Timberwolves Notes: Edwards, Sale Process, Anderson

The Timberwolves got off to an inauspicious start on Monday night vs. Portland, as star guard Anthony Edwards didn’t report to the court on time for the opening tip. According to reports from Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune and ESPN, Edwards – who does resistance band work outside the team locker room before each game – said he lost track of the time.

The Timberwolves were hit with a delay of game violation as Nickeil Alexander-Walker ended up starting in Edwards’ place and playing the first 35 seconds before the All-Star checked in.

“Sixth Man of the Year,” Edwards joked after the game, per Zgoda.

As Zgoda details, the Wolves weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders for much of the night against a Trail Blazers team missing several key players due to injuries, but they did just enough to come away with a five-point win, avoiding a third consecutive loss. Rudy Gobert led the way with 25 points and 16 rebounds on a near-perfect shooting night. He went 9-of-10 from the floor and 7-of-7 from the foul line.

Here’s more on the Wolves:

• Following up on a pair of tweets over the weekend discussing the situation, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic takes a more in-depth look at the Timberwolves’ unconventional sale process, which remains on track to be finalized in the coming weeks. As Krawczynski explains, the incoming group led by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez already controls 40% of the franchise and exercised its option in late December to purchase another 40%. That option pick-up opened a 90-day window to complete the transaction, so it should be completed by the end of March. Longtime team owner Glen Taylor will retain 20% of the franchise even after Lore and Rodiguez assume majority control.
• There have been some questions throughout the process about whether Lore and Rodriguez have the money to complete their purchase of the Wolves, but sources tell Krawczynski that “everything is in order.” The new ownership group, which recruited some minority investors along the way to help with financing, will have to be approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors as majority stakeholders.
• Second play-maker Kyle Anderson got off to a slow start in his second season in Minnesota, but has looked more comfortable as of late, per Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. Anderson has three assists or more in 14 straight games, the longest streak of his career, and has shot 50.0% from the field during that time, bumping his season-long mark to 46.9%. “He understands that he needs to be a play-maker for us at all costs. He’s a guy we can trust with the ball, a guy who makes the right decisions whether it’s scoring the ball, posting up or finding guys in the right spots,” teammate Mike Conley said of Anderson. “Defensively he’s a guy who can switch onto different guys, guard other guys and give Jaden (McDaniels) a break, give Ant a break. He has been those things so far. He’s just confident in that role.”
• In a separate story for The Star Tribune, Hine says there’s not a specific playoff matchup that Minnesota fears, since the Wolves believe they’re capable of beating any team in the West if both clubs are playing their best basketball.