Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Texas Notes: Singh, Rondo, Milutinov

June 26th, 2015 at 1:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

Mavs GM Donnie Nelson said No. 52 overall pick Satnam Singh will play with the D-League’s Texas Legends this coming season, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com, presumably meaning that Dallas will stash the Indian center with its D-League affiliate rather than sign him to the NBA roster. Singh may still pay dividends for the Mavs next season, since his agents, Happy Walters and Dan Fegan, also represent apparent free agent target DeAndre Jordan, notes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. While we wait to see if that connection works for the Mavs, here’s more:

It’s doubtful that soon-to-be former Mavs point guard Rajon Rondo ends up with the Lakers now that they’ve drafted D’Angelo Russell, a source tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, though it’s unclear if that indicates a lack of interest from the team, from Rondo, or both. In any case, the Lakers once seemed the inevitable destination for the veteran.
The Rockets are reportedly aiming to pursue Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency, but GM Daryl Morey suggested that it’s a long shot they’ll open the cap room necessary to make a marquee free agent signing like that, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle relays. “I think there’s possible opportunities we have to explore that are bigger, but I think they’re unlikely,” Morey said. “It’s probably likely we’ll stay over the cap and use our mid-level [exception].”
Morey “wanted my first-born” for the No. 18 pick, Timberwolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders said jokingly of talks with the Rockets, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. Houston used the 18th pick on Wisconsin forward Sam Dekker.
No. 26 pick Nikola Milutinov is likely to remain overseas this season rather than sign with the Spurs, notes Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. The center spent this past season with KK Partizan in his native Serbia.
Mavs assistant coach Monte Mathis is leaving to take an assistant’s job with the Magic, the Mavs confirmed, as Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com tweets.

Wolves Acquire Rights To Tyus Jones From Cavs

June 26th, 2015 at 12:27am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 12:26pm: The deal is official, both teams have announced. It’s Minnesota’s own 2019 second-round pick going to Cleveland, the Timberwolves note.

THURSDAY, 9:26pm: The Timberwolves will acquire the rights to Tyus Jones from the Cavaliers, who are drafting him at No. 24, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The Cavs are getting picks Nos. 31 and 36, Wojnarowski adds (on Twitter). Cleveland will also receive a 2019 second-rounder, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).

It’s a homecoming for Jones, a Burnsville, Minnesota native who was the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four this year at Duke. His floor vision and leadership make him an intriguing prospect, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors examined in his Prospect Profile.

Jones represents a cap hold of $1,068,400, and he’ll likely receive 20% more on his rookie scale contract. Clearing him for a pair of second-round picks that don’t count against the cap until they’re signed helps Cleveland keep its costs low as the team reportedly contemplates a payroll of $100-110MM, plus another $75MM or so in luxury taxes.

Timberwolves Select Karl-Anthony Towns No. 1

June 25th, 2015 at 6:34pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Timberwolves have selected Kentucky forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns with the No. 1 overall pick. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported the news moments earlier (Twitter link). The move has appeared the likeliest outcome since earlier this month, when Mark Heisler of Forbes.com reported that coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders had become enamored with Towns after having previously favored Duke center Jahlil Okafor. It’s seemed like a virtual foregone conclusion since Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv heard that the team told Towns he would be the pick, even though Towns later denied the report.

Towns emerged as the top prospect on draft boards during the NCAA Tournament, surpassing Okafor. Kentucky coach John Calipari‘s unprecedented depth helped keep Towns’ numbers modest, as he put up 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in 21.1 minutes per game in his lone season with the school. Still, his defensive ability is obvious, and he has the capability to develop into an all-court force, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors examined in our Prospect Profile of the 19-year-old.

The Leon Rose client will earn $5,703,600 this coming season, presuming he signs for the standard 120% of the rookie scale. He’s in line to earn $25,720,035 over the course of the four-year rookie scale contract, as our table of likely salaries for first-round picks shows. The Timberwolves will have to sign him to that deal before they bring him onto the roster, though that should be largely a procedural matter. He’ll represent a $4.753MM cap hold on Minnesota’s ledger until the team officially signs him.

And-Ones: Batum, Warriors, Sixers, Clippers

June 25th, 2015 at 5:29pm CST by Zachary Links

The Timberwolves will be on the clock just one hour from now. While we wait with eager anticipation, here’s the latest from around the league:

The Pistons expressed interest in Nicolas Batum before he was shipped from the Blazers to the Hornets, a person with knowledge of the team’s inner workings told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Therefore, Ellis expects that Detroit will target a small forward in the mold of Batum in the draft.
While the Warriors would like to move up from No. 30 in the first round, that doesn’t seem likely right now, David Aldridge of TNT tweets.
Tom Moore of Calkins Media (on Twitter) hears that the players union didn’t like the Sixers trading for JaVale McGee at the deadline. That acquisition cost existing Sixers players money since the team had needed to spend more in order to reach the NBA salary floor. The players association is reportedly probing the moves the Sixers have made of late for possible circumvention of collective bargaining agreement tenets.
The Clippers still attempting to purchase a first-round pick, as Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (on Twitter) hears.
Brandon Jennings expects he’ll be ready for training camp after having suffered a season-ending torn Achilles this past January, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

Western Rumors: Lakers, Russell, Warriors

June 25th, 2015 at 1:13pm CST by Zachary Links

League sources tell Jake Fischer of SI (on Twitter) that the Lakers were always going to select whoever was available between Karl Towns and Jahlil Okafor at No. 2. The guards they worked out, like D’Angelo Russell, were only brought in as a smokescreen, according to those sources. However, with so much talk about Russell being the pick at No. 2 today, it’s hard to say what their intentions are. Here’s more from the West on one of the NBA calendar’s craziest days..

Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group (on Twitter) heard that one team’s asking price to take David Lee‘s contract off the Warriors‘ hands was Harrison Barnes and the No. 30 pick. As Thompson writes, Warriors management probably laughed that offer off.
At this stage, the Warriors are not working to move Lee’s contract, Jake Fischer of SI tweets. At this point, their looking to move up in the first round, though it’s not clear who their target is. The Warriors own the No. 30 pick in the draft.
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak will have the final say on what the team does with the pick, assuming they keep it, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times, who spoke with a person familiar with the situation. The GM will receive input from team executive Jim Buss, Lakers scouting director Jesse Buss, and other scouts, but the last call will be his.
The Timberwolves are looking to acquire an additional first-round pick, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
The Rockets have had trade discussions with the Timberwolves, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets. Houston likes Ricky Rubio, but Wolfson says that it’s hard to see a match there. However, if the Wolves do move to No. 18, Tyus Jones is probably atop their target list (link). Meanwhile, there have been no talks yet between the Wolves and Mavs, who own the No. 21 pick (link).
The Blazers have internally discussed options to grab Kristaps Porzingis since his ASM pro day, Jake Fischer of SI tweets.

Wolves Tell Karl-Anthony Towns They’ll Draft Him

June 25th, 2015 at 1:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 1:03pm: Brian Windhorst of ESPN is reporting that the Wolves have settled on Towns (via RealGM on Twitter).

WEDNESDAY, 2:36pm: It would be stunning if the Wolves don’t pick Towns, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

5:17pm: Towns also denies a promise has been made, as he told Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter link). “If I had a promise I would go start eating ice cream and getting fat,” Towns said. “There is absolutely no promise at all.”

4:38pm: Andy Greder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press hears the report that the Timberwolves have settled on Towns is untrue (Twitter link).

MONDAY, 11:44am: The Timberwolves have told Kentucky big man Karl-Anthony Towns that they’ll take him with the No. 1 overall pick, a source close to Towns tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. The decision came after Towns worked out for the team on Saturday, the source indicates to Zagoria. The news isn’t altogether a shock, since Towns has been atop most draft boards since the NCAA Tournament and Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders, who’d instead been in favor of drafting Jahlil Okafor, had recently become enamored with Towns, as Mark Heisler of Forbes.com reported earlier this month. It’s nonetheless disappointing for the Lakers, who hold the second pick and prefer Towns to Okafor, as Chris Mannix of SI.com tweeted Sunday.

Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders had been hearing more and more that Saunders, and perhaps owner Glen Taylor, were still fixated on Okafor, as Kyler wrote today in his NBA AM piece, so it’s possible the Wolves are trying to erect a smokescreen one way or another. Regardless, Towns, a Leon Rose client, would give the Timberwolves a talented defender who, while not as polished a post scorer as Okafor is, has the potential to surpass the Duke center in skill on both ends of the floor, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors wrote in his profile of the 19-year-old Towns. He averaged 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in 21.1 minutes per game in his lone season with Kentucky, numbers suppressed by coach John Calipari‘s platoon system.

The No. 1 pick is in line for a first-year salary of $5,703,600, presuming he gets the standard 120% of rookie scale. The full four-year contract in that case would come to $25,720,035, as our table of likely salaries for first-round picks shows. The Timberwolves are likely to carry that amount as an over-the-cap team this season, as Charlie Adams of Hoops Rumors points out in our offseason outlook for the club.

Minnesota has the chance to become the first NBA team with three consecutive No. 1 overall picks on its roster. The Wolves are surely hoping that Towns, if they indeed draft him, will be more like reigning Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins than the struggling Anthony Bennett.

Northwest Notes: Afflalo, Wolves, Thunder

June 24th, 2015 at 8:46pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Thunder are reaching out to teams with the hope of unloading a contract to solidify their ability to re-sign Enes Kanter and Kyle Singler, both of whom are restricted free agents this summer, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets. OKC has reportedly dealt Jeremy Lamb and his $3,034,356 salary for 2015/16 to the Hornets, so it’s unclear if further moves are in the works. The deal includes Matt Barnes and his $3.543MM salary for next season coming to Oklahoma City, though only $1MM of that amount is guaranteed unless he remains on the roster past July 1st, at which point the team would be on the hook for the entire amount. The Thunder aren’t expected to keep Barnes, though it wasn’t specified if a third team was involved, or if he would simply be released.

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

The Blazers shouldn’t prioritize re-signing unrestricted free agent Arron Afflalo this offseason, opines Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Freeman notes that Afflalo and Portland were never a good match, with the swingman struggling to find his place and never looking completely comfortable in the Blazers’ system. Couple that with the late-season emergence of C.J. McCollum, and Portland re-signing Afflalo becomes less of a need, regardless of what transpires with fellow unrestricted free agent Wesley Matthews, Freeman concludes.
When asked what the Timberwolves would be targeting in the second round of the draft and in free agency this summer, coach/executive Flip Saunders said backcourt [depth], shooting and ball-handling, Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press tweets. Saunders not mentioning a big man seemingly reinforces the opinion that the team will select Karl-Anthony Towns with the No. 1 overall pick, Krawczynski adds.
The Timberwolves are expected to extend their lease on the Target Center with the city of Minneapolis through 2035, Charley Walters of The Pioneer Press relays (Twitter link).

Timberwolves, Celtics Discuss Anthony Bennett

June 24th, 2015 at 10:19am CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 10:19am: Boston and Minnesota have discussed a deal that would send Bennett and the Nos. 31 and 36 picks to the Celtics for the 28th pick, a source tells Jake Fischer of SI Now (Twitter links).

MONDAY, 1:00pm: The Timberwolves are making Anthony Bennett available to trade suitors, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The team’s frontcourt is apparently about to get that much more crowded with Minnesota reportedly having told forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns that he’s their choice for the No. 1 overall pick. Minnesota also spoke about trading Bennett at the trade deadline this past February, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities reported then.

Bennett’s name came up earlier today in speculation regarding the Raptors and Greivis Vasquez, though it doesn’t appear as though there’s interest on Toronto’s part, even though the former No. 1 overall pick is a Canadian and GM Masai Ujiri has expressed enthusiasm for bringing Canadian players onto the roster. The 22-year-old Bennett is set to make nearly $5.804MM on his rookie scale contract this coming season, and an October 31st deadline looms for a decision on a team option for 2016/17 worth more than $7.318MM.

The Wolves have more than $56MM in guaranteed salary for next season, with a $4.753MM cap hold earmarked for the No. 1 overall pick, as well as a new deal with Kevin Garnett seemingly on the horizon. The team would have difficulty clearing cap space even if it trades Bennett for no guaranteed salary in return, so it would seem as though the Timberwolves would prioritize taking back players who can contribute on the roster over assets that would provide cap flexibility, though that’s just my speculation.

Wolves Put Chase Budinger Back On Trade Block

June 24th, 2015 at 9:46am CST by Chuck Myron

Chase Budinger is “plenty available” for a trade, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). Timberwolves coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders denied last fall that the team was shopping the small forward amid reports to the contrary, and such rumors again surfaced a few weeks before the deadline, when Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reported that Budinger had requested, but not demanded, to be dealt. Minnesota faced long odds to find a taker at that point, as Deveney wrote then, adding that it was likely that Minnesota would try again to trade him this summer. Budinger, in spite of his apparent desire to play elsewhere, picked up his $5MM player option in April.

The Wolves are also reportedly making Anthony Bennett available as it appears the team has more on its to-do list this week than making its three picks, including the top overall selection, in Thursday’s draft. Minnesota is unlikely to have cap room this summer, as Charlie Adams of Hoops Rumors examined in our offseason outlook for the club, so presumably the Wolves, as they consider trades for Bennett and Budinger, would prioritize the acquisition of players who can contribute instead of moves that would clear salary. Still, just what the Timberwolves would want in return for the forwards isn’t entirely clear.

Philadelphia reportedly had interest as the deadline neared in trading for Budinger and doing a buyout deal with him. The Pacers, Pistons, Blazers and Rockets were apparently interested in him early last season, though other reports suggested that Portland and Houston weren’t in pursuit. The 27-year-old put up numbers this past season that were nearly identical to his production from the year before, averaging 6.8 points and 3.0 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per game across 67 appearances in 2014/15.

Sixers, Blazers, Pacers, Hawks Talk Pick Swaps

June 23rd, 2015 at 2:49pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Sixers and Trail Blazers have spoken about a trade that would send the No. 23 pick to Philadelphia in exchange for the 35th and 37th picks and perhaps more, sources tell Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links). The Pacers and Hawks have had exploratory talks about a swap of the 11th and 15th picks, presumably with other assets involved, Kennedy also hears, citing league sources. Philadelphia is willing to trade up from the No. 3 spot to acquire D’Angelo Russell, league sources tell Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who writes within his Draft Buzz column.

Jahlil Okafor earlier this month became the focus of the Lakers at the No. 2 pick, as Chris Mannix of SI.com reported, so a willingness from Philly to trade up for Russell would indicate some doubt from the Sixers that the Lakers indeed prefer the Duke center. Karl-Anthony Towns appears to be headed to the Timberwolves with the No. 1 pick, though he’s denied a report that Minnesota has already told him he’ll be their choice.

Philadelphia leads the NBA with six picks in this year’s draft, five of which are in the second round. The Blazers appear focused on free agency, with LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, Robin Lopez and Arron Afflalo among the soon-to-be free agents on the roster, so moving off the nearly $1.004MM cap hold for a first-round pick would presumably have some value to them.

Willie Cauley-Stein has said that Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird called him a $100MM player, so it would appear Indiana has strong interest in him. Concerns about Cauley-Stein’s health threaten to push him out of the top 10, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress wrote in his mock draft this week, though it would seem a stretch if he were still available at No. 15. The Hawks are worried that they won’t be able to bring back the duo of Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll in free agency, but trading up for a higher pick wouldn’t help them create more cap space unless they gave up salary in such a deal.