Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Vinny Del Negro Interviews For Wolves Job

May 29th, 2014 at 2:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:04pm: Money is just one of many stumbling blocks, Zgoda notes (via Twitter).

1:58pm: Del Negro indeed interviewed for the gig, but the team appears to have moved on from him, Krawczynski clarifies (on Twitter). There are no plans for him to speak with Taylor, according to Wolfson (Twitter link).

1:50pm: Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press hears the reports of Del Negro’s candidacy have “no legs” (Twitter links). Meanwhile Zgoda suggests that Del Negro is demanding more money than the Wolves would like to pay.

1:28pm: Del Negro has yet to speak with Taylor, Wolfson tweets, adding that Del Negro was indeed the “mystery candidate” he’d referred to earlier.

1:16pm: Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune casts doubt on Del Negro’s status as a “serious” candidate, though he does confirm that Del Negro interviewed for the job (Twitter link).

12:42pm: Vinny Del Negro has become a “serious candidate” for the Wolves coaching job, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. He interviewed with the Wolves last week, when it seemed the club was nearing a deal with Dave Joerger, Stein adds (Twitter link). Del Negro is set to speak with Cavs GM David Griffin about Cleveland’s opening, too. Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders met with Del Negro, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter).

Joerger’s reconciliation with the Grizzlies, who extended his deal, seemed to throw a wrench into Minnesota’s plans, but it appears as though Del Negro was a strong contender even as the Wolves flirted with the Memphis coach. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities suggested that there was a “mystery candidate” for the job, so it seems like Del Negro was that under-the-radar contender.

Saunders is fond of Del Negro, Wojnarowski tweets, but it remains to be seen if Wolves owner Glen Taylor shares those sentiments. Wojnarowski references Taylor’s affinity for Sam Mitchell, but Wolfson recently suggested the strength of Mitchell’s candidacy has been overstated. Stein, in a full piece on the story, writes that Mitchell isn’t exactly a slam dunk to get the job.

The Wolves see Del Negro as less of a coach who would convince Kevin Love to stay and more as one who could get the best out of Ricky Rubio, given his experience with Derrick Rose and Chris Paul, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Del Negro is 210-184 in parts of five seasons as an NBA head coach with the Bulls and Clippers, but his X’s and O’s came under widespread criticism during his time on the bench.

The Wolves have also interviewed Scott Skiles and Lionel Hollins, and while the possibility that Saunders will coach the team remains, he’s still focused on finding someone else to do the job, Stein writes.

Wolves Coaching Rumors: Skiles, Hollins, Karl

May 29th, 2014 at 9:17am CST by Chuck Myron

It’s been more than a month since Rick Adelman retired from coaching the Wolves, and while a week ago it seemed they had his replacement lined up, Dave Joerger pulled a 180 and returned to the Grizzlies, leaving Minnesota still on the lookout. Darren Wolfson and Nate Sandell of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities break down the chances of several of the candidates who’ve been identified so far. We’ll pass along a few highlights from the piece here:

Scott Skiles spoke with Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders, but Skiles’ agent hasn’t talked to the team yet, Wolfson and Sandell write. That offers an explanation for conflicting reports about an interview for the former Suns, Bulls and Bucks coach.
Lionel Hollins is unlikely to fill the job, according to Wolfson and Sandell, who cast his recent interview with the team as merely an informal discussion between him and Saunders.
The Wolves want a coach who’ll be around for a while, Wolfson and Sandell say, suggesting that’s one reason why the team hasn’t made contact with 63-year-old George Karl.
There’s likely a “mystery candidate” who’s yet to be reported in connection to the Wolves, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities believes (Twitter link),

Wolves Notes: Hollins, Love, Karl, Draft

May 28th, 2014 at 2:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Lionel Hollins would be willing to take the Wolves head coaching job, which he interviewed for two weeks ago, regardless of whether the team is able to keep Kevin Love, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Zgoda also hears from George Karl, who expresses interest in the gig but says he’s had no contact with Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders. There’s more from Zgoda’s piece among the latest updates from Minnesota:

Zgoda reiterates a report from earlier this month by Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com indicating that Scott Skiles has interviewed for the Wolves job, but Skiles’ agent, Keith Glass, has denied contact with the team.
The Wolves might be down to their ninth option in their coaching search, so it would behoove owner Glen Taylor to allow Saunders to coach next season rather than commit to a long-term deal with someone the team considers a fallback, argues fellow Star Tribune scribe Jim Souhan.
Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities adds Chane Behanan, Langston Hall, Austin Hollins, Mike Moser and Chaz Williams to the list of draft prospects scheduled to work out for the Wolves (Twitter link).
The Kings would probably need to find additional teams to participate in a trade that would bring Love to Sacramento, since Minnesota is probably uninterested in the assets the Kings would make available, opines Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.
The Suns are also in the running for Love, but they, too, face an uphill battle, as Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic concludes.

Draft Rumors: Exum, Warren, Young

May 28th, 2014 at 12:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

The allure of Dante Exum is prompting the Sixers to think about trading Michael Carter-Williams, and it appears as though Exum will indeed be available when Philadelphia picks third overall next month. Exum isn’t in the mix for the Cavs at No. 1 overall, and while the Bucks are high on him, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com writes in an Insider-only piece, the uncertain future of GM John Hammond and his staff makes it less likely the point guard ends up in Milwaukee. Here’s more draft-related news:

Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com adds the Hawks and Suns to the list of teams that have workouts scheduled with T.J. Warren (Twitter link).
Patric Young is performing for the Suns today and will work out for the Spurs on Friday, Goodman tweets.
Dwight Powell is auditioning for the Thunder today and will do so for the Suns and Wolves later this week, Goodman reports (on Twitter).
The Hawks worked out Jahii Carson, as the Arizona State sophomore revealed on Twitter (hat tip to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). He’s auditioning for the Suns today, notes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. He’ll join Isaiah Austin, whom the Suns are also working out today, Goodman hears (Twitter link).
Khem Birch worked out for the Sixers on Monday and will do so for the Heat next week, according to Goodman (Twitter link).
Ronald Roberts Jr. will show off for the Raptors, Sixers and Pistons this week, reports Tyler R. Tynes of the Philadelphia Daily News.
Javon McCrea is working out with the Bulls today and the Sixers and Raptors next week, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv has learned (Twitter link).

Western Notes: Wolves, Nuggets, Thomas, Scola

May 27th, 2014 at 10:03pm CST by Cray Allred

The Kings haven’t yet made a trade offer to the Wolves for Kevin Love, reports Charley Walters of St. Paul Pioneer Press. Walters writes that Minnesota is still operating as if Love will be on the roster next season. Here’s a roundup for the Western Conference, including more notes from Walters’ piece:

Fred Hoiberg is not a candidate for the Wolves coaching job, but president of basketball operations Flip Saunders could still be in the running to become the next coach in Minnesota, according to Walters.
The Wolves are receiving calls on the availability of Ricky Rubio and Nikola Pekovic, in addition to Love, Walters reports.
Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities would be “mildly surprised” if Sam Mitchell won the Wolves head coaching job, and says that Minnesota remains focused on candidates with head coaching experience (Twitter links).
Nuggets GM Tim Connelly tells Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post that he has ownership’s blessing to make a major move to upgrade Denver’s roster. “We’ve got a lot of things at our disposal,” Connelly said. “We have the 11th pick, obviously, we have our picks going forward, we have a pretty big trade exception (worth $9.8MM), and I think we have a bunch of players who are well thought of outside our locker room, and they’re on contracts that — if we deem them movable guys — it’s not hard to move them.”
Connelly tells Jhabvala that he doesn’t expect to find a player who can immediately contribute with the team’s No. 11 draft pick, if the Nuggets keep it. “The 11th pick on a team that should be in the playoffs generally doesn’t have a huge impact from day one. Very few rookies had any impact this year on playoff teams,” Connelly said. “As our roster is presently constituted, who knows how we’re going to look after the draft. I think it’s unfair to put too much emphasis on the 11th pick.”
Rockets GM Daryl Morey tells Zach Lowe of Grantland that coach Kevin McHale is so high on Luis Scola that he still asks if Houston can reacquire the forward. Since the Rockets amnestied Scola, they cannot reacquire him until his contract, which is partially guaranteed through next year, is up.

Coaching Rumors: Cavs, Joerger, Fisher

May 27th, 2014 at 7:07pm CST by Cray Allred

The Cavs would improve their chances of retaining Luol Deng if they hired Bulls assistant Adrian Griffin as head coach, sources tell Adrian Wojnarwoski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Griffin, a candidate for the job, worked with Deng in Chicago, and although Deng’s departure has essentially been a foregone conclusion, it will be interesting to see if Cleveland re-calibrates their free agency goals after unexpectedly landing the first overall pick. Here’s more of the night’s coaching notes:

Dave Joerger acknowledged in a radio interview with Eli Savoie of Sports 56 that he was offered the Wolves coaching job before smoothing things out with Grizzlies owner Robert Pera. Joerger added that his contract extension was not a condition for staying with Memphis (Twitter links; H/T Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities).
Joerger said that three teams called the Grizzlies to request permission to speak with him, but only the Wolves were granted the opportunity, according to a report from The Associated Press (H/T The Star Tribune).
The Lakers are curious to see if Derek Fisher is a good fit for their head coaching vacancy, but will wait until his season with the Thunder is over, reports Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times. This jibes with earlier reports that have marked Fisher as a candidate for both the Lakers and Knicks coaching jobs.
While continuing to downplay his talks with NBA teams, Billy Donovan explained to Edgar Thompson of The Orlando Sentinel that he won’t rule out leaving his coaching job at Florida for the pros. “I’ve seen a lot of coaches over the years come out and say, ‘No, no, no, no, I’m not going anywhere, I’m not going anywhere,’ and then all of a sudden they go somewhere and it’s like, ‘Well, this guy is a complete liar,'” said Donovan. “I don’t want to get into that situation. There (have) been some teams that have called, but that’s really it.”

Draft Rumors: Embiid, Parker, Wiggins, Ennis

May 27th, 2014 at 5:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

Several around the league believe Joel Embiid will only work out for the Cavs and Bucks as confidence grows that he won’t slip to the Sixers at No. 3, according to Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins will likely audition only for the teams with the top three picks, a source tells Holmes, though that’s much less noteworthy than the Embiid news, which signals that concerns about the health of his back are abating. Still, it appears as though Nuggets GM Tim Connelly would prefer Parker to Embiid and Wiggins if he somehow managed to have a choice, observes Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post (on Twitter). Here’s more from a busy afternoon of draft-related news:

Toronto native Tyler Ennis will work out for the Raptors on Thursday, the team announced.
Glenn Robinson III is auditioning for the Hawks today and the Hornets later this week, and he expects to do so for the Spurs, Bulls and Bucks sometime soon, as he tells MLive’s Brendan F. Quinn (hat tip to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution).
Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com adds T.J. Warren, Cleanthony Early and K.J. McDaniels to the players working out on June 3rd for the Celtics (Twitter link).
The Bulls will play host to workouts for Jordan McRae, Devyn Marble and C.J. Fair on Wednesday, Goodman tweets, adding their names to Rodney Hood‘s, which Goodman reported Monday.
Marble pulled out of his workout with the Bucks today, but the two sides will reschedule, according to Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times (on Twitter).
The Suns are auditioning Keith Appling, Alec Brown, Deonte Burton, Artem Klimenko, Jakarr Sampson and Jamil Wilson today, tweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Appling will also show off this week for the Pistons, Raptors and Wolves, agent Michael Silverman tells Matt Charboneau of The Detroit News.
The Knicks will work out Ian Chiles, a source tells Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia.
Xavier Thames auditioned for the Heat today, and he’s set to do so with the Bucks, Bulls, Celtics, Hornets, Knicks, Jazz, Mavericks and Pacers, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

Grizzlies Sign Dave Joerger To Extension

May 27th, 2014 at 4:51pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:51pm: The deal is official, the team announced on its website.

“Following an open and honest dialogue with Dave, it became clear that Dave was fully committed to Memphis and we are committed to him,” Pera said as part of the statement. “I look forward to seeing Dave build upon the foundation he helped establish over the last seven years, and we are both committed to bringing a championship to Memphis.”

4:04pm: The fifth-year team option includes a raise over his salaries in the first four seasons of the contract, as Sam Amick of USA Today reports (on Twitter). Joerger has been set to make close to $2MM a year.

4:00pm: Memphis agreed to guarantee what had been a fourth-year team option on Joerger’s deal and add a fifth-year team option, tweets Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal.

3:47pm: The Grizzlies and coach Dave Joerger have agreed to a two-year extension, reports Eric Hasseltine of SiriusXM NBA Radio, who spoke with with Joerger this afternoon on 92.9 ESPN Radio in Memphis (Twitter links). Joerger already had two seasons left at more than $2MM, but Grizzlies owner Robert Pera reportedly “improved” the deal this weekend amid a reconciliation that forestalled Joerger from leaving the team to take the Wolves head coaching job.

The deal is the latest outgrowth of Pera’s decision eight days ago to dismiss CEO Jason Levien and assistant GM Stu Lash. Memphis brass reportedly saw Joerger as a “Levien guy”, and Pera was prepared to fire the first-year coach earlier this season. There was supposedly mutual “hate” between Joerger and team attorney-turned-scouting director David Mincberg, whose role within the basketball operations department appeared to grow and just as quickly shrink within recent days.

Joerger, a Minnesota native, interviewed with Wolves president of basketball ops Flip Saunders, with whom the Grizzlies coach is close, as well as Wolves owner Glen Taylor. He appeared well on his way to filling their vacancy before he met with Pera this past weekend and, in a stunning turn, agreed to remain in Memphis. The Grizzlies went 50-32 and took the Thunder to seven games in the first round of the playoffs this past season, Joerger’s first as an NBA head coach.

Draft Notes: Hairston, Clarkson, Cotton

May 27th, 2014 at 10:16am CST by Chuck Myron

Memorial Day brought no shortage of updates on NBA draft prospects and teams as they schedule workouts, and today promises still more clues about the June 26th draft. Here’s the latest:

P.J. Hairston will work out for the Suns, Celtics and Hornets in addition to today’s previously reported audition for the Heat, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com.
Jordan Clarkson is also on the agenda for the Heat, according to Goodman, who reiterates that Miami will put Jordan Adams and Jarnell Stokes through workouts, too (Twitter links).
Bryce Cotton will also show off for the Heat, as well as the Spurs, his agent tells Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia.
Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel adds seniors Chris Crawford of Memphis and Drew Crawford of Northwestern to the list of the prospects working out today for the Bucks.
Jermaine Marshall of Arizona State is working out for the Rockets today, Carchia reports.
It appears as though Nedim Buza will audition for the Bucks, Timberwolves and Nuggets, while Adin Vrabac has a workout with the Wolves on tap, according to agent Alexander Raskovic (Twitter links; hat tip to Sportando).

Kings Want Love Even Without Re-Sign Promise

May 27th, 2014 at 8:29am CST by Zachary Links

TUESDAY, 8:29am: Sacramento’s pitch would probably only interest the Wolves if Minnesota feels confident that either Julius Randle or Noah Vonleh will be available with the eighth overall pick, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. The Wolves prefer those two to Aaron Gordon among top-ranked power forward prospects, Wolfson adds.

MONDAY, 9:57pm: If the Wolves aren’t willing to take the gamble that Kevin Love will re-sign with them at the end of the year, the Kings are. A league source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports that the Kings would pull the trigger on a deal for the All-Star big man without any assurance that he’d sign a new deal.

The Kings are willing to give up their No. 8 overall pick in this year’s draft and a combination of players for Love, even though he would not be expected to sign a contract extension with Sacramento, the source said. The Kings know it’s a gamble on convincing Love to re-sign, given that the franchise is rebuilding and Love is looking to go to the postseason for the first time. They’ll also have to vie with suitors from bigger markets including the Celtics, Lakers, Knicks, Warriors, Rockets and Bulls. While Love doesn’t have a no-trade clause (few do), he figures to wield a good amount of influence over where he lines up.

If the Kings can land the All-Star, they’ll have a very dangerous frontcourt with Love, DeMarcus Cousins, and Rudy Gay, if he exercises his player option. Sacramento struggled to a 28-54 record last season and missed the playoffs for the eighth straight season, but there’s a new regime in charge that’s hoping to right the ship quickly. The Kings expect to begin playing in a new downtown Sacramento arena in 2016.