- Nearly three weeks after assignment, the Timberwolves have recalled rookie big man Naz Reid from the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s G League affiliate, according to a press release from the team. Reid is averaging 18.0 points, 8.6 boards, and 1.4 blocks for Iowa so far this season.
Andrew Wiggins, The Artist Formerly Known As “Maple Jordan”, has been playing out of his mind for the Timberwolves thus far in 2019/20. His shot profile has modernized as he has prioritized three-pointers over inefficient long two-pointers. His passing has enjoyed a remarkable early turnaround. The team, too, has outperformed early prognostications. The Wolves currently sit 7-5, good for the seventh seed in a brutal West.
Wiggins famously signed a five-year, $147.7MM contract with the Timberwolves in 2017. The level of the deal and his middling play after inking it apparently contributed to Jimmy Butler‘s trade demands early in the 2018/19 season.
The 6’7″ swingman out of Kansas has shown flashes of his potential in seasons past. Those flashes were so few and far between that Minnesota struggled to move his expensive contract this past offseason, albeit not for lack of trying.
Despite being in the midst of his sixth NBA season, Wiggins is just 24 years old. There could be time for him to permanently break the bad habits that seem to have curbed his growth. It remains an open question as to whether or not second-year coach Ryan Saunders will be able to keep Wiggins on his current upward trajectory.
And how high will that trajectory take Wiggins, exactly? Is Wiggins becoming the legitimate long-term cornerstone that the Wolves have long needed him to be, a great wing compliment to established All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns? Can Wiggins sustain this performance consistently enough to finally become an All-Star? At the very least, is Wiggins’ contract still an albatross or could he finally net Minnesota positive trade value if the team did eventually want to move him?
I have my doubts about Wiggins’ All-NBA potential, but one or two career All-Star appearances feel well within reach if he can maintain his excellent play of late.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
- Per a team press release, the Timberwolves have recalled forward Keita Bates-Diop from the Iowa Wolves, the team’s G League affiliate. Bates-Diop is averaging 22.5 points and 4.5 rebounds over two games in the G League this season.
Winter weather played a factor in D’Angelo Russell‘s decision to choose the Warriors over the Timberwolves in free agency this summer, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.
The Timberwolves initially appeared to have the upper hand, led by Karl-Anthony Towns, one of Russell’s best friends, and Pablo Prigioni, one of his favorite assistant coaches with the Nets. However, the Warriors swooped in on June 30 with a maximum-salary offer as part of a sign-and-trade involving Kevin Durant.
“I thought the opportunity here was amazing … ” Russell said of the Timberwolves on Friday. “But then when this (Warriors) opportunity came, the weather is way better, so that helped me. … I did my first winter in New York and that was tough. So to get the opportunity to go somewhere where it’s warm again, I think that played a major part in my plan.”
- Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns has no regrets about his scrap with Joel Embiid that resulted in a two-game suspension, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic tweets. “Listen I’m going to defend myself. I ain’t going to take nothing,” he said. “That’s a very … talented player. I just had to defend myself in that situation.”
- Tyus Jones was grateful he had the chance to play for his hometown team, Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune relays. Jones grew up in Minnesota and played four seasons for the Timberwolves. He signed a three-year offer sheet with the Grizzlies this offseason and Minnesota declined to match it. “Last year it was like, ‘Man, I might not get this chance again to play for my hometown team.’ … It was just a cool experience, something I’m grateful for because not everyone gets to do something like that. It’s pretty unique and pretty cool,” the point guard said.
Here are Wednesday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
- With Jeff Teague and Shabazz Napier both dealing with injuries, the Timberwolves recalled rookie point guard Jaylen Nowell from their affiliate in Iowa, the team announced in a press release. Nowell, the 43rd pick in this year’s draft, hasn’t gotten into a game yet.
- The Jazz recalled Dante Exum and Miye Oni from their Salt Lake City affiliate, according to a tweet from the team. Exum, who is still recovering from knee surgery in March, was assigned and recalled in the same day so he could practice with the G League team. Oni, a second-round pick, was on his third assignment of the season.
- The Thunder assigned center Justin Patton to their Oklahoma City affiliate, the team announced. The first-round pick in 2017 has gotten into one game this season and played six minutes.
The Timberwolves are fuming over how the NBA handled the discipline for Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns, which stems from a mid-game scuffle between the two superstars last week, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
Minnesota has expressed disapproval of the league’s decision to suspend both Embiid and Towns two games for multiple reasons, as noted by Krawczynski.
Firstly, team officials believe Embiid was the instigator of the scuffle, leading to Towns’ involvement. The franchise also touched on Embiid’s decision to leave the game with a bang upon his ejection, shadow-boxing and firing up the Philadelphia crowd while Towns exited the floor quietly.
And the last issue, one discussed heavily by fans across the league, relates to the league’s decision not to penalize Ben Simmons for his involvement in the altercation. Simmons was seen with his arms wrapped around the neck of Towns, causing many to believe he was attempting a rear-naked choke. The league ultimately viewed Simmons as a peacemaker.
“While we are disappointed in the league’s decision, we understand the magnitude of this unfortunate incident,” Wolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas said, according to Krawczynski. “The NBA is highly competitive and last night was a reflection of that. We support Karl and will move forward together as a group.”
Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- The shaky starts from both the Nets and Warriors show Kevin Durant‘s tremendous on-court value even more, as detailed by Frank Isola of The Athletic. Golden State lost Durant in free agency this summer, with the 10-time All-Star choosing to take his talents to Brooklyn on a multi-year deal. Durant is expected to miss the rest of the 2019/20 season as he rehabs from a torn Achilles’ tendon, with the Nets currently struggling at 2-4.
- Free agent guard Dwight Buycks has agreed to a new deal with the Shenzhen Leopards in China, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Buycks averaged 20.5 points with the team last season.
- Jonathon Givony and Mike Schmitz of ESPN.com discuss the early contenders for the 2020 NBA Draft, including which prospects have the best chances of being selected in the lottery. ESPN revealed its early mock draft for the event last week, with 7-foot-1 center James Wiseman currently projected as the No. 1 overall pick.
The Suns currently have the NBA’s youngest roster, according to the NBA’s official roster survey. The league’s data shows that the average age of a Suns player this season is just 24.49 years. On the other end of the spectrum, the Rockets have the league’s oldest roster, with an average age of 30.24.
[RELATED: Oldest, Youngest Players On NBA Rosters For 2019/20]
Houston also has the NBA’s oldest roster in terms of years of experience — the average Rocket has played in the NBA for 8.93 seasons. The Celtics beat out Phoenix for the league’s least experienced roster, at an average of 2.73 seasons per player.
The NBA’s full roster survey, which includes every player on a standard contract (ie. not two-way players), is packed with interesting data, including the official heights and weights for every player, as well as each player sorted by jersey number and by home country. It’s worth checking out in full, but here are the rest of the league’s findings on the youngest and oldest NBA rosters:
Youngest rosters by average age:
- Phoenix Suns (24.49)
- Chicago Bulls (24.83)
- Golden State Warriors (24.87)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (24.91)
- New York Knicks (24.98)
Least experienced rosters by average seasons of NBA experience:
- Boston Celtics (2.73)
- Phoenix Suns (2.80)
- Chicago Bulls (3.07)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (3.40)
- Indiana Pacers (3.53)
Oldest rosters by average age:
- Houston Rockets (30.24)
- Los Angeles Lakers (29.07)
- Milwaukee Bucks (28.73)
- Dallas Mavericks (27.40)
- Utah Jazz (27.08)
Most experienced rosters by average seasons of NBA experience:
- Houston Rockets (8.93)
- Los Angeles Lakers (8.07)
- Milwaukee Bucks (7.07)
- San Antonio Spurs (5.67)
- Portland Trail Blazers (5.57)
The punishment for the scuffle between Karl-Anthony Towns and Joel Embiid has been handed down by the league. Each player will miss the next two games, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The two big men wrestled one another to the ground on Wednesday and were each ejected from the contest. The jabs didn’t stop there, as the star big men exchanged insults via social media later that night. Charania adds that the duo’s suspension was for their on-court altercation and “their continued escalation following the incident.”
Ben Simmons, who held Towns down on the ground as other players pulled Embiid away, will not be suspended for the incident, despite the Wolves pushing back against the notion that he acted as a peacemaker.
Embiid will lose roughly $379K as a result of the conflict while Towns will lose roughly $376K, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The 76ers will play Portland and Phoenix over their next two games while Minnesota faces Washington and Milwaukee.
While Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns were the instigators of Wednesday’s brawl between the Sixers and Timberwolves, they weren’t the only players who jumped in the fray. Ben Simmons was among the players who ended up on the ground with Towns during the fracas, with referees ruling that Simmons was acting as a “peacemaker.” According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Wolves are pushing back on that ruling.
As Wojnarowski details, the Timberwolves are arguing that Simmons had Towns in a “dangerous choke hold” as he pinned him to the floor. Minnesota’s front office was in touch with NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Kiki VanDeWeghe, sources tell Wojnarowski, and presumably the Wolves would like to see Simmons receive some sort of discipline as a result of the altercation.
According to Michael Lee of The Athletic (Twitter link), people on the Wolves’ side may have been even more upset with Simmons’ actions than Embiid’s, and questioned why he was allowed to stay in the game.
For their part, the Sixers were “adamant” in supporting the referees’ conclusion that Simmons was a peacemaker, per Woj. The 76ers have also been in contact with VanDeWeghe and the league office, telling the NBA that they believe Towns was the aggressor in the fight.
The NBA will review the tape and interview participants and witnesses beginning today as it determines the appropriate punishment for those involved in the brawl, says Wojnarowski. Neither team plays until Saturday, so the league has some time to mull its decisions.
As we detailed in our earlier story on the incident, Embiid and Towns brought the fight to social media after the game, though it’s not clear whether the league will take those tweets and Instagram posts into account when considering discipline.