Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wolves Waive Cam Reynolds

June 28th, 2019 at 3:25pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Minnesota is waiving Cameron Reynolds, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The team would have interest in re-signing the shooting guard should it miss out on other targets this offseason, Darren Wolfson of Eyewitness News tweets.

Reynolds had agreed to a multi-year deal with the Timberwolves toward the end of the 2018/19 season after inking back-to-back 10-day deals with the club. The contract was non-guaranteed, though he would have received $50K had he remained on the roster through August 1, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

The Tulane product went undrafted last year and signed on with the Kings last summer. He was released prior to the season and spent much of his time in the G League, playing for Sacramento’s affiliate.

Timberwolves Have Interest In Ish Smith

June 27th, 2019 at 11:52am CST by Luke Adams

Ish Smith is among the free agent point guards who are on the Timberwolves‘ radar, tweets Darren Wolfson of SKOR North. Wolfson previously identified T.J. McConnell as a target of interest to Minnesota.

Nets Have Zero Interest In Russell S&T Involving Wiggins

June 27th, 2019 at 8:31am CST by Luke Adams

According to Darren Wolfson of SKOR North (by way of Dan Feldman of NBC Sports), the Timberwolves reached out to the Nets to see whether Brooklyn might be interested in Andrew Wiggins in a potential sign-and-trade for RFA-to-be D’Angelo Russell. Predictably, the Nets had no interest in taking on Wiggins’ contract, per Wolfson.

Charania’s Latest: CP3, Klay, Harris, RHJ, Randle, More

June 26th, 2019 at 4:58pm CST by Luke Adams

League sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic that Chris Paul never demanded a trade from the Rockets, but suggested at season’s end that he’d understand if the club decided to go in a different direction. According to Charania, Houston told Paul it remained committed to him, and he has reciprocated that commitment.

While Paul and James Harden haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, Charania hears that the two Rockets guards have been communicating since the season ended and had a positive conversation on Father’s Day.

Even if the Rockets wanted to move Paul, there would likely be no market for him, as the Rockets discovered when they quietly gauged his value in recent weeks, Charania writes.

Charania’s latest round-up at The Athletic includes several other noteworthy tidbits on 2019’s upcoming free agent period, so let’s pass along some highlights…

The Warriors and Klay Thompson will meet in Los Angeles at the start of free agency, per Charania. While Charania – like ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski – has heard that Thompson could speak to the Clippers if talks with Golden State break down, the Warriors and Thompson’s camp expect a quick agreement if the team puts a five-year, maximum-salary offer on the table.
After Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer named the Clippers as a possible suitor for Tobias Harris, Charania says the same thing, noting that the two sides still have a good relationship. Charania also adds the Pelicans – who now have significant cap room – to the list of teams expected to express interest in Harris.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who didn’t receive a qualifying offer from Brooklyn, is expected to draw interest from the Suns, Timberwolves, and Rockets as an unrestricted free agent, reports Charania.
The Bulls, Knicks, and Nets are viewed as potential suitors for Julius Randle, sources tell Charania.
Teams in need of some help at the point guard spot – including the Suns, Bulls, Wizards, and Kings – have shown interest in Cory Joseph, says Charania.
If the Knicks miss out on their top free agent targets, they’ll plan on trying to sign “high-level rotation players” to one- or two-year deals, according to Charania, who suggests that Celtics RFA-to-be Terry Rozier may be one target.

Tyus Jones, Danuel House To Become RFAs

June 26th, 2019 at 12:25pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves have issued a qualifying offer to point guard Tyus Jones, ensuring that he’ll be a restricted free agent when the new league year begins on Sunday, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Jones’ qualifying offer is worth $3,573,205.

Jones, 23, played an increased role for the Wolves in 2018/19, averaging 6.9 PPG and 4.8 APG in 68 games (22.9 MPG). While his qualifying offer will make him a restricted free agent, it’s not clear whether he’s in Minnesota’s long-term plans under new head of basketball operations Gersson Rosas. The club’s point guard position is in flux this offseason, with Jeff Teague entering the final year of his contract and Jones and Derrick Rose both hitting the open market.

Meanwhile, Danuel House has yet to receive his own qualifying offer from the Rockets, but Houston will make that official in the coming days, making him an RFA, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. House’s QO is worth a projected $1,876,700.

House emerged as a reliable rotation piece for the Rockets last season, averaging 9.4 PPG and 3.6 RPG with a .468/.416/.789 shooting line in 39 games (25.1 MPG). After the 26-year-old initially joined the team on a two-way deal, Houston attempted to sign him to a longer-term deal, but he resisted, forcing a one-year agreement.

House and his camp didn’t want to be locked into a multiyear minimum-salary contract, preferring to try their luck in restricted free agency this summer. Now they’ll get that opportunity.

Northwest Notes: Rosas, Reed, Bazley, Nuggets

June 23rd, 2019 at 7:13pm CST by JD Shaw

Recently hired president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas is set to bring his worldly view and Latino roots to his new job with the Timberwolves, Chris Hine details in a story for the Star Tribune.

Minnesota hired Rosas, who previously spent 17 years in various basketball positions with the Rockets, as the team’s new president after a tumultuous regular season which saw the club trade its star player, fire its head coach and finish with just a 36-46 record.

“It’s definitely the road less traveled, and the odds are stacked against you,” Rosas said of being hired. “Being an immigrant in this country … it’s almost a responsibility, if somebody is willing to give you those opportunities, as an immigrant, a person coming into this country, you want to make the country proud.”

Rosas and his family migrated to America from Columbia when he was just three years old, according to Hine. His family settled in Houston, where Rosas discovered his love for the game of basketball and committed to starting a career. He’ll now be tasked with turning around a franchise in great turmoil last season, one that has a young star in Karl-Anthony Towns with several talented pieces around him.

“A lot of people have helped me get to this point, and because of that I have a responsibility to help others,” Rosas said. “We have such a special fraternity in the NBA, people that have been supportive of me. I need to help build a strong base, not only for Latinos but other individuals who want to be involved in the NBA.”

Free agent Willie Reed has committed to summer league with the Jazz, Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype reports (Twitter link). Reed, a three-year NBA veteran, held per-game averages of 20.1 points, 11.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 21 games with Utah’s G League affiliate this past season.
Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman details Darius Bazley‘s uncommon path to the NBA. Bazley was selected by the Jazz with the No. 23 overall pick in the draft, who then traded him to Memphis. The Grizzlies later traded him to the Thunder.
The Nuggets aren’t scared of the ongoing arms race in the Western Conference, Mike Singer of the Denver Post writes. Denver has an intriguing young group headlined by star center Nikola Jokic going into the summer. “I think we focus on internal growth, focus on ourselves,” president Tim Connelly said of his team’s offseason focus. “I love our group, I love our core, love our coaching staff, so we’re pretty excited about whoever we’re competing against next season.”

Could They Make A Run At D'Angelo Russell?

June 22nd, 2019 at 10:40am CST by Dana Gauruder

Could the Timberwolves figure out a way to sign D’Angelo Russell? ESPN’s Zach Lowe hears that Minnesota will try to make a run at the Nets guard, who will be a restricted free agent unless Brooklyn renounces his rights (hat tip to RealGM). “There has been a lot of Minnesota (signing) D’Angelo Russell noise,” Lowe said. “And it’s not all Karl Towns commenting on Instagram because they’re friends. Minnesota has communicated to the league, not the NBA league, just the league at large that they believe they have a pathway to get D’Angelo Russell.”

Tyus Battle Agrees To Exhibit 10 Deal With Wolves

June 21st, 2019 at 1:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Timberwolves will sign Tyus Battle of Syracuse to an Exhibit 10 contract, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Their mutual interest was first reported by Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 6’6″ guard posted a 17.2/3.3/2.5 line during his junior season with the Orange. He also has international experience, winning a gold medal with the U.S. team in the 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championships.

Battle will likely join the Wolves’ Summer League entry and can earn a bonus of up to $50K if he comes to training camp with Minnesota and spends at least 60 days with its G League affiliate.

Wolves Rumors: Draft, Wiggins, McConnell, Harris

June 21st, 2019 at 12:33pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves had five players in their top tier for Thursday’s draft, and knew they had no shot at Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, or R.J. Barrett, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Darius Garland and Jarrett Culver were the other players in that group, according to Krawczynski, who says that Minnesota may have preferred Garland to Culver, but didn’t hesitate to nab the Texas Tech wing at No. 6 over Coby White and others.

According to Krawczynski, the Timberwolves might have had an opportunity to move up to No. 4 before the Pelicans made a deal with the Hawks, but Minnesota was seeking the No. 11 pick and Robert Covington and would’ve wanted to dump Solomon Hill‘s unwanted contract on the Wolves.

Even after moving up to select Culver at No. 6, the Timberwolves stayed active, according to Darren Wolfson and Danny Cunningham of Skor North, who report (via Twitter) that the team had discussions about the No. 12 pick with the Hornets. Those talks didn’t seem to get far, per Wolfson, adding that Sekou Doumbouya was the presumed target at that spot for Minnesota.

Here’s more on the Wolves:

The Timberwolves have been actively exploring options to move off Andrew Wiggins‘ contract, league sources tell Jake Fischer of SI.com (Twitter link). It’s not clear if Minnesota is just gauging the market or if the club will continue to pursue a Wiggins deal as the offseason progresses.
Wolfson (Twitter link) hears that Sixers veteran T.J. McConnell is among the free agent point guards on Minnesota’s radar.
John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) has heard that free-agent-to-be Tobias Harris has interest in the Timberwolves. That looks like a very unlikely pairing though, since Minnesota has no path to cap room and the Sixers won’t be eager to accommodate a sign-and-trade.
Bryan Gates is the latest coach expected to join Ryan Saunders‘ staff as an assistant, tweets Krawczynski. Gates, who had a previous stint in Minnesota, has served as an assistant in Sacramento for the past few seasons.

Draft Rumors: Wolves, Pistons, Hornets, Knicks

June 20th, 2019 at 8:32pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Timberwolves were exploring trades involving the No. 6 pick after acquiring it from Phoenix, they plan on hanging onto Jarrett Culver, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

Still, it’s safe to assume Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas will continue to be aggressive in exploring trade options, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who tweets that Rosas seems to be open to discussing anyone except Karl-Anthony Towns.

Here are a few more draft-night notes and rumors:

Sekou Doumbouya was higher than No. 15 on the Pistons‘ draft board, so the team was happy to snag him, a source tells Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Ellis hears that the Pistons were also seriously considering big man Goga Bitadze at No. 15 (Twitter link). Pistons executive Ed Stefanski said that Detroit explored trading up, but teams wanted too much, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
The Hornets were close to trading up from No. 12, but felt like the price was excessive compared to what their options at No. 12 were, Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak said tonight (Twitter link via Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer). Kupchak added that Charlotte views PJ Washington as both a small forward and power forward.
Jalen McDaniels, Miye Oni, Zylan Cheatham, and Jaylen Nowell are among the prospects receiving consideration from the Knicks at No. 55, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post, who tweets that New York likely won’t draft Tacko Fall.