Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Timberwolves’ Brunson Resigns Amid Allegations Of Misconduct

May 8th, 2018 at 3:46pm CST by Luke Adams

3:46pm: The Timberwolves have issued a statement regarding Brunson’s resignation, as Krawczynski relays at The Athletic.

“Our entire organization – made up of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Minnesota Lynx and Iowa Wolves — is deeply committed to creating a safe work environment for our employees, partners and fans,” the Wolves’ statement reads. “Our teams strive to have our actions reflect our values each and every day. We work to maintain high standards of conduct and expect our staff to lead by example. We did not believe Mr. Brunson’s conduct was consistent with those standards.”

Sources tell Krawczynski that the most recent incident involving Brunson occurred during the playoffs, when a woman who doesn’t work for the Timberwolves lodged a complaint with the team after Brunson made “several unwanted advances” toward her.

2:50pm: Veteran NBA coach Rick Brunson has resigned from his position as an assistant coach on Tom Thibodeau‘s staff in Minnesota, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link).

It’s the fourth coaching change this week for the Timberwolves, who also cut ties with player development coach Vince Legarza, shooting coach Peter Patton, and assistant video coordinator Wes Bohn, as we relayed on Monday. However, Brunson’s departure appears to fall into a different category.

According to Jon Krawcyznski of The Athletic (Twitter link), Brunson was facing allegations of “improper interactions with several women while on the job.” Wolfson and ESPN’s Chris Haynes confirmed as much, with Haynes tweeting that one of those women is a member of the media.

A former NBA player, Brunson began his coaching career in 2007, and has also served as an assistant in Denver, Chicago, and Charlotte. He has run into legal troubles in the past, having been arrested in June 2014 and indicted on criminal sexual assault charges following an encounter with a massage therapist. Brunson was later acquitted of those charges.

While the Timberwolves, who hired Brunson in 2016, were willing to give him a second chance two years after that incident, he seems unlikely to catch on with another NBA team anytime soon.

Northwest Notes: Thibodeau, Exum, Hood, George

May 7th, 2018 at 8:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Timberwolves coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau shook up his coaching staff Monday by cutting ties with three assistants, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic reports. The most notable of the cuts is player development coach Vince Legarza, who worked closely with center Karl-Anthony Towns. Shooting coach Peter Patton and assistant video coordinator Wes Bohn are the other coaches who will not return. Towns was not given prior notice of Legarza’s departure, Krawczynski continues. Thibodeau may not replace all of those coaches since he has told some people that he’d like to downsize, Krawczynski adds.

In other notable developments around the Northwest Division:

Jazz point guard Dante Exum has a strained left hamstring and his status for the remainder of the series against the Rockets is uncertain, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. Exum underwent an MRI and further evaluation Monday after he suffered the injury in Game 4. Exum and Ricky Rubio, who also has a hamstring injury, will not play in Game 5 on Tuesday, the team tweets.
There’s no chance guard Rodney Hood will return to the Jazz as a free agent, Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. Hood will be a restricted free agent if he receives a $3.47MM qualifying offer from the Cavaliers. Otherwise, he’ll be unrestricted.
The Thunder are willing to pay the steep cost of retaining free agent Paul George, according to Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman. George will likely sign a max contract in free agency this summer. The team wants to remain competitive, even if it means footing the bill for $260MM in salary and luxury-tax penalties, Dawson adds.

Raptors Notes: Casey, Valanciunas, Lowry, DeRozan

May 6th, 2018 at 11:39am CST by Arthur Hill

Rival executives expect the Raptors to make a coaching change if they can’t rally from a 3-0 deficit against the Cavaliers, writes Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer. Dwane Casey is a Coach of the Year candidate after leading Toronto to a 59-win season, but his lack of playoff success may have caught up to him.

Toronto has three qualified replacements in its organization in assistants Nick Nurse and Rex Kalamian and G League coach Jerry Stackhouse. Nurse, who recently interviewed with the Suns and Hornets about their head coaching vacancies, would be the favorite to take over if Casey is dismissed, according to O’Connor, who adds that Nurse played a bigger role than Casey in the changes the Raptors made to their offensive system.

There’s more today out of Toronto:

The series with the Cavaliers is displaying the problems with Toronto’s roster, O’Connor notes in the same story. The Raptors are short on defenders at the wing and forward, their big men aren’t versatile enough for the modern NBA game and they don’t have a superstar who can be the best player on the court in a playoff series. O’Connor states that even if LeBron James heads to the Western Conference in free agency, the Raptors will have difficulty getting past the Celtics or Sixers in the future.
With Toronto already in tax territory for next season and this year’s draft picks dealt away, O’Connor points to trades as the only realistic way to improve. He notes that the Raptors had interest in DeAndre Jordan before this year’s deadline and may explore that route again if he opts in. O’Connor states that a young player like Jakob Poeltl or Delon Wright would have to be included along with Jonas Valanciunas to get the Clippers’ interest. He suggests offering Lowry, C.J. Miles and Pascal Siakam to the Wolves for Jeff Teague and Andrew Wiggins. That would free Minnesota from the cap-clogging contract it gave to Wiggins, and it would pair Lowry and Jimmy Butler, who became friends during their Olympics experience.
DeMar DeRozan had his worst postseason game Saturday with eight points on 3-of-12 shooting and was benched for the final 14 minutes, notes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Casey told reporters not to read too much into the move and expressed confidence that DeRozan will get back to normal. “He had a tough night,” Casey said. “He wasn’t the reason we lost. We are professionals, he’s a pro. He has had tough games before, he’ll bounce back. But we have one more game, our pride is on the line, basically our season is on the line, but I think he’ll bounce back.”

Crawford's Opt-Out Could Be Bad Omen For Wolves

May 5th, 2018 at 11:03am CST by marksuleymanov

Michael Rand of the Star Tribune writes that Jamal Crawford opting out of his deal with the Timberwolves was likely the best-case scenario for both sides. The 38-year-old, Rand writes, is neither an efficient player or a defensively strong one. Conversely, Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune ponders whether Crawford opting out signals trouble for Minnesota’s efforts to attract solid bench options.
While the Timberwolves ended a 13-year postseason drought this season, things were not all that great behind the scenes, per Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (via Dan Feldman of NBC Sports). Minnesota reached the playoffs, has several star players, and revenue is up from previous seasons but that hasn’t helped matters. “There should be a ton to celebrate, right? Just on the surface. You look at those things. But I’m telling you, there is so much angst, and I’m telling you, disconnect behind the scenes,” Wolfson said.
Sean Deveney of Sporting News previewed the Timberwolves‘ offseason, which will include decisions on current players and possible free agents.

Free Agent Stock Watch 2018: Minnesota Timberwolves

May 1st, 2018 at 8:05pm CST by Austin Kent

The Timberwolves landed back in the NBA playoffs for the first time in 14 seasons this spring. That comes as no surprise, given that the club has finally paired its stockpile of young stars with a formidable, winning coach and a green light to spend.

The Wolves need not fret that they barely put a dent in the Rockets this postseason as they’ll be back in contention next season and for as long as Jimmy Butler is capable of leading the club’s offense, flanked by Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns.

It’ll get mighty difficult to afford all three eventually but they won’t need to seriously contemplate how to make all the numbers work until the summer after this one.

Nemanja Bjelica, PF, 30 (Down) – Signed to a three-year, $12MM deal in 2015
The Timberwolves are in a much different position now than they were when they inked Bjelica as an international free agent, but the veteran has hung around in large part due to his presence in the locker room. Given that the Wolves already have so much of their 2018/19 payroll tied up in other players, don’t expect them to offer Bjelica much more than the minimum.

Aaron Brooks, PG, 33 (Down) – Signed to a one-year, $2MM deal in 2017
Brooks didn’t exactly take the league by storm in his tenth season but his role and value are clear; he’s a familiar insurance policy for former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. Brooks isn’t likely to have a long list of suitors so it’s well within reason that he ends up back in Minnesota on another veteran’s minimum deal late this offseason.

Jamal Crawford, SG, 38 (Down) – Signed to a two-year, $9MM deal in 2017
Having made over $100MM over the course of his career, including $11MM from a team he didn’t even play for in 2017/18, Crawford won’t accept his $4.5MM player option for next season if he’s not perfectly content playing for Minnesota. I wouldn’t rule out the 38-year-old passing on a second season with the Wolves in order to close out his career as a killer reserve on a team with more realistic short-term title aspirations.

Marcus Georges-Hunt, SG, 24 (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $1MM deal in 2017
There won’t be significant pressure for the Wolves to bring back Georges-Hunt after a solid but modest first year in Minnesota, but they’ll need to fill out their lineup eventually and he’s a tough, defensive-minded player. Expect the club to keep its options open over the course of the offseason but don’t be surprised if the Wolves bring the familiar 24-year-old back on the cheap.

Amile Jefferson, PF, 25 (Up) – Signed to a one-year deal in 2018
The Wolves converted Jefferson’s two-way contract into a standard deal last month despite the fact that he never even suited up for the big league roster. Still, the team had a spot to spare and had no reason not to add the extra layer of depth heading into the postseason. Jefferson is a stud in the G League so the organization may be intrigued by his eventual fit with the parent club, but he won’t earn more than the minimum.

Derrick Rose, PG, 29 (Up) – Signed to a one-year deal in 2018
Prior to signing on with his former head coach late in the regular season, Rose’s value was at a career low. Fast forward two months later, however, and the wayward guard may have actually stumbled into an opportunity to salvage his career. Rose averaged 14.2 points per game for the Wolves in the postseason and could be a valuable rotation piece in the right situation. We’ve seen Rose flame out in a couple of wrong situations, so the fact that he’s found any sort of momentum reunited with Thibodeau and the rest of the Timberbulls bodes well for all involved. Rose didn’t do enough during the first six months of the season to warrant any more than another speculative one-year, minimum deal, but the postseason resurgence may have earned him one last run at meaningful minutes on a competent team.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wolves Will Prioritize Adding Wings In Offseason

April 30th, 2018 at 2:39pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves will look to improve their depth on the wing this offseason, head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau told reporters today. As Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic tweets, Thibodeau indicated that acquiring wing players who can shoot three-pointers and guard multiple positions is Minnesota’s top priority during the offseason.

Most of the Wolves’ top contributors – including Karl-Anthony Towns, Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins, Jeff Teague, Jamal Crawford, and Nemanja Bjelica – shot a little from the outside in 2017/18, but no player on the roster made more than 1.5 threes per game. As a team, the Wolves made 8.0 three-pointers per contest, which ranked dead last in the NBA.

By comparison, Minnesota’s first-round opponent – the let-it-fly Rockets – led the league with 15.3 threes per game and had six players who knocked down at least two per game. So it’s no surprise that adding more three-point shooting on the wing will be a key focus for the Wolves this offseason.

Here’s more out of Minnesota:

Krawczynski and Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune (Twitter link) both interpreted Thibodeau’s comments today as good news for Derrick Rose‘s potential return to the team. Thibodeau called Rose – who is an unrestricted free agent this summer – a “terrific addition,” Zgoda notes.
Timberwolves GM Scott Layden suggested there will be a lot of activity around the draft, acknowledging that the club could explore trading its first-round pick, tweets Krawczynski. Zgoda expands on Layden’s comments, tweeting that the GM believes that first-rounder represents a chance to “get in the game” when it comes to making a trade offer for an impact player. However, Layden did say Minnesota would be happy to use the pick if there’s a player on the board who can “help us now.”
Layden expressed some regret that he wasn’t more active at the trade deadline, indicating he expects to be more aggressive this summer (Twitter link via Krawczynski).
Thibodeau anticipates Wiggins will have a good offseason entering the 2018/19 campaign, since he won’t have to deal with the distraction of working out a contract extension this time around, like he did a year ago (Twitter link via Krawczynski).
Butler was just dealing with general soreness in his right knee at the end of the season, and won’t require any additional procedures on that knee, Thibodeau said today (Twitter link via Zgoda).

Wolves Notes: Butler, Taylor, Offseason

April 29th, 2018 at 9:40pm CST by marksuleymanov

With the Timberwolves‘ season over after their loss to the Rockets in the first round, the focus now turns to the roster and how the organization can build a long-term roster with its current assets. The first man on that agenda is Jimmy Butler, whom the team acquired as part of a draft-day trade last summer.

Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune writes that Butler’s future will be one of the most important Timberwolves storylines to watch this summer. Butler can opt out of his contract and hit the free agent market a year from now. So if the Timberwolves can’t reach an extension with Butler, it’s not out of the question that they’d test the trade market to see what kind of value they could get in lieu of him leaving as a free agent.

Butler seems unlikely to go anywhere, as owner Glen Taylor has indicated that the star forward is a crucial part of the team. Still, keeping him in Minnesota will require some financial maneuvering on the Wolves’ end. Andrew Wiggins‘ max extension is about to take effect, and Karl-Anthony Towns will soon be eligible for a considerable payday of his own.

Check out more notes surrounding the Wolves below:

In the same story, Taylor spoke about the Timberwolves making their first postseason since 2005. While the result was an early playoff exit, Taylor said that, at least, the team reached its goal of making the postseason.“I thought with the changes we made, the people we brought in, the sacrifices we made in moving some young, potential people, that we needed to be in the playoffs,” Taylor said. “Those were my expectations.”
Earlier in the week, we wrote about the possibility of Butler, who spent his first six seasons with the Bulls, ending up back in the Windy City if he hits free agency in 2019.
Chris Hine of the Star Tribune breaks down Minnesota’s offseason and what the team should be focused on as free agency and the draft approach.

Community Shootaround: Wolves’ Offseason Outlook

April 26th, 2018 at 12:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves became the latest NBA team to be eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday night, dropping Game 5 in Houston and losing their series against the Rockets by a 4-1 margin. With that loss, the offseason is officially underway in Minnesota.

The Wolves’ season came to a disappointing and underwhelming end after the team slipped down to the No. 8 seed and only managed a single playoff win, but there were plenty of positives to take away from the 2017/18 campaign. For one, Minnesota snapped its 14-year postseason drought, earning its spot in the playoffs in dramatic fashion by beating Denver on the final day of the regular season.

“I told the players I’m very proud of what you did, to get out of the hole we were in to win 47 games,” head coach and president Tom Thibodeau said after Wednesday’s loss, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “To get into the playoffs after 14 years of not being in the playoffs, to do it in a very tight playoff race, to finish one game out of the fourth spot, it’s a major jump from where we were two years ago. … I’m very proud of what this team did. It was not easy and they fought like crazy to get it done.”

There are other reasons for optimism in Minnesota. Jimmy Butler‘s knee injury limited the team’s ceiling down the stretch and in the postseason, so the Wolves will be in a better position to make a deeper playoff run next spring if he’s healthy. Additionally, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns are still just 23 and 22 years old, respectively, so there’s room for continued growth from both of those former No. 1 overall picks.

Still, there are some possible areas for concern. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks and The Athletic’s Danny Leroux detail in separate pieces (subscriptions required for both), the Timberwolves’ roster is starting to get expensive, particularly with Towns up for a maximum-salary extension this summer.

Minnesota will have Towns on his modest rookie contract for one more year, but the team already has $110MM on the books for 2018/19, so its ability to spend in free agency will be very limited. The team’s cap sheet for 2019/20 is slightly cleaner for now, but adding new max deals for Towns and Butler would change that equation quickly, potentially putting the Wolves into tax territory and leaving little flexibility for upgrades.

The growing cost of the Timberwolves’ roster mean that the team may have to count on veteran free agents to take discounts to join a potential contender, as owner Glen Taylor recently noted. In order for that to be a viable strategy though, the Wolves will have to convince those free agents of two things: First, that the club is capable of title contention with its current core, and second, that there will be worthwhile roles off the bench under Thibodeau, who notoriously leans heavily on his top six or seven players.

A more extreme approach to addressing the Wolves’ long-term cap outlook would be to make changes to the current core. In a column for The Star Tribune, Jim Souhan makes a case for trading Wiggins and fully committing to Butler, but that’s easier said than done. Wiggins, who is coming off underwhelming performances in Games 4 and 5 of the Houston series, will get expensive on July 1, when his five-year, maximum-salary extension takes effect. Moving a deal that big in terms of years and money can be done – as the Clippers showed with Blake Griffin – but it would be tricky.

As the Wolves’ offseason gets underway, we want to hear your thoughts on what’s next for the club. Do trades need to be made? Does Minnesota have to re-sign Nemanja Bjelica in restricted free agency? Does Wiggins’ new max deal have albatross potential, or will he make it a worthwhile investment? Is Thibodeau the right choice to continue coaching the team and making personnel decisions for the long term?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Don't Rule Out A Jimmy Butler Return To Chicago

April 25th, 2018 at 12:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

It’s conceivable that Jimmy Butler could wind up back in Chicago after next season, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Timberwolves traded for Butler last summer to bring a veteran presence to the organization, but he can opt out of a $19.8MM salary next summer and may be tempted to leave if Minnesota can’t make an impact in the playoffs. Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf remains a huge fan of Butler and would be interested in a reunion. “I loved the city of Chicago, and I love the Reinsdorfs,’’ Butler said. “I’m forever grateful for them in taking a chance on me, allowing me to become the player that I am today. It’s still incredible to me that I got to hoop in a Bulls jersey. I got to play in the house that [Michael] Jordan built, that [Scottie] Pippen played, all that stuff. That’s because of the Reinsdorfs. If the time comes where I say, ‘You know what, I do want to end this thing in a Bulls jersey,’ I think that would be amazing. But it’s all about being wanted and winning.’’

Glen Taylor Discusses Wolves' Roster, FA Recruiting

April 23rd, 2018 at 2:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to WCCO 830’s Chad Hartman, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said his team can afford to pay Karl-Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler the max, despite already having a maximum-salary extension for Andrew Wiggins on the books. However, in order to fill out the rest of the roster with complementary pieces, the Wolves may have to convince some veteran free agents to accept below-market deals.

As Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune details, title contenders like the Warriors, Cavaliers, and Rockets can often convince vets looking for championships to sign minimum-salary deals. Taylor is hoping the Wolves will be able to make a similar pitch, pointing to a star like Butler and a coach like Tom Thibodeau as potentially instrumental recruiters. “That really helps when you have that clout within the league,” Taylor said.