Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors

Northwest Notes: SGA, Filipowski, McDaniels, Henderson, Billups

March 6th, 2025 at 8:14pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is fresh off his fourth 50-point game in the past seven weeks and currently appears to be the favorite for the league’s Most Valuable Player award. As Fred Katz of The Athletic writes, an unmatched motor and strong summertime workout routine helped Gilgeous-Alexander take what used to be an unconventional route to superstardom (none of the top three presumed MVP vote-earners were lottery picks).

“He’s ahead of his time,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Intuitively, he’s where the scientific research is, which is you wanna be making decisions. You want randomness in your workouts. You want variability. You want interweaving in the workout. He kinda does that naturally.”

Gilgeous-Alexander is breaking through the trend of high usage players seeing efficiency taper off. His 64.5% true shooting percentage and 34.6% usage percentage are both career highs and lead most guards in the league.

“It’s like LeBron [James] in his prime, Giannis [Antetokounmpo], the speed of [Ja] Morant, the speed and power of [Russell] Westbrook; he’s a great athlete, but he’s not an overpowering athlete, where those guys are,” Daigneault said. “And yet, he gets to the same places on the floor as they do. And to me, that says it all about the skill.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Jazz rookie big man Kyle Filipowski is coming off two of the best games of his career, scoring 25 points on Monday and going for 23 and 13 rebounds on Wednesday. Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune explores whether Filipowski is better suited to be playing the four or the five for the Jazz moving forward. Larsen opines that, while Filipowski isn’t the strongest interior defender, he’s probably best suited for the center position. “The responsibility between a four and a three on offense sometimes [doesn’t differ] very much,” head coach Will Hardy said. “The responsibilities between four and five are very different, and so Flip has had to deal with a lot of change throughout the season … He deserves a lot of credit, because that’s a hard thing. We have a lot of guys who are trying to learn their responsibilities at one position, and Flip’s doing it at two.”
Jaden McDaniels offensive turnaround from the last few games is key to the Timberwolves‘ playoff push, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. In his last 12 games, he’s been averaging 19.2 points and 3.0 assists compared to 12.5 points and 2.0 assists on the season. His three-point volume has also gone up, with McDaniels shooting a season-high nine attempts on Wednesday. He’s also on a different level now as a rebounder than he ever has been. “He can do a lot of different things, and he works his butt off,” teammate Julius Randle said. “We need him to play with that confidence because it gives us a whole different level as a team.”
Scoot Henderson is continuing to emerge as a more consistent player, but Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report doesn’t see the former No. 3 overall pick returning to the starting lineup soon. Because the Trail Blazers are still in contention for a play-in spot, a shake-up might not make sense at this juncture. If Portland is eliminated, they may switch things up.
In the same piece, Highkin explores Portland’s three options with Chauncey Billups this summer. Billups has shown he’s grown as a coach with Portland’s turnaround, Highkin writes, so they could either pick up the fifth-year option he has for next season, sign him to an extension, or allow him to look for other opportunities mutually.

Timberwolves May Revisit Kevin Durant Trade Talks This Summer

March 6th, 2025 at 5:29pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Coming off the heels of reports that the Suns might work with Kevin Durant to find a trade this summer, it’s worth keeping tabs on the Timberwolves as a potential partner. The Wolves reportedly explored making a move for Durant at the trade deadline this year, going so far as to call potential partners about ways to shed salary to get under the second apron so that they aggregate money to go and get the 15-time All-Star.

Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up, NBA insider Brian Windhorst speculated that the Timberwolves should be expected to revisit talks for Durant this summer (hat tip to RealGM).

As Windhorst observes, Minnesota star Anthony Edwards and Durant have a good relationship stemming from last year’s Olympics. The Wolves, like most teams across the league, will have more flexibility and roster spots to pursue a potential move this summer.

For Phoenix’s part, Durant’s future with the Suns continues to be brought into question. The Warriors reportedly tried to acquire Durant this deadline as the Suns looked to acquire Jimmy Butler in a move that would have forced Phoenix to move either Durant or Devin Booker due to being over the second apron. With limited future assets, it makes sense that the Suns will look to retool a roster that’s on the outside looking in of the postseason.

Despite the noise, Durant continues to be focused on getting the Suns back into playoff contention, showing passion and speaking up for his coach and teammates.

Stein’s Latest: Mavericks, Luka, Edwards, Knicks, Kessler, Budenholzer

March 3rd, 2025 at 12:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Sam Amick of The Athletic reported last week that the Mavericks reached out to the Timberwolves to inquire about a possible Luka Doncic/Anthony Edwards swap earlier this season before pivoting to the Lakers and Anthony Davis. Veteran Milwaukee-area reporter Gery Woelfel has reported that the Mavs made a similar inquiry with the Bucks about Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Addressing those rumors, NBA insider Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) says he has consistently heard that the Mavericks only discussed Doncic by name with one team: the Lakers.

While Dallas did talk to Minnesota and Milwaukee, according to Stein, those discussions have been described to him as “very brief in nature and intentionally broad and vague,” with no conversations about Doncic specifically.

Here are a few more items of interest from Stein:

Following the expiration of Moses Brown‘s 10-day contract, the Mavericks can’t fill the 15th spot on their standard roster until April 10 due to their hard cap. Promoting two-way player Kessler Edwards, who has played a rotation role in recent weeks and can only be active for 10 more NBA games, is one option Dallas is considering for that final week of the season, league sources tell Stein. However, the team’s decision will depend in part on its health and roster needs as of April 10, Stein notes. While the Mavs have a serious frontcourt shortage right now due to injuries, that may not be the case in five-and-a-half weeks.
The Knicks were “right there” with the Lakers before the trade deadline in trying to pry third-year center Walker Kessler away from the Jazz, league sources tell Stein, who says Utah made it clear to both clubs that it didn’t want to seriously entertain pitches for Kessler during the season. The big man will be eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2025 offseason.
Although Stein can’t confirm if Mike Budenholzer‘s job in Phoenix is any actual jeopardy, he says the topic has generated “heightened whispering and curiosity” in coaching circles. The Suns parted ways with Monty Williams in 2023 when he still had three years and $20MM+ left on his contract and let go of Frank Vogel in 2024 just one year into his five-season, $31MM deal. Budenholzer reportedly received a five-year contract worth in excess of $50MM when he was hired by Phoenix last May. His Suns have a 28-33 record and are four games back of the final play-in spot in the West.
In case you missed it, Stein also reported that the Wizards gave real consideration to the idea of reacquiring Bradley Beal from the Suns prior to last month’s trade deadline. However, the teams couldn’t agree to terms and it seems unlikely that Beal would have waived his no-trade clause to return to D.C. anyway.

Julius Randle Ready To Return After 13-Game Absence

March 2nd, 2025 at 10:58am CST by Arthur Hill

Timberwolves forward Julius Randle plans to return on Sunday at Phoenix after missing 13 games with a right groin strain, sources tell NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).

It’s a much-needed boost for Minnesota, which is locked in a tight race for playoff positioning in the West. The Wolves went 5-8 during Randle’s absence and have fallen into a tie for ninth place at 32-29.

Randle, who hasn’t played since January 30, was acquired from the Knicks in early October in a controversial trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to New York. The 30-year-old big man has been a solid addition in his first season with Minnesota, averaging 18.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists through 48 games while shooting 47% from the field and 32.1% from three-point range.

There has been an adjustment process for Randle while learning to play alongside Rudy Gobert, but Towns went through the same experience after Gobert was acquired from Utah.

Randle has been able to bounce back from the shoulder injury that limited him to 46 games in 2023/24 and ended his season early. Before the groin issue, he hadn’t missed a game since coming to Minnesota.

Randle’s future with the Wolves beyond this season remains uncertain, as he holds a $30.9MM player option for 2025/26. There was some trade chatter leading up to last month’s deadline, but the Wolves decided to hold onto him and deal with the contract issue this summer.

Randle can either decline the option and test free agency, exercise it and commit to one more season in Minnesota, or try to parlay it into a long-term contract. Regardless of his decision, it will have a major impact on the Wolves’ offseason and the future of the franchise.

Gobert, who has been sidelined since February 12 with a back issue, is also expected to return soon as the Wolves get healthier for the stretch drive.

NBA Fines Anthony Edwards $35K

March 1st, 2025 at 5:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

The NBA announced that Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has been fined $35K for his actions in Thursday’s game against the Lakers.

A release from the league states that after being ejected for picking up a second technical foul, Edwards failed to leave the court in a timely manner and threw the ball into the stands (Twitter video link).

Edwards and L.A. forward Jarred Vanderbilt were whistled for double technicals for shoving each other in the first quarter. The ejection came in the third quarter after Edwards complained to officials about a no-call.

The two technicals brought Edwards’ total to 16 for the season. That carries an automatic one-game suspension, which he served Friday night during Minnesota’s loss at Utah. The Wolves were already missing Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle due to injuries, so Edwards’ absence left them without three starters.

Edwards will receive another one-game suspension for every two technical fouls he is assessed for the remainder of the season. At 32-28, the Timberwolves are one game away from moving into the top six in the West and three and a half from sliding out of the play-in tournament, so it will be crucial for Edwards to stay on the court.

The latest fine brings Edwards’ total for the season to $320K for six separate incidents. That doesn’t include the $242K he lost as a result of Friday’s one-game suspension or the smaller fines automatically assessed for each technical foul.

Northwest Notes: Watson, SGA, R. Williams, Timberwolves

February 28th, 2025 at 11:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets forward Peyton Watson, who has been sidelined since January 31 due to a sprained right knee, was ruled out for at least four weeks when the injury was first diagnosed. His absence is expected to extend a little beyond that initial timeline, head coach Michael Malone said on Thursday.

“He’s still got some hurdles to clear,” Malone said on Thursday, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscription required). “Heading in the right direction. … I don’t know, maybe another seven to 10 days, kind of see what happens after this road trip, when we get back after the Boston game (on Sunday). Kind of reassess everything. But he’s definitely making progress, and hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later.”

According to Durando, Watson played 3-on-3 with teammates this week, but continued to wear a brace on his right leg during that session.

Watson has further solidified his place in the rotation in his third year with the Nuggets after averaging 18.6 minutes per game across 80 appearances in 2023/24. Through 48 games this season, he has averaged 8.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.2 blocks in 24.1 minutes per night, with a .471/.340/.752 shooting line.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Asked about his decision to part ways with his agents before becoming eligible for a super-max extension this summer, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said it wasn’t just about avoiding agent fees on his upcoming mega-deal, per Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman (Twitter link). “It wasn’t entirely that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think, for myself, I wanna be a well-rounded human being. Not just a basketball player — a business man, a father, a husband. I want to check all the boxes. I think it would be a good experience for me to learn and get better in another area of life.”
Trail Blazers big man Robert Williams, who is dealing with a left knee sprain, will remain inactive for the rest of the team’s road trip, which runs through next Friday in Oklahoma City, reports Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Williams has been out since February 20 and hasn’t played in two consecutive games in over a month.
Anthony Edwards‘ one-game suspension, which he served on Friday, will cost him $242,393, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That’s 1/174th of Edwards’ $42,176,400 salary for the season. The Timberwolves will receive a tax variance credit of $121,196, Marks adds, which projects to reduce their end-of-season tax bill by about $515K.
Speaking to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker discussed the process of establishing himself as a reliable rotation player in Minnesota and brushed off a question about his upcoming unrestricted free agency. “Truthfully, the preparation is to let the time come when it comes and not get ahead of yourself,” Alexander-Walker said. “It’s something for me to learn now. The season’s not done. I’m still trying to win a championship. This organization has given me so much. So I want to continue to pour into the opportunity that I have and see what I can do with it.”

Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards Suspended For One Game

February 28th, 2025 at 2:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

2:05 pm: The NBA has officially confirmed in a press release (via Twitter) that Edwards has been suspended for one game. He’ll serve the one-game ban on Friday when the Timberwolves visit Utah.

9:17 am: Anthony Edwards was ejected after picking up two technical fouls on Thursday and now faces an automatic one-game league suspension when Minnesota faces Utah tonight. The Timberwolves star guard has reached the 16-technical threshold, unless the league rescinds one of the two he collected in the loss to the Lakers.

Edwards and Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt were called for double technical fouls when they exchanged shoves at the end of the first quarter. Edwards’ second technical occurred during the third quarter when he complained about a no-call.

“{Edwards] was issued his second unsportsmanlike technical foul for directing profanity towards a game official,” crew chief James Williams told a pool reporter, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

According to ESPN Research, the Timberwolves star is the first player to receive 16 technical fouls before March since DeMarcus Cousins during the 2016/17 season. His coach believes Edwards has to learn to control himself.

“He’s got to be better,” Chris Finch said. “He’s had too many outbursts. I think a lot of them are deserved. They’re going to miss some calls from time to time for sure, so he’s got to be better. We’ve been talking to him about it, so it’s on him.”

Edwards tossed the ball into the stands after his ejection, which will likely lead to another league fine. He has already accrued $285K in fines for five separate infractions this season, The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski notes.

Edwards will be suspended an additional game for every two technical fouls he receives going forward for the rest of the year. Point guard Mike Conley believes Edwards isn’t the only player on the team guilty of being overly reactive.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who get emotional when things don’t go the right way, individually. And that can hurt our team as a whole,” he said. “We have to be better. Ant has to be better. He knows that.”

Mavs Inquired About Anthony Edwards Before Trading Doncic To Lakers

February 28th, 2025 at 7:51am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers were not the only team that Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison reached out to regarding a possible Luka Doncic trade. According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, the Mavericks had informal discussions with the Timberwolves regarding a possible Doncic-Anthony Edwards swap in the weeks leading up to the blockbuster deal with Los Angeles.

Those discussions didn’t go anywhere because Minnesota had no interest in trading its All-Star guard. However, the Timberwolves brass was stunned that Dallas was even considering the idea of trading Doncic, sources tell Amick.

From a salary standpoint, the numbers would have matched up pretty neatly — Doncic is making $43MM this season and Edwards is pulling in $42.2MM. Edwards is in the first year of a five-year, max extension that currently adds up to $244.6MM. Recall that the main motivation for Dallas to trade Doncic is that the front office didn’t want to give him a five-year, super-max extension worth a projected $345MM.

Had the Timberwolves been willing to trade Edwards for Doncic, the two franchises would have essentially swapped superstars entering or in their prime. Edwards is still just 23 years old, while Doncic is 26.

Instead, the centerpiece of the package the Mavs received was 31-year old big man Anthony Davis, an oft-injured perennial All-Star who suffered an adductor strain in his Dallas debut and has yet to return. The deal has been extremely unpopular with Mavericks fans but they might have had a different reaction if the team essentially replaced one high-scoring play-maker with a younger one.

Thus far, the Lakers are 4-2 in the games that Doncic has played since the trade, including a 111-102 win over the Timberwolves on Thursday.

Timberwolves Promote Jaylen Clark, Sign Bones Hyland To Two-Way

February 27th, 2025 at 5:15pm CST by Luke Adams

February 27: Clark’s promotion is now official, the Timberwolves announced in a press release. The Wolves have also officially announced Hyland’s two-way contract.

February 26: The Timberwolves intend to promote guard Jaylen Clark from his two-way contract to a standard deal, agent Todd Ramasar tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

While the Wolves’ position above the second tax apron means they’re unable to offer Clark more than a minimum-salary deal, Charania reports that the former second-round pick will receive a fully guaranteed two-year contract, which will lock him up through the 2025/26 season.

The 53rd overall pick in 2023 out of UCLA, Clark spent his rookie season recovering from an ruptured Achilles tendon. The Wolves were aware of that injury when they drafted him, but were willing to be patient with a player that president of basketball operations Tim Connelly referred to in June 2023 as “the best perimeter defender in the draft,” signing him to a two-year, two-way contract.

After recovering from his Achilles tear, Clark opened the 2024/25 season by playing primarily for the Iowa Wolves in the G League, but he has since established himself as a role player in Minnesota.

The 23-year-old has logged double-digit minutes in each of the Timberwolves’ past 13 games, averaging 6.5 points per game on .476/.444/.750 shooting while playing strong point-of-attack defense. He has held opponents to 41% shooting as the contesting defender this season, per Charania (Twitter link).

Once Clark’s promotion to the 15-man roster is official, the Timberwolves will use their open two-way contract slot on free agent guard Bones Hyland, agent Austin Walton tells Charania (Twitter link).

Hyland was selected by the Nuggets with the 26th overall pick in the 2021 draft back when Connelly was running Denver’s front office. The former VCU standout showed some intriguing potential as a scorer and shooter during a season-and-a-half in Denver (10.9 PPG, .371 3PT%). However, the Nuggets – said to be concerned about Hyland’s defensive lapses and his displeasure with his role – sent him to the Clippers at the 2023 deadline.

Hyland never really found his footing in Los Angeles, appearing in just 71 games over the last two years and averaging 7.8 PPG on .392/.349/.812 shooting during that time. He was traded to Atlanta earlier this month as part of the Terance Mann/Bogdan Bogdanovic swap and was quickly waived by the Hawks.

Given that he drafted Hyland and reportedly came close to acquiring him at the 2023 trade deadline, it makes sense that Connelly sought out a reunion with the 24-year-old after he reached free agency. This is Hyland’s fourth year in the NBA, making it the last season in which he’s eligible for a two-way deal.

Minnesota will have a full 18-man roster (15 standard contracts, three two-ways) once the roster moves are official.

Northwest Notes: Nnaji, DiVincenzo, Clark, Avdija

February 26th, 2025 at 11:00pm CST by Rory Maher

Big man Zeke Nnaji has largely been outside of the Nuggets‘ rotation in 2024/25. However, a knee injury to Peyton Watson has opened up minutes at backup power forward, and Nnaji has been performing well of late, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscriber link).

“This is probably the first time in a while that he has an opportunity to play big minutes, important minutes and a lot of minutes. He’s good,” Nikola Jokic said of Nnaji. “He’s decisive. When he’s open, he shoots. He’s aggressive. He’s attacking the boards. He’s still probably trying to kind of figure it out, but I think he’s doing a really good job.”

Nnaji, 24, was involved in trade rumors leading up to the deadline earlier this month in part because he has fifth-highest salary on the team. General manager Calvin Booth later confirmed that Nnaji came up in trade talks, but since he was rarely playing, his long-term contract was almost certainly viewed as a negative asset.

With Watson sidelined and Nnaji playing his preferred position, he has averaged 7.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.4 blocks on .566/.368/.700 shooting over the past 10 games (21.4 minutes per contest). Would Michael Malone be comfortable turning to Nnaji for spot minutes if he’s needed in the postseason?

“Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, just continue to be present,” Malone said when asked if there’s a path to playoff minutes. “Continue to be in the moment. And I think Zeke’s done that. Ever since Peyton Watson went out, Zeke’s been called upon. … He’s stayed ready. He’s gone out there and done his job. And he’s shown that he belongs out there. So I have all the confidence in the world if I have to call upon Zeke Nnaji at any point the remainder of this season, I feel really confident about doing that. And so do his teammates. I think that’s even more important.”

Here’s more from the Northwest:

Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo has been out since Jan. 15 due to a left great toe sprain, but he has a chance to return to action soon. He’s officially listed as questionable for Thursday’s contest at the Lakers, the Wolves announced (via Twitter). ESPN’s Shams Charania reported earlier this week that both DiVincenzo and Julius Randle (right groin strain) could return at some point this week. Randle will be out Thursday, with two additional games (at Utah on Friday, at Phoenix on Sunday) scheduled on Minnesota’s road trip.
Jaylen Clark will reportedly be converted from a two-way contract to a standard deal, with Bones Hyland taking Clark’s old two-way spot. Asked about his impending promotion on Wednesday, the Timberwolves guard said he was thrilled by the news, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune (Twitter link). “I love being in Minnesota, I’m excited,” Clark said. “It feels like I’m officially a part of everything. I can play in the playoffs. It’s been cool. The journey has been long, but it’s been well worthwhile.”
Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija sustained a quad injury in the first half of Wednesday’s win in Washington. After initially being listed as questionable to return, he was later ruled out for the remainder of the contest (Twitter link). It’s unclear if the injury will cause Avdija to miss additional time, but hopefully it’s good news that he wasn’t immediately ruled out.