Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Ford’s Latest: Draft Trades, Drummond, Waiters

June 18th, 2012 at 12:08pm CST by Luke Adams

With draft night fast approaching, a number of trade possibilities are still in play, says Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider link). According to Ford, the Bobcats (2), Kings (5), Trail Blazers (6, 11), and Raptors aren't entirely sold on the options available to them, and are open to moving their picks. The Bobcats are seeking multiple assets, the Kings and Raptors are targeting veteran talent, and the Blazers are open to "anything and everything," writes Ford. Here are the rest of the highlights from the ESPN Insider piece….

Draft Rumors: Monday

June 11th, 2012 at 8:12pm CST by Luke Adams

With the NBA draft just 17 days away, we're guaranteed to be following daily rumors and rumblings for the next two and a half weeks. We'll try to make it as easy as possible to follow the latest updates by including most of our draft-related items in a single daily post. Consider this Monday's post, and check back throughout the day for more draft notes, with the newest additions up top:

In a tweet, AZCentral.com's Paul Coro has wrangled up some news from CBSSports.com's Jeff Goodman and SI.com's Sam Amick. North Carolina teammates Kendall Marshall and John Henson will reportedly work out for the Suns this week.

Earlier updates:

On Tuesday, the Wizards will hold a workout to help decide what direction they want to go with their two second round picks (as of today, the team holds both the 32nd and 46th picks in the draft), tweets Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Some notable names Washington plans to workout are Syracuse's Scoop Jardine, and Duke's Miles Plumlee.
The Trail Blazers will work out North Carolina's John Henson on Tuesday, tweets SI.com's Sam Amick.
Also from Amick, the Kings will work out several players, including North Carolina's Tyler Zeller, on Tuesday. Sacramento currently holds picks 5 and 36.
The Hornets plan on bringing in several point guards and shooting guards when they resume workouts next week, writes Nola.com's John Reid.
After predicting the top 15 picks in the draft last week, TNT's David Aldridge takes a crack at the rest of the first round in this week's NBA.com column.
Royce White and Jordan Taylor are among the six prospects scheduled to work out for the Timberwolves on Tuesday, says Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
The Pistons are eyeing potential fits for the second round, working out Miles Plumlee and Kyle O'Quinn, tweets Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News.
Perry Jones III tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com that he'd love to play on the Trail Blazers alongside LaMarcus Aldridge.
The Magic will be prepared for the draft no matter how long it takes to hire a GM, but a lengthy GM search could have other negative effects, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
If the Hornets decide to deal their tenth overall pick, gaining future draft assets is more important to them than ditching bad contracts, says Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. Kyler doesn't expect the Hornets to include players like Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza with the pick in a deal that merely creates cap space. According to Kyler, New Orleans could seeking a 2012 second-rounder along with a future first-rounder in any deal.
Within the same piece, Kyler adds that the Warriors and Knicks have expressed some interest in Alabama's Tony Mitchell.
In a pair of tweets, Kyler says Harrison Barnes did not officially meet with the Bulls, and that a brief chat with coach Tom Thibodeau was blown out of proportion.
The Sixers met with Andre Drummond at the draft combine and could be trying to trade up, since Drummond will be long gone at No. 15, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.
Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com makes some changes in his latest post-combine mock draft.
The Kings will need some help if they want a shot to land Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.

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Free Agent Stock Watch: Nick Young

June 8th, 2012 at 5:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

Nick Young made an unusual decision in December, and this summer he’ll see if it pays off. Before the season, Young became just the 12th player ever to sign a qualifying offer, the minimum offer a team can make to retain the right of first refusal on a player coming off his rookie contract. Usually, the offer is just a starting point for negotiations, if that, but in Young’s case, the one-year, $3,695,857 deal on the table from the Wizards came in handy when the condensed post-lockout market limited his options.

None of the other players who signed qualifying offers wound up re-signing with their teams as unrestricted free agents the following summer. The Wizards got the jump on a divorce from Young, sending their leading scorer from 2010/11 to the Clippers in a three-team swap at the trade deadline this March. Young went from starter to reserve as a result, but it gave him the opportunity to show what he could do as a significant contributor to a playoff team. He displayed plenty of clutch shooting in the postseason, nailing 51.5% of his three-point attempts, including three in a row down in the fourth quarter of L.A.’s 27-point comeback in Game 1 against the Grizzlies.

Still, Young didn’t really prove anything we didn’t already know, aside from an ability to perform under pressure. He’s always been a solid three-point shooter, making 37.8% for his career, but his field goal percentage overall was a career-low 40.3% this past regular season, including 39.4% during his time with the Clippers. In the playoffs, he shot 35.3% on two-pointers. Those sort of numbers help explain why Young has never posted a single season with a PER of at least 15.0, the mark of an average player. He’s also a liability defensively, as he had one of the worst defensive ratings for his team in both the regular season and the playoffs this year, according to Basketball-Reference.com. Young’s unimpressive per-36-minute career highs of 3.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 steals demonstrate that if his long-range shots aren’t falling, there isn’t much he does to help his team on the floor.

For all his shortcomings, the 27-year-old Young is probably this year's most attractive unrestricted free agent shooting guard under the age of 35. That might change if the cash-strapped Grizzlies decide not to tender a qualifying offer to O.J. Mayo, but Young is likely in line for a raise and a multi-year deal. He reportedly sought $9MM per year from the Wizards in December, but I can’t see him approaching that figure. In the same report, Michael Lee of The Washington Post noted a that Young rejected an offer from the Wizards of around $5MM per year, so Young may be seeking to top that in order to justify his gamble on the qualifying offer.

The Timberwolves, Cavs and Suns are all teams that could be willing to reach for a shooting guard this summer, and the Clippers could use a solid two-guard as well. We heard last month that L.A. seemed interested in re-signing Young, but that was before GM Neil Olshey left to take the same job with Portland. The Blazers, who have $20.6MM and three years left on Wesley Matthews’ contract, don’t seem like candidates to provide a similar offer to Young, but if they miss out on some of their other targets and Young fails to find a team willing to overpay for him, it could be a Rose Garden reunion for Olshey and his last major acquisition for the Clippers.

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Odds & Ends: Duncan, Celtics, Pistons, Roy

June 7th, 2012 at 11:08am CST by Luke Adams

Tim Duncan called the loss that ended the Spurs' season last night "very, very disappointing," but told Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News that the disappointment wouldn't be a factor in the decision facing the free agent this offseason.

"Not really," Duncan said. "Bottom line is the summer is going to come. The summer is going to be here, and it is what it is. I’ll figure it out when I come to it. I haven’t even thought about it, and I really don’t care. I’ll figure it out when it happens, just like everything else."

Let's round up a few more morning notes from around the league….

Odds & Ends: Magic, Bobcats, Wolves, Cavs, Draft

June 5th, 2012 at 10:43pm CST by Alex Lee

We already heard from new Blazers' general manager Neil Olshey tonight, who implied that he all but has his mind made up that the man to fill Portland's coaching vacancy should be interim head coach Kaleb Canales. Portland is one of multiple franchises that needs to make decisions coaching and front office decisions this offseason. Let's look at some of those latest rumors as well as a couple more notes from around the league on this Tuesday night:

Amick On Perry Jones III, Small Forwards, Plumlee

June 2nd, 2012 at 8:36pm CST by Ryan Raroque

At 6'11'', 235 lbs, and the ability to play either forward position, potential-lottery pick Perry Jones III from Baylor stands out as one of the most intriguing prospects among this year's NBA Draft crop. Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated takes a closer look at Jones' draft stock, acknowledging that it can significantly change depending on the impression he makes in his upcoming workouts and interviews. Amick adds that Jones and his representatives aim to put an emphasis on his small forward skills during workouts in order to better market himself to talent evaluators. In an interview, Jones elaborated about his newfound confidence, his current training at UC Santa Barbara, and the belief that he was not properly utilized at Baylor.

Here are some more tidbits from Amick's article, including a brief rundown of this year's top small forward prospects, Miles Plumlee's workout in Minnesota, and a guard prospect from Vanderbilt to keep an eye out for…

Northwest Notes: Chandler, Wolves, Blazers

June 1st, 2012 at 8:46am CST by Luke Adams

The Northwest Division's lone remaining team in the postseason, the Thunder showed last night that they weren't about to go down without a fight. In snapping San Antonio's win streak at 20 games, Oklahoma City made the Western Conference Finals a series again, and proved that the Spurs aren't quite as invincible as they seemed. While we wait for Game 4 tomorrow, here are a few notes out of the Northwest, including a Nuggets injury update and details on the Timberwolves' draft plans….

Odds & Ends: Pacers, Lakers, T’Wolves, Howard

May 31st, 2012 at 9:36pm CST by Zachary Links

Pacers president Larry Bird has yet to decide whether he will return to the club next season but he is apparently open to staying on if he and owner Herb Simon are on the same page. Today, Bob Kravitz of the Indy Star writes that Bird's conversation with Simon will center around the owner's willingness to spend on payroll. Predictably, point guard Deron Williams would be Bird's top target if Simon is willing to open up his wallet, but landing him would appear to be a longshot. Here's more from around the league..

Odds & Ends: Bird, Dwight, Kerr, Shaw

May 26th, 2012 at 6:30pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Tonight's matchup features a Celtics team with an experienced and playoff-tested core against a mostly young 76ers team looking further build a foundation of playoff success. This also may be the final page of a great chapter in Celtics history if Boston loses tonight, as the futures of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen will be question marks this upcoming offseason. With less an hour away from tip-off in the third Game Seven of this year's playoffs, here's what we've heard from around the league:

According to a series of tweets by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis star, Pacers owner Herb Simon hopes that Larry Bird will continue to work with the franchise in some capacity if Bird decides to step down as president, and that no meeting has been arranged between the two yet.
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel believes that Dwight Howard must align himself with a winning team in order to repair his tarnished image and should therefore expand his list of preferred trade destinations. Also, Schmitz briefly discusses the idea of Steve Kerr and Brian Shaw joining the Magic as GM and head coach respectively. When recently asked about the GM vacancy, Kerr asserted that he is currently happy with his job as a TNT analyst, although the Magic are expected to still make inquiries. Shaw would accept the head coaching opportunity in a heartbeat, according to Schmitz.
Stephen Brotherston of HoopsWorld presents a list of this year's top-shooting free agents. Ray Allen, Jason Terry, Steve Novak, and Randy Foye were listed as some of the top unrestricted free agents who displayed solid three-point shooting percentages along with a high volume of attempts this year.
Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press writes that Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is confident in the team's chances to make the playoffs next season. Taylor also said that the team is "going to try" the free agent market.

Lakers Rumors: Bynum, Brown, Sessions, Gasol

May 22nd, 2012 at 8:27am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals last night, sending the Lakers to their second consecutive second-round exit. Despite the loss, Kobe Bryant vowed after the game that L.A. would be back in contention next season: "This is not one of those things like where the Bulls beat the Pistons and the Pistons disappeared forever."

Before the team returns to the court for the 2012/13 season, the Lakers will have a number of roster moves and decisions to make. Here's the latest on a few of the issues facing the club:

Andrew Bynum told reporters last night, including Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com, that he's not sure what his future in Los Angeles holds. According to Bynum's agent David Lee, the ball is in the Lakers' court when it comes to talking about a contract extension for the young center.
Brian Kamenetzky of ESPNLosAngeles.com looks at eight questions facing the Lakers as the team prepares for the offseason. Within the piece, he suggests that coach Mike Brown won't be fired, and wonders whether Ramon Sessions will pick up his player option after a poor postseason.
Over the luxury-tax threshold and with only the 60th pick in the draft, the Lakers will have to make trades if they hope to improve their roster, writes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
Pau Gasol's time as a Laker will likely end soon, since he's their only logical trade chip, says Sean Deveney of the Sporting News.
Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweets that he expects the Timberwolves to get involved in Gasol trade discussions again.
Gasol should be the first domino to fall, but the Lakers will be faced with other decisions too, writes McMenamin.
For his part, Gasol doesn't think the Lakers need to significantly overhaul the roster, as he tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Gasol, Bynum, and Bryant all suggested that a full training camp would've helped the Lakers, who were adjusting to Brown's system.