Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Timberwolves Rumors

Timberwolves Rumors: LaVine, Rubio, Muhammad

November 17th, 2015 at 1:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s no coincidence that the Timberwolves are giving Zach LaVine minutes at point guard after going back on their decision to make him the starting shooting guard, since Ricky Rubio would become a trade chip if LaVine proves capable running the point, writes Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. Rubio and LaVine have played just 10 minutes together so far this season, with Lowe calling it “beyond dumb” that they haven’t shared the floor for more time and Rubio making it clear he’d like to play more often with LaVine. Both Rubio and GM Milt Newton expressed to Lowe that they hope Rubio is the long-term answer at the point, “but he has to stay healthy,” Newton said. Regardless, Newton isn’t in a hurry to make any deals.

“We are cognizant about not rushing it,” Newton said to Lowe. “We don’t want to be a flash in the pan. We don’t want to disrupt our young core. If we do something, it has to be the kind of deal where the majority of that young core is still here, but you get a veteran who is not that old — and can grow with the group.”

See more on the Timberwolves:

  • LaVine has shown flashes of brilliance and moments of struggle alike at point guard this season, but his play is making it increasingly apparent that he deserves time at one position or another, as Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune examines. “I love him,” Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger said Sunday before Minnesota’s game against Memphis. “I’m a big LaVine fan. I think he can really score the basketball. He’s tough to guard. I think he’s still trying to figure out where he is in the league, learn his teammates, where he can go and when it’s not a good time to go. When he learns that? He’ll be a very potent scorer.”
  • Opposing front office personnel were initially dismissive of the late Flip Saunders‘ decision to sign so many veteran mentors this summer, but some of them have warmed to the notion that re-signing Kevin Garnett and adding Andre Miller and Tayshaun Prince was shrewd, Lowe writes in the same piece.
  • The Timberwolves almost chose Giannis Antetokounmpo over Shabazz Muhammad in the 2013 draft, several sources tell Lowe. The Jazz officially drafted Muhammad, but they had already agreed to trade the pick to Minnesota by the time they went on the clock, so evidently the Timberwolves were telling the Jazz whom to take, as is often the case behind the scenes with draft-night deals.
  • If Steve Kaplan, the Grizzlies minority owner who’s reportedly in talks to buy a share of the Timberwolves, were to purchase a controlling interest in the Wolves at some point, he’d probably include Garnett in the ownership group, Lowe hears from sources.
  • Sean Kilpatrick, who was with the Timberwolves on a 10-day contract this past spring, has re-signed with the D-League affiliate of the Sixers, the team with which he ended last season, the D-League club announced.
Retweet 16 Share 3 Send via email0

Northwest Notes: Garnett, Kanter, Blazers

November 16th, 2015 at 7:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Top draft pick Karl-Anthony Towns says he learns something every day from his Timberwolves teammate and mentor Kevin Garnett, he revealed during a Q&A session with NBA.com’s David Aldridge published in Aldridge’s weekly column. Garnett has been teaching Towns how to protect his body so that he doesn’t wear down during his first season. The rookie power forward also told Aldridge that Garnett has instilled him with three tenets: “Work harder. Play defense. And continue to compete.” Garnett’s influence on his young teammates is far-reaching, even though he denies he’s a coach on the floor, according to Marino Eccher of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Garnett was spotted during Monday’s practice showing power forward Nemanja Bjelica how to guard pick-and-rolls in a one-on-one session, Eccher continues. After practice, Garnett provided teammates and coaches with insights on everything from defensive techniques to trash-talking, Eccher adds.

In other news around the Northwest Division:

  • The Thunder could overwhelm opponents in the first quarter if they started Enes Kanter at center, Matt Moore of CBSSports.com opines. While Steven Adams has earned the starting job, Kanter’s defensive shortcomings are more of a liability when he plays with the second unit, Moore argues. Oklahoma City’s firepower with Kanter playing alongside Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant would mask those shortcomings and the club could still close games with Adams in the middle, when defensive stops become more essential, Moore concludes.
  • The task for the Blazers this season is to find out which of their players around Damian Lillard are keepers and which aren’t, and games like Sunday’s clunker against the Hornets, after which coach Terry Stotts questioned his team’s effort and focus, can play a role in that process, as Jason Quick of CSNNW.com examines.
  • The Timberwolves are continuing to engage in talks about finding a D-League affiliate for next season, though they aren’t close yet, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.

(Chuck Myron contributed to this report.)

Retweet 16 Share 3 Send via email0

Central Notes: Drummond, Budinger, Dellavedova

November 13th, 2015 at 7:50pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Andre Drummond reiterated his intention to re-sign with the Pistons this offseason when he is eligible to become a restricted free agent, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports relays. “I love it here. I plan on being here,” Drummond told Spears. Team owner Tom Gores, coach/executive Stan Van Gundy, and Drummond mutually agreed to hold off on signing an extension to allow the team to retain more cap space heading into next offseason in order to make further roster upgrades.

Here’s more from out of the Central Division:

  • Small forward Chase Budinger is attempting to carve out his niche on the Pacers after having been acquired from the Wolves this past summer, writes Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star. “I’m still trying to figure that out, it’s still a work in progress,” Budinger said. “My role is still trying to evolve and trying to fit into this system and with this team. I’m still trying to find better ways to be more productive.” The 27-year-old has appeared in nine games this season, averaging just 4.1 points in 15.9 minutes per contest while shooting 41.9% from the field.
  • Cavs point guard Matthew Dellavedova has used his strong playoff showing from a season ago as a springboard to a solid start to the 2015/16 campaign, Chris Fedor of The Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. “I feel confident,” Dellavedova told Fedor. “I think you should always be more confident in your game and that comes through putting in the work. I think it was a great experience for me playing in the playoffs last year and working hard in the offseason by playing with the national team. In a different role than I usually play here with the Cavs, and [I] have just tried to build on that. I think if you work hard that’s what helps with your confidence.“
  • The Bulls lead the NBA in building through the draft, with a league-best 10 draftees currently on the roster, Sam Smith of NBA.com notes in his leaguewide rundown. “The franchise always has had a strong belief in building through the draft and developing our own players,” said Bulls GM Gar Forman. “It starts with [owner] Jerry [Reinsdorf], who always has been a strong believer in the draft.”
Retweet 16 Share 3 Send via email0

And-Ones: Timberwolves, Draft, Hornets

November 13th, 2015 at 2:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Former Grizzlies front office chief Jason Levien isn’t involved in Steve Kaplan’s bid to own a partial share of the Timberwolves, as Zach Harper of CBSSports.com reports, and his name hasn’t come up in discussions with Wolves officials, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter links). Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported earlier that Levien was partnering with Kaplan as part of his effort to get into position to eventually assume full control of the Wolves if owner Glen Taylor relinquishes that. Taylor currently has no plans to sell the team, but he’s preparing for that time to come, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.

“It just seems to me if I’m a responsible owner of a team, I should go out there, find someone who is really interested, bring them in and see how it works,” Taylor said. “So if I would die or be in a position where I can’t run it, they’d be in a position to take over and make a smooth transition. I just think it’s something I owe the state because I have the ownership.”

The purchase of a minority ownership, whether by Kaplan or another bidder, doesn’t necessarily guarantee they’ll become majority owners at any point, Krawczynski adds (on Twitter), though the idea of Kaplan owning more than 20% of the team has come up in the talks, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. See more from around the NBA:

  • LSU small forward Ben Simmons tops the rankings of draft prospects that Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider link) and Chris Mannix of SI.com compiled for college basketball’s opening day, though disagreement exists beyond that. Ford has Kentucky center Skal Labissiere, Croatian power forward Dragan Bender and Duke small forward Brandon Ingram as his next three, while Mannix’s list goes Ingram-Labissiere-Bender.
  • Simmons isn’t the next LeBron James, but his game is stylistically similar to the four-time MVP’s, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com writes in an Insider-only piece that draws comparisons between some of the top prospects and their NBA counterparts. Labissiere is like LaMarcus Aldridge and Ingram resembles Tayshaun Prince, Goodman posits.
  • Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams, a pair of Hornets poised to become free agents next summer, are off to strong starts, as Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders observes in a story that looks at 15 soon-to-be free agents and how they fared during the season’s first two weeks.
Retweet 13 Share 4 Send via email0

Northwest Notes: Taylor, Leonard, Mudiay, Huestis

November 13th, 2015 at 11:15am CST by Chuck Myron

The idea that Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is looking to sell a minority interest in the team is “old news,” as Taylor put it in a comment to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, confirming that he’s had contact with Steve Kaplan, with whom he’s reportedly engaged in serious talks (All four Twitter links). Taylor said he’s also spoken to others, but some of them want to move the team and Kaplan doesn’t, Wolfson points out. Kevin Garnett is interested in someday owning the Wolves, but Taylor refused comment on any potential involvement for KG, Wolfson relays. Kaplan would really prefer to become a majority owner, but with few teams on the market, it makes sense that he would buy a smaller stake and position himself to purchase the controlling interest later, observes Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (on Twitter). See more from the Northwest Division:

  • The dislocated shoulder that Meyers Leonard suffered in Wednesday’s game will probably sideline him for at least four weeks, and it’s conceivable that he ends up having surgery that would knock him out for the season, an orthopedic surgeon without ties to Leonard or the Trail Blazers told Jason Quick of CSNNW.com. The Blazers have yet to release an official timetable for the big man, who recently turned down a “considerable” extension offer to set up restricted free agency next summer.
  • Bucks coach and one-time legendary point guard Jason Kidd believes the Nuggets scored with their pick of Emmanuel Mudiay at No. 7 in this year’s draft, predicting that Mudiay will be better than he was, notes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. “He’s better already,” Kidd said. “Being able to run an NBA team at 19 is not easy. You look at some of the greats — Magic [Johnson] was able to do it. And you’re looking at this kid Mudiay, who has the opportunity to do something special. So, I would encourage him to be better than me, and I think he will be at the end of the day.”
  • The Thunder have assigned Josh Huestis to the D-League, the team announced. Huestis spent last season in the D-League in an unusual draft-and-stash arrangement, but this time, he’ll continue to draw NBA paychecks while in the D-League after signing with the Thunder on a rookie scale contract this past summer.
Retweet 15 Share 4 Send via email0

And-Ones: D-League, Printezis, Taylor

November 12th, 2015 at 10:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

NBA D-League president Malcolm Turner says the NBA is moving closer to a 30-for-30 model that would provide each NBA team with its own D-League affiliate, and Turner believes that it is a goal that could be realized within the next five years, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today writes. “All those NBA teams who currently don’t have a D-League team, we’re in active conversations with all of them,” Turner said. “Each team is at varying stages in terms of interest, and we’re trying to prioritize actionable interest and opportunities we can act on now. We’re already working on the pipeline of opportunities for 2017/18 and beyond. One of the reasons we’re focused on them so far in advance is 30-for-30 is our No. 1 initiative and we feel like we’re now within striking distance of achieving that goal.”

Turner also acknowledged that increasing player salaries in the D-League to be more competitive with overseas clubs is an important part of allowing the league to grow, Zillgitt adds. “As we grow, we obviously have additional player rosters to fill,” Turner continued. “We want to make sure we’re adding more and better talent to the league rather than less. We are taking a look at any and all opportunities to enhance our value proposition for talent. We’re in the market for top talent to fill our rosters and assessing our overall business accordingly. We have a bright future, and we’re working very hard to realize those opportunities.”

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Wolves owner Glen Taylor is engaged in serious talks to sell approximately 20% ownership of the franchise to a group led by Grizzlies minority partner Steve Kaplan, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports. The group’s motivation for purchasing a minority share is that it hopes to position itself to buy the majority stake if Taylor decides to sell the franchise in the future, Wojnarowski adds.
  • Greek power forward Giorgos Printezis, whose draft rights went from the Hawks to San Antonio in July as part of the Tiago Splitter trade, is on the Spurs‘ radar, though at 30 years old he is running out of time if he wishes to make the jump stateside, Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.net writes. “It was good to meet with Giorgos. We traded for his rights last summer and this was the first time I got to spend some time with him. I have never met him before,” said Spurs GM R.C.Buford, who recently scouted the player in Athens. Printezis’ contract with Olympiacos runs through the summer of 2017, according to Barkas. As for the chances of seeing the forward in San Antonio at that point, Buford told Barkas, “I think that a part of this decision belongs to him. For sure we will be following him and if our needs fit his needs, then we will see what happens.”
  • The Bucks, who are currently without their own affiliate, are willing to invest in a D-League team, and the franchise will meet later this month to discuss the possibilities, Zillgitt tweets.
Retweet 10 Share 3 Send via email0

Henry Sims, Lorenzo Brown Join Pistons D-League

November 12th, 2015 at 6:32pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The D-League affiliate of the Pistons has added center Henry Sims and point guard Lorenzo Brown to the roster, Peter J. Wallner of MLive.com reports. The Grand Rapids Drive already held Brown’s D-League rights, so they signed him directly. Sims signed with the D-League at large and was subject to the league’s waiver process, and Grand Rapids filed a successful claim that allowed the team to acquire the big man. Both players are still free to sign with any NBA team that expresses interest this season.

Brown, 25, has made a total of 55 appearances in two NBA seasons, averaging 3.4 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists to go along with a slash line of .375/.155/.656. He was in training camp with the Timberwolves this year, but Minnesota waived him prior to the regular season. Brown’s deal with the Wolves included a $75K partial guarantee, giving the player some breathing room financially this season.

Sims, who is also 25, made 73 appearances for the Sixers last season, including 32 starts. He averaged 8.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 19.2 minutes per contest. His career numbers through three NBA campaigns are 7.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 1.1 APG to go along with a slash line of .475/.174/.760. Philadelphia didn’t tender a qualifying offer to the big man this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent. The big man, who was in Suns camp on a non-guaranteed contract, was waived during the preseason.

Retweet 9 Share 2 Send via email0

Western Notes: Dragic, Rondo, Suns, Fredette

November 12th, 2015 at 2:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Goran Dragic remarked around the time of his trade to Miami that he saw the Lakers as a “perfect fit,” but while the Lakers were initially likely to pursue him in free agency, they abandoned the idea when they became enamored with D’Angelo Russell and were optimistic about signing a big man, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Dragic, despite his comment about the Lakers, seemed likely to re-sign with Miami in the months prior to his free agency, and he re-upped with the Heat in July. See more from around the Western Conference:

Retweet 21 Share 6 Send via email0

Northwest Notes: Aldridge, Durant, Mitchell

November 12th, 2015 at 1:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

LaMarcus Aldridge wouldn’t say much in response to a question from Jason Quick of CSNNW.com about his summer 2014 pledge to re-sign with the Trail Blazers in 2015. Aldridge signed this past summer with the Spurs instead, of course.

“I’m not going to get into all of that,’’ Aldridge said. “What is done is done. I feel like both sides kind of have what they want. Now, I’m here [with the Spurs].’’

Aldridge expressed love for Portland and its fans despite his decision to split, as Quick relays, but the power forward privately made it clear he was no fan of the culture and climate of the Pacific Northwest, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, who offers a fascinating inside look at Aldridge’s free agency. See more from around the Northwest Division:

  • It was Aldridge’s decision to leave the Blazers, but the team deserves blame for failing to convince the star that it was worth it to stick around, The Oregonian’s John Canzano argues.
  • Kevin Durant need look no further than the Thunder in free agency next summer if he seeks a team with a roster that can help him win championships, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com believes.
  • Sam Mitchell‘s future beyond this season as coach of the Timberwolves is unresolved, but his lineup decisions so far indicate that he’s not merely focusing on the near term, observes Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune.
Retweet 18 Share 2 Send via email0

2015/16 Salary Cap: Minnesota Timberwolves

November 10th, 2015 at 9:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 has been set at $70MM, which is an 11% increase from this past season, and the luxury tax line will be $84.74MM. The last cap projection from the league had been $67.1MM, and the projection for the tax line had been $81.6MM.

With the October 26th cutoff date to set regular season rosters now past, we at Hoops Rumors are in the process of running down the current salary cap commitments for each NBA franchise for the 2015/16 campaign. Here’s the cap breakdown for the Minnesota Timberwolves, whose regular season roster can be viewed here:

  • 2015/16 Salary Cap= $70,000,000
  • 2015/16 Luxury Tax Line= $84,740,000
  • Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $71,391,973*
  • Partially Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $75,000
  • Non-Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $0
  • Total Salary Cap Commitments= $71,466,973
  • Remaining Cap Room= -$1,466,973
  • Amount Below Luxury Tax Line= $12,169,205

*This amount includes the $3,650,000 owed to Anthony Bennett, who agreed to a buyout with the team.

Cap Exceptions Available:

  • Non-Taxpayer’s Mid-Level Exception= $1,513,999
  • Biannual Exception= $2,139,000

Cash Available to Send Out In Trades= $3,400,000

Cash Available to Receive Via Trade= $3,400,000

Last Updated: 11/10/15 @9:00pm

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

Retweet 4 Share 2 Send via email0
Load More Posts