New Timberwolves head of basketball operations Flip Saunders made appearances today on ESPN's Mike and Mike as well as 830 WCCO in Minneapolis, and addressed a few topics of note. Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweeted out a few of the highlights from the conversations, so let's jump in and take a look (all links go to Twitter)….
- Saunders stressed that he has no intention of trading star forward Kevin Love, adding, "Maybe people will stop calling me now."
- The T-Wolves need to find a way to balance their roster, according to Saunders, who suggested the team is currently carrying five point guards. Zgoda surmises that besides Ricky Rubio, J.J. Barea, and Luke Ridnour, Saunders is referring to Malcolm Lee and Alexey Shved.
- In addressing the odds of Minnesota trading up in the draft, Saunders said that the team is "not just going to give players away."
- The Wolves plan to take the best player available if they stay at ninth overall, rather than drafting for need, according to Saunders. Zgoda follows up on that point by saying that the more he hears from the GM, the more he expects the Wolves to draft whichever top prospect slides to them, whether that's Alex Len, Shabazz Muhammad, Cody Zeller, or someone else.