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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/10/17

November 10th, 2017 at 10:58pm CST by Austin Kent

Here are the G League moves from around the basketball world today:

The Timberwolves have recalled Marcus Georges-Hunt from their G League affiliate in Iowa, Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune tweets. The forward scored 34 points in his lone game on assignment.
The Grizzlies have assigned three players to the Memphis Hustle, their G League affiliate, a press release on the team’s official site says. Assigned are Ivan Rabb, Deyonta Davis and Wayne Selden.
The Knicks have assigned Ron Baker and Damyean Dotson to their G League affiliate in Westchester, the team’s public relations department tweets.
Per Scott Bordrow of The Arizona Republic, the Suns have recalled Derrick Jones Jr. from the Northern Arizona Suns, their G League affiliate. The high flyer scored 11 points in his one and only game with the G League squad thus far.

And-Ones: Youth Movement, Asian Influence, Seattle

November 9th, 2017 at 9:30pm CST by Austin Kent

The current crop of NBA rookies is one of the best that hoops fans have seen in years, Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders writes. The scribe cites Ben Simmons and Jayson Tatum as two first-year players who’ve looked poised and dominant in significant roles out of the gates.

It’s not just a top-heavy class either, however, all of Kyle Kuzma, Lauri Markkanen and Donovan Mitchell have impressed over the course of their first months in the NBA.

The youth movement may not be limited to the 2017/18 season though. Marc Spears of The Undefeated recently profiled the 12 best collegiate players who could make an impact at the NBA level as early as next season, going so far as to declare that Michael Porter Jr. should have greater star power than anybody in the 2017 class.

There’s more around the league:

As the world economy shifts, more and more prominent Asian businesses and billionaires are looking to buy into the NBA. Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune breaks down the trend that formally started when Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor sold a 5% stake in the franchise to Lizhang Jiang.
While Tim Leiweke remains confident that he and his Oak View Group represent Seattle’s best chance of regaining an NBA franchise, it’s not necessarily going to happen as soon as some fans would hope. He spoke on the topic at length with Q13’s Bill Wixey.
The BIG3 will add retired point guard T.J. Ford to its ranks, an ESPN report says. The guard averaged 11.2 points and 5.8 assists per game over the course of 306 NBA starts in eight seasons.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/9/17

November 9th, 2017 at 6:32pm CST by Austin Kent

Here are the G League transactions for Thursday:

The Grizzlies have recalled offseason signee Ben McLemore from their G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle, the team announced on its website. McLemore recorded eight points in a rehab start for the squad on Sunday. The team has also recalled rookie Ivan Rabb.
The Kings have assigned second-year center Georgios Papagiannis to their G League affiliate, James Ham of NBC Sports California tweets. The 20-year-old has seen action in just two games with the big league club this season.
The Jazz have recalled rookies Tony Bradley and Royce O’Neale from the SLC Stars, their G League affiliate, the team announced over Twitter.
The Magic have assigned Khem Birch and Wesley Iwundu to their G League affiliate in Lakeland, the team announced on Twitter.
The Rockets have recalled Zhou Qi from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Qi averaged 12.5 points through two games with the G League affiliate.
The Timberwolves have assigned guard Marcus Georges-Hunt to their G League affiliate in Iowa, the team’s public relations Twitter account announced.

Timberwolves' New Veteran Leadership Paying Dividends

November 7th, 2017 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

After making a series of veteran additions in the offseason, the Timberwolves entered the 2017/18 campaign with the ninth-oldest roster in the NBA. So far, in the view of Jim Souhan of The Star Tribune, that veteran leadership has paid major dividends in Minnesota. Souhan refers to the roster as not only the best in franchise history, but “the most mature.”

Timberwolves Don't Have Interest In Jahlil Okafor

October 31st, 2017 at 10:14pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves don’t have any interest in Jahlil Okafor, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link). Okafor, who had his 2018/19 turned down by the Sixers, remains on the trade block and may even end up seeking a buyout.

Wolves Notes: Ownership, Muhammad, Towns

October 30th, 2017 at 10:25am CST by Luke Adams

It was less than two years ago that Glen Taylor nearly worked out an agreement to sell a portion of the Timberwolves to Steve Kaplan, with an eye toward Kaplan eventually taking over a controlling interest in the franchise. However, since that deal fell through, Taylor has doubled down on his investment in the Wolves, pouring money into renovating the arena and revamping the roster, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

As he explains to Krawczynski, Taylor has had no shortage of opportunities to sell the Timberwolves, and any sale would net him a significant profit, considering he bought the franchise for just $88MM back in 1994. However, the long-time owner of the Wolves doesn’t want to see a new ownership group move the team out of Minnesota, and most potential investors are interested in doing just that.

Krawczynski suggests that Taylor could have sold the team for at least $700MM within the last couple years, with the Wolves’ owner hinting that he could have done much better than that if he’d been eager to sell.

“Even right now I have people that would call me up and give me substantially more than the number you just said,” Taylor said. “And I’ve said I’m not interested in selling. I just want to play this thing out.

“I certainly could sell the team if money was my driving factor,” Taylor added. “But it wasn’t when I bought it. I never anticipated selling it (to make money).”

Here’s more on the Wolves’ ownership situation, a long with a couple more notes out of Minnesota:

Although Taylor is in no rush to sell the Timberwolves, Krawczynski’s report notes that Taylor is 76 years old, and none of his children are interested in taking over the business, so he’ll have to find a buyer at some point down the road.
While it’s not official yet and he’s not sure how long the process will take, Shabazz Muhammad plans to change his legal name to ‘Bazz,” as he tells Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune. “I just like it,” Muhammad said. “Everybody calls me that anyway.”
Karl-Anthony Towns enjoyed his best game of the season on Friday night, racking up 33 points and 19 rebounds in a win over Oklahoma City. As Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune relays, Towns’ teammates – who recognize his ability to take over games – would like to see that sort of effort from him on a nightly basis. Towns will be extension-eligible for the first time in 2018, and figures to be in line for a maximum-salary deal with more performances like Friday’s.

Jamal Crawford A World-Class Reserve

October 29th, 2017 at 8:02pm CST by Austin Kent

It wouldn’t be much of a stretch for Timberwolves guard Jamal Crawford to be considered the best bench player of the past decade. In fact, Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune writes, the 37-year-old recently became the second player in the past 35 years to score 10,000 off the bench.

Crawford was no slouch as a starter back in the day – he averaged 20.6 points per game with the Knicks in 2007/08 – but it wasn’t until he slotted into a reserve role with the Hawks that he started winning. Now the veteran is looking to make an impact on the revamped Timberwolves.

“It’s an important role, it really is,” Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau said. “A lot of times you have guys who don’t get recognized in the boxscore, but it’s so important to winning. Setting screens, sprinting back in defensive transition. If a guys does that, it helps you win.”

Defense Has Been Sorely Lacking

October 28th, 2017 at 3:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau has a long-standing reputation as a defensive guru but his team has played poorly at that end in the early going this season, as Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders points out. The team ranks last in defensive efficiency and star players Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins have been particularly ineffective, Blancarte continues. Towns admitted to reporters this week he isn’t getting the job done. “I’ve just got to be better all around, everywhere,” Towns said. “I’m not my best right now. I’m not, and it hurts. So I’ve got to go back to the drawing board and find a way to play better.”

The Thunder’s chartered plane to Chicago Friday night was damaged during the flight but the team arrived safely. The nose of the plane suffered damaged and Delta Airlines said it was likely caused by colliding with a bird, according to an Associated Press report. The team was traveling from Minnesota, where it lost to the Timberwolves in the front end of a back-to-end.
The Timberwolves have hired former Rockets player Rafer Alston as a scout, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic tweets. Alston’s NBA playing career ended in 2010.

And-Ones: Saunders, Gordon, Prigioni

October 26th, 2017 at 10:07pm CST by Austin Kent

It’s been two years since Timberwolves icon Flip Saunders, then the franchise’s president of basketball operations, passed away from Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The man’s impact on the organization is still felt to this day, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes.

Saunders played a vital role in the club’s recent return to relevance both from a business and personnel perspective. The celebrated executive’s touch can be seen at all levels of the organization from the new practice facility that Saunders helped design to the transactions he made in the wake of David Kahn‘s time at the helm from 2009 to 2013.

Saunders remains the only head coach in franchise history to lead the team to the playoffs, having done so eight times from 1997-2004 during his first run with the franchise. Since 2006, the team has cracked a .400 win percentage only once.

“I made a promise to Flip Saunders that we would win and end the playoff drought,” current franchise cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns said on the media day of his rookie season shortly before Saunders passed. “And I intend to keep that promise.”

There’s more from around the league:

Former NBA player Ben Gordon has run into trouble with the law, Jonathan Bandler of The Journal News writes. The 34-year-old wasn’t ultimately charged following a confrontation between himself and a woman at his business but police were called to the scene and he was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation.
The journey into the business world continues for Kobe Bryant. As Darren Rovell of ESPN writes, Bryant has approached his investments with the same obsessiveness that he did his NBA career.
Retired NBA guard Pablo Prigioni is stepping down from his role as the head coach of Liga ACB team Baskonia, Orazio Cauchi of Sportando writes. The team has gotten off to a rocky start and it’s said that Prigioni has lost control of the situation.

Gorgui Dieng Sees Reduced Role So Far

October 26th, 2017 at 5:23pm CST by Austin Kent

The Timberwolves will need to figure out just how Gorgui Dieng fits into their plans now that they’ve revamped their roster, Michael Rand of The Star Tribune writes. After playing 32.4 minutes per game last season, the 27-year-old advanced stat darling has seen just 13.8 through five games so far in 2017/18.