As former first-round picks entering their fourth seasons, Timberwolves wings Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels will be eligible for rookie scale extensions this summer. President of basketball operations Tim Connelly didn’t hesitate when asked if the team would commit to the two young players, tweets Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.
When the Wolves are permitted to have extension discussions with Edwards and McDaniels, both players will have “really, really nice offers with a lot of money in their inbox,” Connelly said.
Edwards is highly likely to receive a rookie scale max extension after emerging as the team’s best player in 2022/23, while McDaniels could potentially get a nine-figure offer himself — particularly with the addition of a fifth year on non-max rookie extensions — following a career season.
Here’s more on the Wolves:
- Edwards’ attorney released a statement saying the guard intends to fight the “baseless” assault charges he’s facing in Denver, Hine writes for The Star Tribune. “With the game over, Anthony’s exit from the court was partially obstructed by a chair, which he moved and set down three steps later,” attorney Harvey Steinberg said via Klutch Sports, Edwards’ agency. “As video of the incident confirms, Anthony did not swing the chair at anyone and of course did not intend to hurt anyone. Despite these innocent facts, the Denver Police Department inexplicably chose to charge Anthony with two counts of misdemeanor assault. Anthony intends to vigorously defend against these baseless charges.”
- Both Connelly and head coach Chris Finch said that bringing back reserve big man Naz Reid will be a top priority for the Wolves, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link). Reid will be an unrestricted free agent this summer if he doesn’t sign an extension. The 23-year-old averaged career highs in points per game (11.5), rebounds (4.9) and field goal percentage (53.7%), but missed the end of the regular season and postseason after fracturing his left wrist, which required surgery.
- Center Rudy Gobert has been a mainstay for the French national team in international play, but he says he’s not sure if he’ll compete in the World Cup, which starts in late August, per Krawczynski (Twitter link). The three-time Defensive Player of the Year added that he wants to “come back like I want to have the best year of my career next season. I know that this summer I’m going to put myself in position that I’ve never put myself in before.”
- It certainly sounds like Finch’s job will be safe entering next season, as Connelly called the coach and his staff “elite,” tweets Krawczynski. As for the rumors linking Connelly to the Wizards‘ front office opening, he says he’s “pretty committed to the Minnesota Timberwolves right now” and is focused on advancing in the playoffs and building for the future (Twitter video link via SneakerReporter, who covers the Wolves).
Harm and injury are the unintended consequences of a “baseless” immature act. It wasn’t an obligation to touch a chair. BTW, his teammates were still on the floor showing respect. And nice show in the presser. Congrats to the Wolves for employing a loser.
It’s an especially weird reaction considering that they were taking on the #1 seed and no one on the planet had them winning the series. Plus, it’s not like they got swept. Why go so crazy?
Ant is young and hopefully will learn from this, of course. Just find it a little silly.
Both Reid and Jaylen Nowell are forecasted to yield 10MM – 20MM annual salaries in the open market
Cross road
Once again this season reinforced the fact that since this franchise began in 1989, they are cursed. Regardless of the: players, coaches, head coach, VP, owner, draft choices, trades, free agent signings, draft and stashes, they all result in failure. The nonsensical, idiotic overpay for Gobert has not only handcuffed the team’s ability to bring in young talent via the draft due to lack of future top draft choices , but further demonstrates the unsuccessful track record of ownership to bring in the right person with the right team building vision to head up the organization. One has to wonder how Glenn Taylor could be so successful in his other business ventures and such a flop in his Timberpuppy ownership. BTW: How is Jonny Flynn’s NBA career going? Good thing we didn’t draft that Curry fellow !! This team is THE JOKE of the NBA !!
I see what you’re saying and understand the frustration. Being a warrior fan in the 80s and the ’90s and the 2000s before Curry showed up showed very little success and only a few playoffs victories. But stay the course the time will come. Even look at some of the moves this year.
Bringing in Mike Conly was fantastic. Plus you have to admire the fact they went for the whole bag of chips in trading to get the annual Defensive Player of the Year Award contender. I like the boldness. So many teams sit on their hands. Charlotte? Orlando? The Timberwolves actually went for it in a big way. What’s not to be excited about?
Yes Trading that many draft picks hurts but that’s even not an insurmountable hurdle for the future. If this squad doesn’t work out you trade the guys and get first round picks in return and start over. But at least you went for it in a massive way and I admire that.
Thanks.
But the Gobert trade was only deemed necessary because of the consistent lack of defense from KAT. The team got D-Lo to keep KAT happy because they were buddies. That move failed.
It’s painfully obvious that the REAL MOVE, the move that should have been made was , and still is to move on from KAT.
Still hoping for big changes once A-Rod & Co take over ownership from Taylor.
BUT
New owners of any business have a habit of cutting expenses (ie expensive player contracts) to rapidly pay off the cost of their investment. This is especially true in times of escalating interest rates if the invested funds are sourced through borrowing.
The misdemeanor assault charges will be dropped. It’s ridiculous that they were brought in the first place.
Rudy to Bklyn ……..
Claxton, Ben, #1 pick
They should trade Edwards for smith
They really should do a lot of trading…
Keep McDaniels and Reid and piece together what you can with the rest even if you can’t get anything good for Gobert and have to keep him… Ant and KAT would fetch enough for a decent team and other players have value…
The stars are just dumb…
They absolutely should not trade Edwards. That would make no sense. They can’t keep letting 1st rounders go and he’s the best of the bunch.
They should run it back with a healthy team and see how they mesh with more than a handful of games with KAT, as well as Naz and McDaniels come playoff time. But if they feel they need to reshape the roster, Edwards is the one guy who should not move under any circumstances.
Trade KAT to replenish the draft capital for the next couple years. Let Ant take this team over on his back. But yeah , give him a swift kick in the arse for his tantrum and tell him to grow up. I cannot see KAT taking hem anywhere , he’s soft.