Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wolves Sign Amile Jefferson To Two-Way Deal

January 15th, 2018 at 5:04pm CST by Luke Adams

5:04pm: The signing is official, per team release.

1:17pm: The Timberwolves will fill their open two-way contract slot by signing forward Amile Jefferson to a two-way contract, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Charania adds that Jefferson will be a free agent this summer, meaning his new deal will just be a rest-of-season agreement.

Jefferson, 24, went undrafted in 2017 and signed with the Timberwolves for training camp. He was cut at the end of the preseason, joining the Iowa Wolves – Minnesota’s G League team – as an affiliate player in the fall. The former Duke standout has been dominant in his first G League season, averaging 18.0 PPG and 13.1 RPG with a .640 FG%, earning his shot at a two-way deal.

The Timberwolves had been carrying just one two-way player – Anthony Brown – for months, but decided to add a second before today’s deadline. After January 15, teams are no longer permitted to sign players to two-way contracts until the 2018/19 league year begins.

Jefferson may remain with the Iowa Wolves for now, but his two-way deal will allow him to spend up to 22 days in the NBA with the Timberwolves.

Last Day For Teams To Sign Two-Way Deals, Apply For DPEs

January 15th, 2018 at 9:59am CST by Luke Adams

January 15 is an important date on the NBA calendar. As we outlined earlier this morning, it’s the day that several of the players who signed free agent deals in 2017 become trade-eligible for the first time on those new deals. In addition to being the first day that those players can be traded, January 15 is also the last day for teams to complete certain roster moves. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Last day for teams to sign players to two-way contracts:

If you were following Hoops Rumors over the weekend, you likely noticed a flurry of roster moves involving two-way contracts. That’s because January 15 represents the deadline for teams to sign players to two-way deals. If a club doesn’t finalize a two-way signing today, it can’t do so for the remainder of the 2017/18 league year.

A handful of two-way signings reported over the weekend – including the Lakers‘ deal with Gary Payton II and a pair of Pistons agreements – will need to be made official today. Additionally, the Bucks, Timberwolves, and Wizards each still have an open two-way slot, as our tracker shows, so if they don’t want to leave that second slot empty all season, they’ll need to fill it today.

Salaries for all two-way players will become fully guaranteed for 2017/18 on January 20.

Last day for teams to apply for a disabled player exception:

As our glossary entry on the disabled player exception explains, the DPE is a tool that can be granted to teams by the NBA. It gives a club a one-time cap exception that can be used to replace a player who suffered a season-ending injury.

The Celtics applied for and received a disabled player exception back in the fall after Gordon Hayward went down, but the Nets didn’t file for a DPE after Jeremy Lin‘s season-ending injury that same week. They’re expected to do so by today’s deadline, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The Heat are also worth watching, since they’ll be eligible for a DPE if Dion Waiters is ruled out for the season, as is expected.

Jones Impressive, But Teague Remains Starter

January 14th, 2018 at 10:21am CST by Arthur Hill

Timberwolves point guard Tyus Jones played well when Jeff Teague was sidelined with a sprained knee ligament, but there’s no thought about making him the starter, relays Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune. Jones ranks in the top five in the league in assists and steals per turnover and is number one in defensive real plus-minus. Still, coach Tom Thibodeau trusts Teague, who was one of Minnesota’s prize offseason additions, and won’t consider a change.

Clippers Proposed Blockbuster Deal Involving Griffin, Towns

January 13th, 2018 at 9:28am CST by marksuleymanov

The Clippers proposed a deal to the Timberwolves that would have sent Blake Griffin to Minnesota in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns but talks did not advance past the initial phone call, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders writes.

The Timberwolves view Towns as a franchise cornerstone who is not available at this time, Scotto notes. Aside from Minnesota’s reluctance to part with Towns, several other factors stand in the way of a trade. Los Angeles signed Griffin to a massive five-year, $171MM extension this past offseason. Not only does that make Griffin ineligible to be traded until January 15, but Towns’ salary is a mere $6.2MM compared to Griffin’s $29.5MM.

To facilitate a trade, the Timberwolves would likely need to send at least two more players to L.A. to acquire Griffin. That would also complicate the Clippers’ roster as the organization would need to figure how to open a roster spot for the hypothetical third player acquired, according to Scotto.

Griffin, 28, has played well when healthy for the Clippers this season, averaging 22.6 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 5.2 APG in 25 games. In his third season, the 22-year-old Towns’ scoring is down from last season (20.2 PPG) but his 12.0 RPG in an NBA-best 44 games is in line with his career totals.

The Clippers’ performance this season has fluctuated but the team is currently one game behind the Pelicans for the eighth seed with a 20-21 record. A rebuild has been rumored for months which would likely include shipping the likes of DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams elsewhere. However, this is the first time we are hearing that the Clippers have discussed Griffin in trade talks.

Andrew Wiggins' Contributing More Than Just Offense

January 12th, 2018 at 9:48pm CST by Austin Kent

The Timberwolves have been getting more out of Andrew Wiggins lately and the swingman continues to get better. Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune writes that head coach Tom Thibodeau spoke highly of his young wing at Wednesday night’s press conference.

A month ago, just as Jimmy Butler stepped up as a more assertive offensive weapon for the Timberwolves, Wiggins struggled with his jumpshot. These days the shooting guard found a way to score more efficiently while contributing in other ways as well.

“He’s such a gifted scorer. That part is obvious. But it’s all the other things he’s capable of doing. He can play great when he doesn’t shoot the ball well and everybody has nights when they don’t shoot the ball great,” the Timberwolves coach said. “There’s defense, rebounding the ball, getting out on the break, making plays for other people. […] His activity overall has been great. It just makes the game easier for everyone.”

Muhammad Changes Agents; Wolves Monitor Buyout Market

January 11th, 2018 at 3:04pm CST by Austin Kent

Timberwolves forward Shabazz Muhammad has signed with agents Happy Walters and George Langberg of Catalyst Sports, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders tweets.
The Timberwolves are actively looking at the buyout market, Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News reports, but there hasn’t been much trade talk in the organization.

Salary-Cap Issues Could Haunt Team

January 8th, 2018 at 10:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Salary-cap issues could sidetrack the Timberwolves’ rise in the Western Conference, as Nick Friedell of ESPN details. Referencing ESPN salary expert Bobby Marks, Friedell notes that the Timberwolves would be only $6MM under the projected $123MM luxury-tax line next season with four open roster spots if they kept the current roster together. That would hamstring their ability to bring in quality free agents. The tax implications only get worse in future years if, as expected, they offer Karl-Anthony Towns a rookie max extension and try to re-sign Jimmy Butler when he becomes a free agent in 2019.

Butler has been primarily responsible for the Timberwolves’ improvement to playoff-level status, as Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer examines.

Jamal Crawford Wanted To Play With Isaiah Thomas

January 8th, 2018 at 8:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Veteran shooting guard Jamal Crawford would have signed with the Cavaliers if their blockbuster trade with the Celtics had happened sooner, he revealed to Joe Vardon of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Crawford is close friends with Isaiah Thomas and that would have played a pivotal role in deciding where to go as a free agent last summer.

“That’s my brother,” Crawford told Vardon and other media members. “We’re past like friends or basketball relationship. … Like, we go on vacation, like it’s his family and my family. … so that would’ve had to change things.”

Cleveland wanted to sign Crawford for the veteran’s minimum but the Timberwolves offered their $4.3MM room mid-level exception. Crawford has a player option worth $4.6MM for next season.

Crawford also considered signing with the Warriors after the Clippers traded him to the Hawks. Atlanta had no intention of keeping Crawford after acquiring him in a three-team deal in July and the two sides reached a buyout agreement.

Crawford also liked the idea of joining a team on the upswing, instead of one of the reigning conference champions, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

“If I would go there and we would win a championship, I’d be like ‘OK, what’s next Jamal?’ You want to embrace that journey and I wanted to go through it with these guys,” said Crawford, referring to the Timberwolves. “There’s nothing against , like, I have the ultimate respect for the Cavs and the Warriors and all those teams. But they’re already there. I wanted to go somewhere where they can kind of build up.”

Crawford is averaging 9.7 PPG and 2.3 APG in 18.8 MPG as one of Minnesota’s key reserves.

Wolves Hitting Stride; "Everyone Likes Each Other"

January 3rd, 2018 at 12:48pm CST by Luke Adams

The positive energy surrounding the Timberwolves as of late has been noticeable, as the new-look roster is hitting its stride. “I feel like everyone’s comfortable,” Andrew Wiggins said, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “Everyone’s together. Everyone’s playing together. Everyone likes each other. We’re in a good flow right now.”

MacMullan’s Latest: Irving, LeBron, Cavs, Suns

January 3rd, 2018 at 10:27am CST by Luke Adams

With Isaiah Thomas having returned to the Cavaliers on Tuesday, and the Cavs now poised to square off against the Celtics on Wednesday, it only makes sense to revisit one of the 2017 offseason’s biggest trades. ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan has done just that, taking a deep dive into the factors that led to Kyrie Irving heading from Cleveland to Boston.

Along the way, MacMullan passes along several noteworthy tidbits — while the whole piece is worth checking out, especially for Cavs and Celtics fans, we’ve rounded up some of the most interesting details below:

While Irving made his trade request in July, the Cavaliers explored the possibility of moving the point guard in June, which MacMullan suggests contributed to Irving’s decision to ask out of Cleveland. “They didn’t want me there,” Irving said of the Cavs. Former teammate LeBron James disputes that notion, which he says “makes absolutely no sense.”
One deal the Cavs explored in June would have sent Irving and Channing Frye to the Suns and resulted in both Paul George and Eric Bledsoe landing in Cleveland. However, Phoenix balked at that deal, since the club was unwilling to give up the No. 4 overall pick, says MacMullan. A few days later, the Pacers dealt George to the Thunder instead.
Although no formal offer was made during those negotiations, Irving caught wind of the talks and believed they were orchestrated by James’ camp, since LeBron shares an agent with Bledsoe. Team and league sources suggest otherwise, telling MacMullan that former Cavs GM David Griffin sensed that an Irving trade request may be coming and initiated talks with the Suns.
When Irving and his agent met with the Cavaliers on July 9, they pressed owner Dan Gilbert about the team’s direction, and mentioned the Spurs, Knicks, and Timberwolves as preferred landing spots for Irving. Boston didn’t come up during that meeting, but Gilbert coveted the Nets‘ 2018 first-round pick that was held by the Celtics, and Irving’s camp didn’t oppose a deal to the C’s.
When the Celtics emerged as a viable trade partner for Irving and the Cavs, Gilbert went to James and attempted to secure a promise that he’d stay in Cleveland beyond the 2017/18 season, but LeBron declined to commit, sources tell MacMullan.