Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hagans Signs Two-Way Contract With Timberwolves

November 28th, 2020 at 5:19pm CST by Dana Gauruder

NOVEMBER 28: The signing is official, the Wolves announced in a press release.

NOVEMBER 18: The Timberwolves have agreed to a two-way contract with undrafted Kentucky guard Ashton Hagans, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Hagans started two seasons for the Wildcats. As a sophomore, Hagans averaged 11.5 PPG and 6.4 APG in 30 regular-season games. He also averaged 1.9 SPG but will need to improve his perimeter shooting to stick in the NBA. He made just 25.8% of his long-range attempts last season.

Hagans can be active for up to 50 games on his two-way deal but he’ll have to scrap for minutes behind Ricky Rubio, who was acquired by Minnesota earlier on Wednesday, as well as D’Angelo Russell and possibly first-round selection Leandro Bolmaro.

Jae Crowder Signs Three-Year Deal With Suns

November 28th, 2020 at 3:37pm CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 28, 3:37pm: Crowder has officially signed, per team press release.

NOVEMBER 21, 1:03pm: The Suns have reached an agreement to sign Jae Crowder to a three-year contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). The deal will be worth just shy of $30MM, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Phoenix will use its full mid-level exception to complete the signing.

Crowder, who finished the season in Miami, reportedly explored a new deal with the Heat, but was seeking a guaranteed multiyear commitment that the Heat weren’t comfortable with, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).

League sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) that Crowder also drew interest from the Mavericks, Timberwolves, Clippers, and Hornets, but that Phoenix’s offer was ultimately too good to pass up.

Crowder, 30, provides value as a three-and-D player who has the size to guard bigger wings. He also played some of his best basketball at exactly the right time in his contract year.

After being traded from the Grizzlies to the Heat at last season’s deadline, the veteran forward made 44.5% of his threes for Miami in 20 games to finish the season, then started all 21 postseason contests as the Heat came within two wins of a title.

Having secured a commitment from Crowder and having traded for All-Star point guard Chris Paul earlier in the week, the Suns are looking like an intriguing playoff contender in the Western Conference this season. The team finished five games below .500 in 2019/20, but had an impressive 8-0 run in the Walt Disney World bubble, increasing expectations for ’20/21.

Paul and Crowder will join a promising group that includes star guard Devin Booker, former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton, and young wings Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson, among others. The Suns also still hope to re-sign restricted free agent forward Dario Saric, per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wolves Rumors: Hernangomez, Edwards, Rubio, Beasley

November 27th, 2020 at 1:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Timberwolves restricted free agent forward Juan Hernangomez initially sought an offer in excess of $10MM per year, sources tell Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Unwilling to meet that price right off the bat, the Wolves “essentially told” Hernangomez to prove he could get an offer from another club while they went looking for possible alternatives at power forward, writes Krawczynski.

Minnesota ended up reaching out to a number forwards in free agency, including Derrick Jones (as previously outlined), Paul Millsap, Jae Crowder, and JaMychal Green, and inquired on possible trades involving Magic forward Aaron Gordon, Rockets forward P.J. Tucker, and Cavaliers big man Larry Nance Jr., sources tell Krawczynski.

The Timberwolves didn’t have any luck with any of those potential targets, but held firm on their offer to Hernangomez, who mulled the possibility of accepting the one-year qualifying offer worth $4.64MM, per Krawczynski. Ultimately, the two sides came to an agreement on a three-year, $21MM deal that has a third-year team option.

Here’s more out of Minnesota:

The Timberwolves chose Anthony Edwards with the No. 1 pick last week because they believe he has the clearest path of any of this year’s draft-eligible prospects to becoming a multi-time All-Star, says Krawczysnki.
Sources tell The Athletic that the team’s acquisition of Ricky Rubio was partly motivated by seeing what the veteran point guard did for Donovan Mitchell and Devin Booker at his previous stops and a belief that he’ll aid Edwards’ development.
The Knicks told Malik Beasley he’d be their Plan B in free agency if they couldn’t land Gordon Hayward, according to Krawczynski. Recognizing that New York could be a threat to put forth a troublesome offer sheet, the Wolves went in with an aggressive pitch on the opening night of free agency and secured a commitment from Beasley on the spot. Sources tell The Athletic that Beasley has appreciated the support he’s received from the franchise since running into off-court legal problems.
The Timberwolves officially announced Beasley’s new deal today. Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) has the year-by-year financial breakdown of that contract, which guarantees the swingman $43MM+ over three years.

Blazers Notes: Jones, Carmelo, Covington, Elleby

November 25th, 2020 at 4:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Before he committed to the Trail Blazers, Derrick Jones had free agency meetings with the Kings and Timberwolves, as Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times details in an interesting blow-by-blow account of Jones’ night on November 20.

According to Abrams, Jones mostly listened and nodded during Sacramento’s eight-minute pitch, but was more engaged and asked questions on a call with Portland that lasted nearly an hour. Jones seemed ready to commit to the Blazers on the spot, but his agent Aaron Turner said they’d let the team know by the end of the night.

Jones was also impressed by the Timberwolves’ pitch that came next, but was still leaning toward Portland’s offer. The Blazers had said they’d be talking to other free agents over the course of the night and would sign the first one that called back to agree to their offer, so Jones had to make a fairly quick decision, Abrams writes.

After Turner called back the Wolves to see if they could increase their offer at all, he told them Jones would be signing elsewhere, and contacted the Blazers to accept their two-year offer worth the full mid-level.

“Getting a guy like Derrick — an elite athlete, protects the rim, great finisher, rates in the 80th percentile in blocks and steals — was a big win for us,” president of basketball operations Neil Olshey said of the signing this week, per Jason Quick of The Athletic.

Here’s more on the Blazers:

Before Carmelo Anthony agreed to re-sign with Portland, he and Olshey talked about his potential role, discussing the possibility that the 10-time All-Star could come off the bench this season. “Ideally, for him, he would still start. I think that’s where his mindset is — he’s never come off the bench,” Olshey told reporters this week, per Quick. “Obviously, that will be (coach Terry Stotts‘) call. But I think the conversation was, ‘Make the decision to come back based on the reality that you will likely come off the bench.'”
Olshey added that he believes it makes more sense to have Anthony as part of the second unit, since he can be a featured scorer off the bench, whereas newly-added forward Robert Covington doesn’t need the ball much, making him a “perfect complement” to Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
One of the Blazers’ top offseason goals was to find someone who can be their fourth-best player behind Lillard, McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic. As Quick writes, the Blazers believes Covington will be that player. “Now we know we have a fourth guy every night that can make a high enough impact that can give us a chance to win,” Olshey said.
Olshey expressed excitement about CJ Elleby, the No. 46 overall pick in the draft who has signed a guaranteed two-year, minimum-salary contract with the club. “I think he is a really good basketball player,” Olshey said, according to Quick. “I think we will all probably anticipate that this year will be an apprenticeship for him, but he will have a chance to compete every day with our younger players. He has a chance to have a very long career.”

Knicks Trade Ed Davis To Wolves For Spellman, Evans, Pick

November 24th, 2020 at 4:38pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

NOVEMBER 24: The Timberwolves have officially acquired Davis from the Knicks in exchange for Spellman, Evans, and a future draft pick, the team confirmed today in a press release. According to the Wolves, the pick going to the Knicks is Minnesota’s 2026 second-rounder.

NOVEMBER 22: The Knicks will trade big man Ed Davis to the Timberwolves for big man Omari Spellman, shooting guard Jacob Evans and the rights to a future second-round pick, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter).

Evans and Spellman, sent by the Warriors to Minnesota at the 2020 deadline as part of the D’Angelo Russell–Andrew Wiggins deal, will earn a combined $4MM in 2020/21. Davis, meanwhile, is set to make $5MM this season.

Given the added money and the fact that the Timberwolves are surrendering a draft asset in the deal, it looks as if the Wolves like Davis and intend to retain him. At just 31 years old, the athletic journeyman could help spell sharpshooting star center Karl-Anthony Towns.

Davis had career-lows in minutes (10.8 MPG in just 28 games), points (1.8 PPG) and rebounds (3.8 RPG) during his 2019/20 season with the Jazz. Utah agreed to send him to New York earlier this week in a salary-dump deal.

Considering that the Knicks acquired two 2023 second-round draft picks for taking on Davis’ salary originally, it is impressive that the club has now added a third second-round draft pick in moving off his salary.

With these new additions, the Knicks now have 16 players on their roster, aside from their two-way players. Marc Berman of the New York Post has said the Knicks like Spellman, but it’s not clear whether or not Evans will be retained.

Luke Adams contributed to this report.

Free Agency Rumors: Bogdanovic, McLaughlin, Baynes, More

November 23rd, 2020 at 11:21pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings will have to make a decision on Bogdan Bogdanovic‘s offer sheet with the Hawks on Tuesday, and as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee writes, there are pros and cons the team must consider as it weighs its options.

Matching Bogdanovic’s four-year, $72MM offer sheet would mean not losing him for nothing, and the contract doesn’t look particularly onerous — it’s unlikely that it will become an albatross within the next year. Bogdanovic would have veto power on any trade for the next year if Sacramento matches his offer, and the deal includes a 15% trade kicker, but there’s a good chance the club could eventually move him for positive value.

Still, while the Kings had originally budgeted for a $15-18MM annual salary for Bogdanovic under former GM Vlade Divac, per Anderson, the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the salary cap coming in $6MM lower than anticipated may make the team nervous about a long-term deal at the upper end of that range.

Additionally, sources have suggested to Anderson that Bogdanovic would prefer a change of scenery and that the swingman feels he has been “de-prioritized” by the Kings. Sacramento already may have to deal with one disgruntled wing in Buddy Hield — carrying two of them, and having them eat into each other’s minutes, may not be an ideal situation for the club.

Here are a few more notes and rumors related to free agency:

The Timberwolves and restricted free agent guard Jordan McLaughlin are engaged in ongoing talks about a new contract, a source tells Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. McLaughlin was on a two-way deal last season as a rookie, but is due for a promotion to a standard contract after averaging 7.6 PPG and 4.2 APG on .489/.382/.667 shooting in 30 games (19.7 MPG).
Before he committed to the Raptors, free agent center Aron Baynes gave serious consideration to joining the Warriors, a league source tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
Alex Len, another center who agreed to a deal with Toronto, generated interest from the Lakers, Sixers, Bucks, and Kings during free agency, according to Scotto. The Raptors used their mid-level exception to give Len slightly more than his minimum salary.
The Hawks and Pistons were among the teams that expressed interest in Damyean Dotson before the free agent guard committed to Cleveland, reports Scotto. Dotson’s two-year, $4MM deal with the Cavaliers is worth more than the minimum and the club is still weighing whether to use its mid-level exception or bi-annual exception to complete the signing, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

Wolves Notes: Rubio, Edwards, Davis, Beasley

November 23rd, 2020 at 5:52pm CST by Luke Adams

In a conversation with Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, Ricky Rubio discussed his first stint with the Timberwolves, his impending second stint with the franchise, and the experience of being traded twice in the span of days. Rubio said he found out about his involvement in the Suns‘ Chris Paul trade last week when Shams Charania broke the news on Twitter.

“It’s not the way you want to know, especially my agent was talking with the team and they said my name was off the table when all the rumors and all the stuff happened,” Rubio said. “You feel like everything that they have said to you all year and buying into a new project and a young team and they need you, blah, blah, blah. It seems like nothing’s true.”

As Krawczynski writes, Rubio wasn’t upset about the move itself, since he understands why the Suns would want Paul. Still, he was stung by the way he found out. Now, after initially making his NBA debut for the Timberwolves as a 21-year-old, the point guard is looking forward to returning to the team as a veteran who can help guide a young squad.

“It started to really make more sense for me to really connect the puzzle and get to Minnesota and help a young team with a lot of talent and already have done really good things,” he told Krawczynsi. “I feel like I can fit in the puzzle.”

Here’s more on the Wolevs:

In an in-depth story on how the Timberwolves decided to use the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft on Anthony Edwards, Krawczynski cites sources who say that the team never really got close to trading that pick. The Wolves were unwilling to accept what they considered subpar value to move down and risk missing out on the Georgia guard, per Krawczynski. “He stood head and shoulders above any player in this draft and we were excited to be at No. 1 to be able to select him,” president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas said of Edwards.
Michael Rand of The Star Tribune makes a case for why he believes veteran center Ed Davis could be the Timberwolves’ most important new player for the 2020/21 season.
Three days after agreeing to a new $60MM deal with the Timberwolves, Malik Beasley made a court appearance today. Beasley, who faces a pair of felony charges related to a September incident, was told to have no contact with the alleged victims and a potential witness, tweets Krawczynski. His next court appearance will be on December 17.

Wolves Pull QO For Kelan Martin

November 22nd, 2020 at 5:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves have rescinded their two-way qualifying offer for wing Kelan Martin, reports Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link). The move makes him an unrestricted free agent.

Martin emerged as a rotation player in Minnesota last season, averaging 6.4 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 31 games (16.0 MPG), though he struggled with his shot (.392 FG%, .260 FT%).

Although the Wolves liked him enough to initially make him a restricted free agent, there likely wouldn’t have been enough minutes to go around for him next season, given the team’s wing depth, tweets Krawczynski.

The Wolves still have a qualifying offer out to their other two-way free agent, Jordan McLaughlin.

Wolves Sign Juan Hernangomez To Three-Year Deal

November 22nd, 2020 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

NOV. 28: The Timberwolves have made the deal official, per a press release on Saturday.

NOV. 22: After striking a deal with Malik Beasley on Friday, the Timberwolves are now finalizing an agreement with their other key restricted free agent, Juan Hernangomez.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), Hernangomez will sign a three-year, $21MM contract to remain in Minnesota. The deal will include a third-year team option, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 15th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Hernangomez spent the first three-and-a-half years of his career in Denver. Although he was a solid part of the Nuggets’ rotation in 2018/19, the 25-year-old saw his minutes cut back in ’19/20 after the team added Jerami Grant. With not enough minutes to go around for Hernangomez and Beasley, they were sent to the Timberwolves at the deadline.

With an increased role, Hernangomez elevated his game after being traded from Denver to Minnesota, averaging 12.9 PPG with a .420 3PT% in 14 contests as the Timberwolves’ starting power forward. That strong finish helped him earn a nice multiyear commitment from the Wolves in free agency.

It’s been an eventful week so far in Minnesota, where the Timberwolves drafted Anthony Edwards with the No. 1 overall pick on Wednesday, agreed to reacquire Ricky Rubio in a trade with the Thunder, and now have secured commitments from their top two free agents.

While most of the top players on the free agent market are now off the board, the Wolves do still have their exceptions available and could make an additional move or two.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Free Agency Rumors: Markieff Morris, Craig, Bazemore, Sixers

November 22nd, 2020 at 2:27pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

A Morris brothers reunion might be in play for the Clippers, Jason Dumas of KRON4 News tweets. Dumas notes that there may be mutual interest in adding free agent forward Markieff Morris – most recently of the Lakers – to a Clippers frontcourt that includes newly re-signed forward Marcus Morris, Markieff’s twin brother. Marcus has agreed to a four-year, $64MM deal to remain with the Clippers.

Markieff’s minutes may be relatively minimal, as he would presumably be the fourth big man in the Clippers’ frontcourt rotation, behind starting power forward Marcus, starting center Ivica Zubac, and just-added veteran power forward/center Serge Ibaka, who will be signed using the club’s full MLE after the departure of Montrezl Harrell to the Lakers. Big man Patrick Patterson was also retained by the Clippers this offseason.

Marcus was a key role-playing piece in the Lakers’ championship run after joining the team off waivers this spring. In 18.4 MPG, Markieff averaged 5.9 PPG and 3.0 RPG, while shooting a stellar 42% on 3.3 three-point attempts per game and 77.8% from the charity stripe across 21 games en route to the Lakers’ 17th NBA title.

Meanwhile, if Marc Gasol ultimately leaves the Raptors for the Lakers, Toronto has strong interest in replacing him with Markieff Morris, and may be able to offer him more than the Clippers can afford.

Here are more free agency rumors:

Darren Wolfson of KSTP 5 Eyewitness News tweets that the Timberwolves also considered adding free agent guard Torrey Craig to their offseason roster. Craig ultimately agreed to a contract with the Bucks this offseason, the terms of which have yet to be released.
Though Kent Bazemore wound up returning to the Warriors and his close friend Stephen Curry on a veteran’s minimum contract, the Clippers apparently considered using their $3.6MM bi-annual exception to sign the veteran swingman, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
Though Sixers GM Daryl Morey has already made significant changes to Philadelphia, the club still needs a great perimeter scorer, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer observes. “Obviously, our job is to always look for opportunities,” Morey commented this weekend. “But we feel very good about where we are right now.” Pompey notes that in Ben Simmons, the Sixers have the kind of All-Star blue chip piece that could fit well into a deal for Rockets superstar perimeter scorer James Harden.