Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Faried, Bennett, Kaman

September 18th, 2015 at 11:45am CST by Chuck Myron

People close to the Nuggets have indicated that Kenneth Faried played a larger role in the downfall of former coach Brian Shaw than publicly known, according to Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders. Trade rumors surrounded Faried for much of the past year, and many people around the league expect Denver will deal him away. Still, Dowsett takes Shaw to task for his performance as a coach last season and calls the hiring of Michael Malone the team’s best offseason addition. See more from the Northwest Division:

Anthony Bennett looked strong playing for the Canadian national team during the summer, and Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor downplayed the idea that the Wolves will trade the former No. 1 overall pick, telling Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, “We shouldn’t assume he’d go” (Twitter link). The Wolves have reportedly been willing to move Bennett for the right return.
Chris Kaman would probably fit best on a contender, but he enjoyed playing for the Trail Blazers last season, and Kaman’s level of contentment has had much to do with whether he’s been successful over the past few seasons, as The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman examines. Kaman will make $5.016MM this season in the last year of his contract.
The exodus of so many of last season’s Trail Blazers has C.J. McCollum excited about the more prominent role he’s poised to take on this year, one reminiscent of his time as a scoring force in college at Lehigh, as he tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. McCollum is hopeful that he can continue to work with Steve Nash, who helped him with his game this summer, even though Nash is reportedly finalizing a deal to become a part-time player development consultant for the Warriors.

Western Notes: Timberwolves, Vonleh, Warriors

September 14th, 2015 at 8:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Timberwolves interim coach Sam Mitchell will have his patience tested by flashy point guard Ricky Rubio, David Aldridge of NBA.com opines. While the franchise wants to take pressure off Rubio by making him understand that he’s no longer viewed as its savior, he may be on a shorter leash than he had with coach Flip Saunders, who is out indefinitely while he receives cancer treatments, Aldridge continues. It was Saunders, as the franchise’s president of basketball operations, who gave Rubio a $56MM extension last year, Aldridge points out. In the same piece, Aldridge also reports that many people around the league felt team owner Glen Taylor wanted to bring back Mitchell as the team’s head coach, though not under these circumstances. Mitchell was one of the franchise’s most beloved players and a former NBA Coach of the Year with Toronto, Aldridge adds.

In other news around the Western Conference:

Noah Vonleh’s size, shooting touch and ballhandling make him an intriguing prospect but he needs to prove he can consistently use those skills against NBA competition, according to Mike Richman of The Oregonian. Vonleh, who was traded to the Trail Blazers from the Hornets this offseason, led Portland’s summer team in scoring (17.3 points per game) and rebounding (8.5) while displaying his ballhandling and ability to take slower forwards off the dribble, Richman continues. A sports hernia injury in training camp sidelined Vonleh early in his rookie season and he got buried in Charlotte’s crowded frontcourt rotation, Richman adds.
Ian Clark and Jarell Eddie will receive approximately half of their salaries if they make the Warriors’ opening night roster, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. Clark, a 6’3” shooting guard, would receive $474K on the contract he signed Monday. Eddie, a 6’7” small forward who also signed Monday, would make $423K.
The Warriors announced that 1,650 fans were denied access to Oracle Arena last season due to counterfeit tickets purchased from third-party vendors, Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group tweets.

Northwest Notes: Mitchell, Wolves, Jazz

September 13th, 2015 at 6:00pm CST by Will Joseph

New Wolves interim coach Sam Mitchell left the Raptors in 2008 after more than four seasons as head coach with the reputation of a man who demanded too much, but now at 52 he believes he is better prepared to replace Flip Saunders as coach, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune writes.

It was announced earlier in the week that Mitchell would take over as Saunders battles cancer.

The Wolves, as Zgoda points out, have a blend of youth and experience. Mitchell takes over a team built around consecutive No. 1 overall draft picks Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns. The roster also includes veterans Kevin Garnett, Andre Miller, Tayshaun Prince and Kevin Martin.

Here’s more out of the Northwest division:

In its season preview of the Wolves, Basketball Insiders lists Karl-Anthony Towns as the team’s best addition. The Wolves now have a dangerous one-two punch with Towns and Andrew Wiggins that they will be able to build around, the piece adds.
Utah isn’t a destination place for A-list free agents, so the Jazz must keep adding help mainly from the draft, writes Shaun Powell in his 30 teams in 30 days series for NBA.com. The Jazz did that — and pretty much only that — this summer, Powell adds. When the season tips off, the Jazz starting five will all be under 25, as Powell points out.

Northwest Notes: D-League, Wolves, Westbrook

September 11th, 2015 at 10:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The acquisition of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants by the Pacers will certainly change how teams around the NBA without their own affiliates utilize the D-League. The Blazers severed their partnership with the Idaho Stampede, who are now the Jazz‘s affiliate, at the completion of the 2013/14 campaign, but not having a D-League franchise of its own hasn’t hurt Portland’s player development yet, Mike Richman of the Oregonian opines. The franchise was still able to add point guard Tim Frazier last season, who was the D-League’s MVP and Rookie of the Year, despite not having their own affiliate, Richman notes. Establishing its own D-League affiliate isn’t currently a priority for Portland, Richman adds.

Here’s more out of the Northwest Division:

Timberwolves GM Milt Newton, who’s in charge of the team’s front office while Flip Saunders recovers from cancer, wants to add two more players for training camp and he’ll need to unload one of the team’s 16 fully guaranteed contracts before opening night, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
Kevin Durant expressed his admiration for what teammate Russell Westbrook was able to accomplish last season with the rash of injuries the Thunder had suffered, including Durant himself missing a total of 55 contests, Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report writes. “It was amazing to see a guy at the point guard position take over the game from all aspects and will his team with his passion, his enthusiasm, his energy on top of his skill,” Durant said. “It was incredible to watch. I was [expletive] I wasn’t out there to help him out. But I could tell he learned a lot and gained a lot of confidence.“
The Nuggets are in for a long, difficult season, but the franchise does possess solid building blocks in Jusuf Nurkic and Emmanuel Mudiay, as well as a revitalized Danilo Gallinari, which should give the team hope for the future, writes Tim Bontemps of The New York Post (Facebook link) in his season preview.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Mitchell, Newton To Fill In For Ailing Saunders

September 11th, 2015 at 10:14am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 10:14am: Saunders recently experienced complications related to treatments that he’s completed for his cancer, and he’s undergoing tests and treatment at a Minnesota hospital, the team announced via press release, adding that GM Milt Newton will take on an expanded role in the front office while Saunders recovers. The team also confirmed that Mitchell will serve as interim head coach. Wolves CEO Rob Moor says the timetable for the return of Saunders, who is taking what the team calls a leave of absence, is a matter of months, not weeks, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.

“First and foremost, my immediate concern is for the Saunders family and the health of Flip,” owner Glen Taylor said in the team’s statement. “Our priority right now is for him to regain his strength so that he can be 100 percent when he returns to his Timberwolves duties. In the interim, I remain confident in the direction of our team. I have known Sam Mitchell for a number of years, back to his playing days in Minnesota. He is a former NBA Head Coach of the Year. I have no doubt he will get the most out of our players and will continue to serve as a great mentor to our young and talented players as interim head coach.”

Newton, also quoted in the release from the team, expressed confidence in Mitchell and said he doesn’t anticipate a change in the team’s basketball philosophy, and Mitchell conveyed similar sentiments in his contribution to the statement and in his comments during today’s press conference, as the Wolves relay via Twitter.

THURSDAY, 3:03pm: The Timberwolves will soon name assistant coach Sam Mitchell as interim head coach while Flip Saunders continues to battle cancer, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Saunders had planned to stay in his dual jobs of head coach and president of basketball operations despite his treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, but it appears that plan has changed. Hope exists for Saunders to return to the bench at some point this season, Wojnarowski adds (on Twitter).

Saunders, 60, has a career regular season coaching record of 654-592 that he compiled as head man of the Timberwolves, Pistons, and Wizards. His career regular season mark in Minnesota is 427-392, and his Timberwolves teams have gone 17-30 in the postseason.

Mitchell has previous head coaching experience, having spent four plus seasons as coach of the Raptors from 2004/05 through part of the 2008/09 campaign. He won the Coach of the Year award in 2006/07, when the Raptors went 47-35 and won the Atlantic Division. Through 345 regular season games Mitchell has compiled a mark of 156-189, and he owns a lackluster 3-8 postseason mark. He had previously interviewed for the head coaching job with the Wolves, and he is reportedly a favorite of owner Glen Taylor after having spent 10 seasons with the franchise as a player. The 52-year-old’s most important task this season as coach will be to continue developing Minnesota’s wealth of young talent.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Northwest Notes: Favors, Bjelica, Malone

September 9th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Derrick Favors had started only eight games the season before he signed his four-year, $49MM-plus extension with the Jazz in 2013, but GM Dennis Lindsey tells Adi Joseph of The Sporting News that the team wasn’t worried. Lindsey credits Favors with having patiently waited his turn to inherit a major role.

“The present screams while the future whispers,” Lindsey said. “And many of those contracts, you do have to project. But Derrick gave us a great sense of calm with how he’s handled himself as a player and as a person.”

Lindsey added that he considered supplementing the team’s playoff push this season with a veteran free agent addition or a splashy trade but decided against it when the right player didn’t emerge, entrusting Favors and the other members of the team’s youthful core with taking the next step this season. While we wait to see if they can, see more on the Jazz and their Northwest Division rivals:

Favors wasn’t initially sold on Utah, but that’s changed, as he said to Joseph for the same piece. “I didn’t expect to stay [long term], no,” Favors said. “Utah was so different, I was so new to it. I didn’t expect to stay. But as the years have gone on, I’ve grown to love it. I got used to it. I just started feeling comfortable. I like how calm and chill it is in Utah. It’s a good thing and it’s a bad thing. The bad part is, maybe after a big game you want to go out and hang out or whatever, and there’s really not too many spots like that in Utah. Down here, you could go anywhere. Out in Utah, it’s chill, laid-back. There’s not a lot of rah-rah stuff going on. You can focus on your job, your career, whatever else you have going on.”
Nemanja Bjelica will fight for minutes at a crowded power forward position as a rookie this year, but the Timberwolves draft-and-stash signee figures to earn his share of playing team, and he’s capable of becoming a star in the NBA, opines SB Nation’s Liam Boylan-Pett. His performance in this week’s Eurobasket tournament has provided glimpses of why he can succeed at the NBA level, as Boylan-Pett examines.
The addition of coach Michael Malone is one of the few moves that the Nuggets have made recently that seem to have struck the right chord, writes Shaun Powell of NBA.com in his 30 Teams, 30 Days series.

Western Notes: Bryant, Gates, Malone

September 8th, 2015 at 6:48pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With Kobe Bryant entering the final year of his current deal, the Lakers were hampered by the Mamba’s $25MM salary when trying to rebuild their roster this offseason, and as a result this season will be more of a farewell tour for the superstar than a run at a final title, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes in his season preview of the club. Powell also notes that while Bryant has a reputation as someone willing to do anything to win a championship, if that was indeed the case he would have pushed to join a contender for what could end up being his final NBA campaign. So instead, Powell opines that Bryant is willing to win, but only on his terms.

Here’s more out of the West:

Former Pelicans assistant coach Bryan Gates, who wasn’t retained when Monty Williams was fired, has been added to Flip Saunders‘ staff with the Timberwolves, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports (Twitter link).
New Nuggets coach Michael Malone acknowledged that he was consulted by the team’s front office prior to troubled point guard Ty Lawson being traded to the Rockets, Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post writes. “We’re a team. There’s no separation between church and state,” Malone said of his relationship with Denver’s front office. “We’re together, we’re one, we communicate, and I think that’s so important. But at the end of the day, Tim’s [Connelly] job as GM is to make those decisions, obviously with the blessing of [team president] Josh Kroenke. They asked my opinion, I gave it, I tell him what I feel and believe in, and then whatever decision they make I roll with it.”
The Trail Blazers will have to take a committee approach to try and replace the rim protection that was lost when Robin Lopez departed for the Knicks in free agency this Summer, Mike Richman of The Oregonian writes.

Western Rumors: Bennett, Morris, Clippers

September 7th, 2015 at 9:23pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Anthony Bennett’s spirited play with the Canadian national team at the FIBA Americas tournament provides hope that he can still live up to his status as the top pick in the 2013 draft, Eric Koreen of the National Post reports. The Timberwolves power forward has endeared himself to Canada coach Jay Triano by running the floor, setting screens and attacking the rim, Koreen continues. “I think Anthony Bennett’s summer has been absolutely fantastic for us,” Triano told reporters at the tournament. “He’s engaged in everything that we do on the floor, off the floor, rebounding. We’ve asked him to rebound, and he’s done it on a continuous basis. He runs the floor on a continuous basis. He provides help on the defensive end. He understands our defensive system.” Canada has not featured Bennett much offensively, but he has been effective when given opportunities, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun points out. Bennett was shooting 68.2% on two-point attempts while averaging 10.3 points and 7.3 rebounds through the team’s first four games. Bennett has been Canada’s de facto center but with Minnesota using its No. 1 overall pick on Karl-Anthony Towns this summer and plenty of competition in a crowded frontcourt, Bennett might not be able to display his improvement immediately, Koreen adds.

In other news around the Western Conference:

The Raptors, Magic, Celtics, Rockets and Pistons are the five most logical landing spots for disgruntled Suns power forward Markieff Morris, Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders opines. Morris, who is entering the first year of a four-year, $32MM extension, demanded a trade after Phoenix dealt his brother, Marcus Morris, to the Pistons in July.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer turned down an offer of $60MM annually from Fox Sports to broadcast his team’s games locally, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. Ballmer asked for $100MM annually, executives familiar with the talks told Turner, but Fox declined. Ballmer is considering other options, including creating his own network and streaming the games, Turner adds.

Pelicans In Mix As Sean Kilpatrick Nears Camp Deal

September 7th, 2015 at 2:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

One-year NBA veteran shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick is closing in on signing a deal for training camp, and the Pelicans are squarely in the mix, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). The 25-year-old who was with the Timberwolves on a 10-day contract last season was a participant in recent workouts with the Pelicans, Hawks, Spurs and Lakers.

New Orleans has plenty of roster flexibility, with 13 fully guaranteed salaries and a partial guarantee for Bryce Dejean-Jones the team’s only commitments so far. They were reportedly to have worked out shooting guard Corey Webster, a prospect from New Zealand. The Hawks and Spurs also have only 13 full guarantees apiece, but they have plenty of others on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed arrangements. The Lakers have a dozen full guarantees but are similarly stocked with multiple players who are without fully guaranteed salary.

The 6’4″ former Cincinnati Bearcat averaged an impressive 18.2 points in 28.7 minutes per game in summer league for the Bucks this year, but Milwaukee has 15 full guarantees and it’s unclear if the team has interest in him for camp. The Timberwolves have 16 fully guaranteed deals, so Kilpatrick would seemingly have a tough time making the regular season roster in Minnesota despite his experience there. The Wolves signed Kilpatrick in large measure because he was in close proximity to New York when they were short a player before a game against the Knicks, but he saw plenty of playing time in his brief stint with Minnesota, putting up 5.5 PPG in 17.9 MPG.

Northwest Notes: Nurkic, Wolves, Kanter

September 5th, 2015 at 7:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic is sitting out the Eurobasket tournament as he continues to rehab his left knee, though he hopes to be healthy enough to play for the Nuggets at the start of the season or shortly thereafter, Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post reports. Nurkic was planning to play for Bosnia and Herzegovina before he underwent knee surgery in May to repair a partially torn left patella tendon, Dempsey continues.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

The Wolves‘ lottery luck turned around and gave them perhaps the second franchise player in their history, writes Shaun Powell of NBA.com. Karl-Anthony Towns, the first player selected in this year’s draft, has the potential for greatness, according to Powell, and he has the good fortune of being tutored by Minnesota’s other franchise player, Kevin Garnett. The writer believes Towns’ addition makes Nikola Pekovic expendable, although his salary of more than $35MM over the next three years may make a deal difficult until at least the trade deadline. Ricky Rubio may also be dealt now that rookie Tyus Jones and veteran Andre Miller are in town. With a wealth of young and inexpensive talent on hand, Powell sees the Wolves as contenders for a top free agent next summer.
Enes Kanter tells Carla Hinton of The Oklahoman that efforts to accommodate his Muslim faith made him feel welcome in Oklahoma City. Kanter, whose four-year, $70MM offer sheet with the Blazers was matched by the Thunder, said the organization set up a prayer room for him at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Dana Gauruder contributed to this post.