.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists to go along with a shooting line of .438/.385/.870. The veteran is earning $7.085MM on the year and possesses a player option for 2016/17 worth $7,377,500. Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors examined Martin’s trade candidacy earlier this week.

Nuggets Sign Sean Kilpatrick To 10-Day Contract

January 12th, 2016 at 1:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:15pm: The signing is official, the team announced. Denver has five games in the next 10 days.

8:07am: The Nuggets plan to sign former Timberwolves and Pelicans shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick to a 10-day contract, league sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Denver has an open roster spot, since it waived Kostas Papanikolaou last week. Kilpatrick has dazzled for the D-League affiliate of the Sixers this season, and he tops the D-League player rankings that Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor compiled today.

Kilpatrick, 26, is averaging 27.1 points in 38.5 minutes per game with 45.5% 3-point shooting on 164 attempts with the D-League Delaware 87ers this season. The Wizards reportedly gave him strong consideration for a signing last month. New Orleans signed him in September, but he didn’t shoot well from the outside during the preseason, nailing just six of 25 attempts from behind the arc, and the Pelicans cut him before opening night and before any of his salary became guaranteed.

The undrafted former University of Cincinnati standout grabbed his first NBA contract last season in large measure because he was in the right place at the right time. The Timberwolves needed someone to give them the NBA minimum of eight healthy players for a March game against the Knicks in New York, and Kilpatrick was close enough to get to the game on time. He played a fairly prominent role in his brief stint with Minnesota, which signed him to a 10-day contract, averaging 5.5 points in 17.9 minutes per contest, though he made just four of 13 3-point tries.

Kilpatrick reportedly had auditions with the Lakers, Spurs and Hawks, as well as a summer league stint with the Bucks, before landing with New Orleans in the offseason. The Nuggets, right around league average in 3-pointers made, surely hope his D-League shooting numbers are more indicative of his abilities than his NBA shooting numbers are.

Zach Links of Hoops Rumors spoke with Kilpatrick as he transitioned from college to the pros in 2014.

Trade Candidate: Kevin Martin

January 11th, 2016 at 12:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

Brace Hemmelgarn / USA Today Sports Images

A cursory glance at Kevin Martin suggests he should be a more sought-after commodity than he is. After all, someone who scored 20 points per game the previous season, is under contract for just $7.085MM this season, has no existing injury problems and a solid locker room reputation sounds like quite a catch. Still, the availability of Martin on the trade market, which Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press reported last month, doesn’t appear to have inspired executives from other teams to make any sort of mad rush for him. The 11th-year veteran’s high scoring last season came in just 39 games, and this year his points per game have dipped to 11.5, his fewest since the 2005/06 season, in large measure because a focus on youth in Minnesota has led interim coach Sam Mitchell to move him in and out of the starting lineup, and at times the rotation entirely.

The Kings are one of the teams that likes Martin, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities reported shortly after the news emerged that he’s on the block. They’ve called the Wolves about him, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders heard, and the Bulls and Grizzlies have looked into trading for him, too, Kyler added. However, the Grizzlies have resisted attempts from Minnesota for a swap of Martin for Courtney Lee, as USA Today’s Sam Amick detailed. Memphis doesn’t want to bite into its cap flexibility for next season, according to Amick, and that helps explain the team’s lack of a desire to swap Lee, a pending free agent, for Martin, who has a player option worth almost $7.378MM for 2016/17.

No one’s certain just what Martin will do with his option, Amick said, and while many teams will have gobs of cap space this summer, the option is still large enough to pose a problem, especially for teams that would like to be able to make a marquee addition. Martin has proven that he can score and shoot from long distance, but as his stint replacing James Harden in Oklahoma City revealed, he’s no substitute for a star.

The 6’7″ shooting guard was, at his peak, a versatile offensive threat, nailing 41.5% of his 3-pointers and attempting 10.3 free throws per game for the Kings in 2008/09, the season in which he averaged a career-high 24.6 points a night. He stopped getting to the line in 2011/12, when his free-throw rate fell from .528 the year before to .333, perhaps because of new foul-call rules introduced for that season. His free-throw rate hasn’t recovered since, though it’s experienced somewhat of an uptick this season, to .396. That’s perhaps because he’s taking fewer 3-pointers per shot attempt than in any year since he was a rookie.

Martin, who turns 33 on February 1st, has never been a defensive stopper, and the numbers suggest he’s sieve-like this season. He ranks as the 71st-best defensive shooting guard in ESPN’s Real Plus Minus metric, is a minus 3.4 in Basketball-Reference’s Defensive Box Plus Minus stat, and Minnesota’s defense, only the 20th most efficient in the league, is 2.5 points per 100 possessions worse when he’s on the floor compared to when he’s sitting, according to NBA.com.

It’s tough to understand why the Kings, just 27th in defensive efficiency, would have interest in a reunion, particularly since Sacramento would be helping a fellow bottom-half Western Conference team gain assets for the future. The Kings are understandably anxious to end their playoff drought, but Martin would go much better on a team with realistic aspirations of a deep playoff run, like the Bulls or the Grizzlies.

Chicago seems like a particularly strong fit. The Bulls are reportedly looking for an upgrade on the wing and believe they could use more shooting. Martin is a career 38.5% 3-point shooter, and while his accuracy is down slightly, to 37.2%, this season, he canned 40.5% of his shots from behind the arc during the previous three seasons. The question is what the Bulls would give up to get him. Chicago has a surplus of big men, but the Wolves are fairly deep up front too, with Karl-Anthony Towns, Gorgui Dieng and Nemanja Bjelica to go along with Kevin Garnett, who’s still starting. Minnesota signaled a desire to clear cap space, or at least achieve cost certainty, with its reported proposal of Martin for Lee, but the Timberwolves would have little reason to acquire trade candidate Joakim Noah and his expiring contract. The Bulls have an extra first-round pick coming their way courtesy of the Kings, so perhaps they could part with one of their own picks as the centerpiece of a package. However, Chicago would have to come up with at least $5.588MM in salary to add to a deal that swaps Martin for a pick, and that would either entail the potential deal-killers of the Bulls relinquishing a fairly valuable player, the Timberwolves taking back long-term salary, or both.

The Grizzlies would surely benefit from Martin’s shooting, too, though again, it’s tough to see an obvious solution to the question of whom or what they would send out in return. They’re below the tax threshold, but only by about $2MM, so while in theory they could send out as little as $4.657MM in salary straight up for Martin, they’d run over the tax line if they did so, and trade rules are different for tax teams. Outside of Lee and Mike Conley, whom they’re not trading, the expiring deal that might make the most sense for the Grizzlies to swap for Martin belongs to Jeff Green, who’s making $9.45MM this year. A Martin-for-Green deal would allow Memphis to trim salary and cut ties with a player who’s never quite fit in. Green is shooting a dreadful 26.7% from 3-point range this season and is only a 33.9% career 3-point shooter. The Timberwolves could move on from Green at season’s end, just as they could with Lee, or they could try to keep him around if he proves a better match for them than he has for the Grizzlies. Still, it’s unclear if either the Grizzlies or Minnesota has interest in such a trade.

The Thunder, Spurs and Heat are other teams capable of deep playoff runs that have made a below-average number of 3-pointers this season, though it certainly hasn’t hurt San Antonio much to this point. Oklahoma City probably isn’t anxious to relive its one-season experiment with Martin. Miami could help reduce its tax bill with a swap of Luol Deng for Martin, which would work under the salary-matching rules, but the Heat would surely be loath to compromise their 2016/17 cap flexibility in any way, so it’s tough to see them dealing an expiring contract like Deng’s for Martin.

It seems as though the Timberwolves are ready to move on from Martin, but finding a deal that works will likely be difficult. Such is the nature of having a one-dimensional player on the wrong side of 30. Still, Martin remains a credible threat from behind the arc, and 3-point shooting has never been in higher demand, so if the Timberwolves aren’t too picky and show a willingness to take back some salary for 2016/17, they’ll probably find the trade partner necessary for GM Milt Newton to make his first swap in charge of the team’s player personnel.

Where do you think Martin will be playing after the trade deadline? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Cavs Notes: Cunningham, Harris, LeBron, Love

January 8th, 2016 at 1:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavaliers thought when the regular season began that they’d waive Jared Cunningham by Thursday, the final day they could release him without paying his full-season salary, but they made up their minds weeks ago to retain him, a source told Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. Still, the recent injury to Joe Harris posed an issue, Lloyd writes. The team would still like to somehow open a roster spot in advance of the trade deadline to provide flexibility for the post-deadline buyout market, Lloyd adds, suggesting that trading Harris, as the team has tried to do for weeks, is the only viable way of accomplishing that. The Cavs dodged a bullet today when Mo Williams said that he won’t require surgery on a partially torn ligament in his right thumb and that he’ll play through the injury as it heals over the next six weeks, tweets Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. See more on the Cavs:

LeBron James didn’t mention Andrew Wiggins in his summer 2014 Sports Illustrated essay announcing the four-time MVP’s return to Cleveland because he simply wasn’t familiar with him, James recently told Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports. Many speculated that the omission was a signal that James wanted the Cavs to trade Wiggins for Kevin Love, a move the team ultimately made. “I didn’t know the kid, really,” James said of Wiggins. “I knew Dion [Waiters]. I knew Kyrie [Irving]. I knew Tristan [Thompson]. I knew all the guys that I was playing with before. I didn’t know the kid, so it wasn’t no big issue to me.”
Wiggins isn’t bitter, telling Lee in the same piece that the trade “put me in a better place.”
The max contract that Kevin Love signed this summer “gave me that little extra edge and push” to recover from the shoulder injury he suffered in the playoffs, Love said to Lee. The power forward’s primary desire in free agency was to remain in a winning situation, as he explained to James. “When I talked to him this summer and when he went over what he wanted, what he needed, the most important thing that came out of it was, ‘I just want to win. And I want to win at a high level because I went through too many losing seasons in Minnesota,’” James said to Lee. “And I said, ‘If that’s the case, we can figure out all that other stuff. If you want to win, we can figure out all that other stuff.’ And he’s been unbelievable from that point on.”

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