Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Barea, Warriors, Wallace

October 4th, 2014 at 9:15pm CST by Cray Allred

Timberwolves coach and president of basketball ops Flip Saunders continues to praise point guard J.J. Barea‘s play in training camp, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Barea has been on the block for a trade or release, but sees himself as a team fixture. Whether Saunders is leaning toward keeping Barea around, or merely trying to inflate his trade value, remains to be seen. Here’s a look at the rest of tonight’s Western notes:

Andrew Bogut‘s primary backup, Festus Ezeli is hurt, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters including Diamond Leung of Bay Area News Group that he is content with bigs Marreese Speights and Ognjen Kuzmic when asked if Golden State is in need of another center (Twitter link). Kerr’s outlook will need to change for camp invite Mitchell Watt to secure one of the two open regular season roster spots in Golden State.
Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace came out on top of some front-office turmoil in Memphis this summer, and he tells Ronald Tillery of Commercial Appeal [subscription-only] that his commitment to the game has routinely paid off. “My staying power is pretty simplistic. This is as good a job as I can get,” said Wallace. “I do not have a college degree, there’s a limitation on what I can do. I’m not going to Wall Street. I’m not walking across the street for executive training. I’m realistic. For someone who loves basketball, it’s light years better than anything else I can do. And change is a norm in the NBA, especially in the front office and coaching ranks.”
Wallace also revealed that he has less autonomy than he did in his previous tenure as GM in Memphis. “The reality of NBA front offices in 2014 is they are highly collaborative. You have very few czars in the league,” Wallace said. “Having said all of that, the misconception is that you arrive at a consensus. Most times, somebody in the organization drives a decision. The better organizations probably have more consistent decision making. I’m in contact and they know my opinion on things. The good thing right now and when I was brought back is we’re rolling as a team and how the team is perceived. It’s not a reclamation project.”

Northwest Notes: Arthur, Blazers, Wolves

October 4th, 2014 at 2:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

When asked if he’d like to remain with the Nuggets past this season, Darrell Arthur said, “Oh yeah, for sure. My family loves it here. My mom was just up here for a couple of weeks and she just loves it – loves the atmosphere, loves the people here. I love the organization, everything. It’s a family organization, they welcome you with open arms. I definitely would like this to be home,” Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post relays. Arthur is in the final season of his contract and will become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Here’s more from the west:

NBA TV’s Steve Smith was in Portland covering the Blazers training camp and discussed the contract situations of LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, and Robin Lopez. All three players are in the final year of their respective deals and Smith was asked if it would become a distraction and he said, “LaMarcus being the main one. I can’t speak for him, but I think he’ll be the easiest one to figure out. He’ll be all right. I think Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez, financially — I’m not saying they’re not set, we all are, we play in the NBA — but LaMarcus is going to get the max. Now with those other two guys, you have to balance sacrificing for the team and making as much money possible in your career. I think this contract is … the big one for those guys.”
Smith also discussed the offseason additions of Steve Blake and Chris Kaman, saying, “It’s funny. Sometimes you look at moves — and, like you said, they’re not huge as far as names that go across the entire association — but Steve Blake is one of those veterans that just fits well with this team. You can tell just by watching practice. And he makes home here in Portland. So you have a guy who’s comfortable. He’s played here, what, three times? Chris Kaman, if you want to draw up a Portland Trail Blazer, it’s Chris Kaman. He just looks like he belongs. (laughs) And also, I think the pressure is off him. He can come in and be himself.“
Ricky Rubio believes that the departure of Kevin Love to the Cavs will be good for both Love and the Wolves, Jeff Caplan of NBA.com writes. “Of course we had a lot going on last year and the media was talking, they were wondering if Kevin wanted to be here, blah, blah, blah, and that hurt the team and hurt himself,” Rubio said. “Now that he’s not here, the media’s not going to talk about that anymore. I think that’s going to be good for him and for us.”

And-Ones: Barea, White, Johnson, Walker

October 4th, 2014 at 12:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

J.J. Barea has been the odd man out in Minnesota, especially after the Wolves signed Mo Williams back in July. But the veteran guard believes there is a roster spot for him on the team, Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press writes. “I see the players and know this team could use me,” Barea said. “I could help them a lot.” Barea is in the final year of his contract and there has been speculation that Minnesota would attempt to deal or reach a buyout arrangement with him.

Here’s what else is happening around the league:

Also from Greder’s article, Williams said that he would like to try his hand at coaching once his career is over, though he did say that he still has a few more years left in him as a player.
Former NBA player DJ White has inked a one-month deal with Baskonia of the ACB, the team announced via their website (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). The 6’9″ power forward spent the last two seasons playing in China, but did appear in two games for the Hornets in 2013/14 after signing a 10-day contract. In six NBA seasons White’s numbers are 5.9 PPG and 3.2 RPG.
The Reno Bighorns, the D-League affiliate of the Kings, are hiring former NBA player Darrell Walker as head coach, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link).
Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has prioritized continuity on his roster, but the team’s plans for Amir Johnson aren’t clear, Eric Koreen of The National Post writes. With Patrick Patterson under contract for three more years, Ujiri might decide against giving long-term contracts to both players since their games are so similar, opines Koreen.

Western Notes: Young, Mavs, McHale, Fesenko

October 3rd, 2014 at 7:55pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Lakers guard Nick Young has a torn ligament in his right thumb and will miss approximately six to eight weeks, Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter link). Young injured the thumb during practice when attempting a steal on Kobe Bryant. He’s scheduled to have surgery this Monday, tweets Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. With Young expected to be the Lakers sixth man and provide an offensive boost this isn’t a great start to the season, especially after the team missed a total of 319 games due to injuries last year, which was a major factor in Los Angeles’ rough 2013/14 campaign.

Here’s more from the wild west:

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said that just because a player has a total or partially guaranteed contract doesn’t mean he’ll make the final roster, Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports (Twitter link). Dallas has a total of 19 players on their preseason roster, with 15 of them carrying full guarantees and two with partially guaranteed deals.
Kyrylo Fesenko is especially motivated to win an uphill battle for a spot on the Wolves regular season roster because of his desire to move his family out of war-torn Ukraine, as he details to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Fesenko is on a non-guaranteed contract, but the Wolves have their hands full with 15 fully guaranteed deals plus a partial guarantee for Glenn Robinson III, as Hoops Rumors’ Chuck Myron detailed.
Rockets head coach Kevin McHale isn’t concerned that he’s in the final year of his contract despite Houston owner Leslie Alexander’s track record of not handing out second deals to previous coaches like Jeff Van Gundy and Rick Adelman, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. McHale said, “That has no bearing on me. I never believed that. If you’re going to play better in the last year of your contract because it’s the last year of your contract, I question who you are. If you are going to coach better because you’re in the last year of your contract, I question that guy. I’m going to do the same thing I’ve always done. I’m going to work as hard as I possibly can with these guys, try to get these guys to be the best possible team we can be and you know what, like as a player, you do the best job you can. If it’s not good enough, it’s not good enough.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Josh Howard Attempting NBA Comeback

October 3rd, 2014 at 5:53pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Former NBA All-Star Josh Howard is working out in Las Vegas with hope of being picked up for an NBA training camp, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Howard also indicated that he would be open to returning to the NBA D-League, notes Spears. Howard played for the Pelicans’ entry in the summer league this year, but was unable to secure an invite to New Orleans’ training camp. He only saw the court in three of the team’s five contests, and after scoring 14 points in the opening game, he managed just six points combined over his next two appearances.

His last action in the league came during the 2012/13 campaign when he appeared in just 11 games for the Timberwolves. During his ten year career, Howard has appeared in 507 games and averaged 14.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 1.6 APG. His career slash line is .448/.332/.770.

Last season was spent with the Austin Toros, the Spurs’ D-League affiliate, where Howard made 24 appearances, averaging 14.7 PPG and 5.8 RPG while playing 29.5 minutes per night. Howard’s season came to an end when the Toros released him following an injury, which was another in a string of knee maladies that derailed the now 34-year-old’s career at its peak.

At this juncture it’s unlikely that he’ll be picked up by a team for training camp unless there are a run of injuries. Howard’s best opportunity may in fact be to return to the D-League, prove that he’s healthy enough to contribute, and possibly snag a 10-day contract later in the season and hope he can turn that opportunity into a long-term deal.

Four Teams Face Tough Roster Decisions

October 2nd, 2014 at 3:41pm CST by Chuck Myron

October is a month of decision-making for NBA clubs, as they sort through rookie scale extensions and options and figure out how to shrink their rosters down to the 15-man regular season limit. That third task is fairly straightforward for most teams, who’ll cut players with non-guaranteed deals and diminutive partial guarantees and keep those on fully guaranteed contracts.

For a few clubs, it’s not so easy, either because they have more than 15 fully guaranteed contracts or because there are players on the roster with little or no guaranteed money whom the club would like to keep at the expense of one or more of their fully guaranteed guys. Often, this means waiving a fully guaranteed contract and eating that money, though sometimes teams are able to work out salary-clearing trades.

A look at our roster counts shows several teams with at least some partially guaranteed money on the books for more than 15 players, but the predicaments of four teams stand out. We’ll profile them here:

Celtics
It took a series of maneuvers, including waiving and re-signing camp invitee Christian Watford, just to give the C’s enough room to squeeze a contract for Evan Turner under the 20-man offseason roster limit. Boston has 16 fully guaranteed contracts plus a $100K partial guarantee out to Erik Murphy, so more roster gymnastics are ahead for president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. Phil Pressey and the newly acquired Dwight Powell have the cheapest guaranteed deals on the team, as each is in line for less than $1MM, though Pressey, a point guard, might have an edge if Rajon Rondo‘s injury lingers.

Pistons
The Pistons were set with 15 fully guaranteed contracts before Greg Monroe inked his qualifying offer, which is also fully guaranteed and carries a de facto no-trade clause. That sets up a tough decision this month for coach/executive Stan Van Gundy. Spencer Dinwiddie has the lowest amount of guaranteed money for this season, but his contract is also fully guaranteed for 2015/16. Tony Mitchell is the only Piston who has guaranteed salary that adds up to less than $1MM.

Rockets
Houston doesn’t look like it’s in a bind at first glance, since the team only has 15 fully guaranteed deals. Yet with projected starting point guard Patrick Beverley on a non-guaranteed contract, GM Daryl Morey will almost certainly part with one of those 15. Nick Johnson, Troy Daniels and Isaiah Canaan, the Rockets with the cheapest full guarantees for this season, all have a significant amount of guaranteed money on the books for 2015/16, too. Ish Smith, Jeff Adrien and Francisco Garcia are each on a fully guaranteed one-year deal that costs the team less than $1MM, but all three are proven veterans who saw time in NBA rotations last season. Further complicating the matter is that the team owes partial guarantees to Tarik Black, Robert Covington and Akil Mitchell.

Timberwolves
Minnesota’s situation is another that doesn’t appear troublesome initially, but the team invested a $250K partial guarantee in Glenn Robinson III, this year’s 40th overall pick, to go along with 15 fully guaranteed contracts. Robinson won’t earn a free pass onto the regular season roster, but the team is reportedly looking to unload J.J. Barea, whether by trade or buyout. If the Wolves don’t part ways with Barea, coach/executive Flip Saunders might cast his eye in the direction of Robbie Hummel, the only player with fully guaranteed salary that totals less than $1MM.

Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Western Notes: Thunder, Pelicans, Wolves

October 1st, 2014 at 1:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

Two members of the Thunder front office made the list of a dozen potential candidates for future GM openings that SB Nation’s Tom Ziller compiled. Assistant GM Troy Weaver, who excels in scouting and relationships, and Michael Winger, a salary cap expert, have already drawn interest from other teams, as their respective rumors pages show. Many believed that Winger would have been in line for the Cavs GM job if the team had decided against retaining David Griffin this summer, Ziller adds. While we wait to see if the presence of Sam Presti and perhaps two other future GMs gives Oklahoma City the necessary edge to get over the hump and win this year’s title, here’s more from around the Western Conference:

The Pelicans considered waiving and stretching Austin Rivers in addition to the notion of trading the former No. 10 overall pick as they sought to clear room to acquire Omer Asik this summer, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe. Still, the Pelicans held on to Rivers, and they demanded “real assets” in any trade that would involve him, Lowe writes, adding that New Orleans regarded waiving him as the least desirable option. The Grantland scribe suggests that ties between coach Monty Williams and the Rivers family complicate the team’s decision about whether to pick up the fourth-year option on Rivers’ contract by the October 31st deadline.
The Wolves offered 40th overall pick Glenn Robinson III a four-year contract, but he turned it down for his partially guaranteed one-year pact, similar to the dynamic between No. 32 pick K.J. McDaniels and the Sixers, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Alonzo Gee‘s deal with the Nuggets is non-guaranteed for the minimum salary and covers one season, but it becomes guaranteed if he remains on the roster through October 29th, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The team’s non-guaranteed contract with Pops Mensah-Bonsu is of the identical structure, except his wouldn’t become guaranteed until the leaguewide guarantee date in January, Pincus adds.
Ronnie Price‘s non-guaranteed deal with the Lakers becomes partially guaranteed on November 15th, Pincus writes for the Los Angeles Times, though he doesn’t say just how much Price would be assured of that day. In any case, the veteran point guard has picked up a key supporter, since Kobe Bryant likes what he sees from his teammate so far, as Pincus details.

Northwest Notes: Christon, Durant, Wolves

September 29th, 2014 at 7:05pm CST by Cray Allred

The preseason roster the Thunder released today doesn’t include Semaj Christon‘s name on it, so presumably the 55th overall pick from June’s draft won’t be joining the team this year. Oklahoma City acquired the rights to the former Xavier point guard in a draft-night trade with the Hornets, who’d obtained his rights from the Heat in a trade earlier that same evening. Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

Kevin Durant opened up to Sam Amick of USA Today about his looming free agency in two years. “It’s not a surprise [that people ask him about it] because everybody wants to know,” Durant said. “But I’m taking it day by day with the Oklahoma City Thunder. That’s my main concern. And whatever the future holds, I don’t know, because I can’t tell you the future…I like the direction we’re going in, and that’s not just a cliché [expletive] answer. That’s real.” Durant also spoke highly of GM Sam Presti, who is optimistic about Durant’s future. “We know it’s there, and we are looking forward to it—the opportunity to re-sign a legacy player,” said Presti.
Nate Robinson told reporters including Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post that he’d like to remain with the Nuggets beyond this year, the last on his contract with Denver. “I’m too old to be moving around too much more,” Robinson said. “The city is great, the fans are great and this team is awesome. I would love to be here if they would love to have me.”
Wolves coach and president Flip Saunders deflected questions about the team’s extension talks with Ricky Rubio at the team media day, as did the point guard himself, reports Andy Greder of St. Paul Pioneer Press. “He has a contract right now,” said Saunders. “The future, as I’ve said about all [rookie scale extension candidates], they go through the process. Some get signed and some don’t. But I think it’s been very evident that Ricky is important to our team.”
Wolves GM Milt Newton has no worries about getting along with Saunders, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. With Saunders focusing on the hardwood, Newton says the “day-to-day grind” of being a GM will be squarely on his shoulders.

Chuck Myron and Zach Links contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Jackson, Barea, Kings

September 28th, 2014 at 3:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Thunder believe Reggie Jackson, who’s eligible for an extension until October 31st, has what it takes to become a key part of the team in the long run, and the team’s executives privately gush about his ability, writes Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. GM Sam Presti seems confident that his team will strike a deal with Jackson, Tramel observes.

Here’s more from out west:

Coach/executive Flip Saunders says there’s still a role on the Wolves for J.J. Barea, despite reports indicating that the team has Barea on the trade block, pointing to the performance that Barea put on a year ago in camp as the team’s best as he spoke with Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Saunders also insisted to Zgoda that he can balance the demands of coaching and front office work at the same time and not prioritize the present over the future, and vice versa.
Kings owner Vivek Ranadive is feeling much better about his team’s direction this season, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. “I still have a lot to learn, I’m sure,” Ranadive said. “Last year, when the season started, I said it wasn’t going to be about wins and losses. When I came here and we bought the team, there was dysfunction in the locker room, there wasn’t mutual respect, the arena was literally falling apart, the roof was falling down. So we brought in a new team, we restored stability, restored respect, we put in a strong culture. But this year, let’s be clear, it is about wins and losses.”
Speaking about the team’s new roster additions, GM Pete D’Alessandro added, “We’re not trying to be patient anymore, we’re not. We want to win more, we want to be more exciting. Last year, there was just so much turnover. This year, we’re all kind of settled into our roles. We feel our team has grown, and we had two guys coming back from Spain, so we do have a lot of talent; it’s how we use it, and that’s what we’re striving to figure out.”

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Wolves, Ricky Rubio Progress Toward Extension

September 27th, 2014 at 9:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

Ricky Rubio and Wolves owner Glen Taylor had several phone conversations in the past week, and each has expressed intention to get a deal done on a rookie scale extension, reports Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Any such pact is expected to be for four years, Walters writes, which suggests that a five-year deal that would make Rubio the team’s Designated Player is unlikely. Agent Dan Fegan has reportedly asked for a five-year max deal, but the Wolves are willing to wait until next summer, when Rubio would be a restricted free agent, if his camp won’t accept four years, according to Walters. The sides have until October 31st to ink an extension.

The Wolves didn’t have serious interest in Eric Bledsoe, Walters also hears, which conflicts with rumors from earlier this month suggesting that the team made a max offer to the Suns point guard while he lingered in restricted free agency. The necessity for a deal with Bledsoe to take place as part of a sign-and-trade made it too complicated for the Wolves to pursue, as Walters writes, adding that Bledsoe nonetheless had interest in Minnesota depending on what happened with Rubio.

Walters says an extension for Rubio “could” be worth $11MM annually, which would line up with the figures the team is seeking in such a deal. The Wolves nonetheless have the capacity, if not the willingness, to go much higher than that in a four-year offer, with salaries likely starting at around $15MM, though the precise maximum won’t be set until next July.

It’s debatable whether Rubio is worth max money, as Charlie Adams of Hoops Rumors wrote when he examined Rubio as an extension candidate earlier in the offseason, but perhaps the ultimate stumbling block will come down to the length of the deal, just as it did with Kevin Love. Former Wolves GM David Kahn balked at a five-year deal for Love in 2012 so that the team could go to that length with Rubio. However, it’s conceivable that current president of basketball operations Flip Saunders wants to reserve the Designated Player bullet for the newly acquired Andrew Wiggins, who’ll become extension-eligible three years from now. If the Wolves signed Rubio to a five-year extension, they couldn’t do so with anyone else they have on a rookie scale contract until Rubio’s would-be extension expired, or until they traded Rubio.