- The Timberwolves are interested in signing Knicks unrestricted free agent forward Lance Thomas for a bench role, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN relays (on Twitter). Minnesota will have some competition for Thomas’ services, with New York reportedly interested in re-signing the player and the Thunder, Nets and Mavericks all expected to make a play for the 28-year-old.
4:31pm: The Wolves officially announced that they have waived Smith.
4:24pm: The Timberwolves have waived center Greg Smith, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). Provided he clears waivers, the big man will become an unrestricted free agent as a result of the team parting ways with him.
The 25-year-old signed a multiyear deal with the team in March after his second 10-day pact with the club expired. Smith earned $137,380 for his work after inking the pact and was set to be paid $1,139,123 in 2016/17. The contract called for no guaranteed money, so Minnesota will not be on the hook for any salary by waiving Smith.
In 18 appearances for the Wolves Smith averaged 2.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .563/.000/.412.
The Timberwolves didn’t find the sort of return they hoped for when they shopped Ricky Rubio before and during the draft, but Tom Thibodeau is optimistic that Rubio’s value will increase this offseason, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. As Deveney explains, Minnesota expects certain teams to become much more interested in Rubio once top free agent point guards like Mike Conley and Rajon Rondo come off the board, if those clubs are left without a viable starter at the position.
The Wolves haven’t ruled out the possibility of hanging onto Rubio and letting him and No. 5 overall pick Kris Dunn work together in 2016/17, but league sources tell Deveney that a handful of teams, including the Sixers, Rockets, and Bucks may have interest in the Spanish point guard. The Mavericks could also be a potential trade partner for Minnesota if Dallas doesn’t land Mike Conley, says Deveney.
Let’s check in on a few more trade rumors and notes from around the NBA…
- The Heat continue to explore moving Josh McRoberts, but they may need to attach a future draft pick in such a deal, tweets Ethan J. Skolnick of The Miami Herald. McRoberts’ $5.782MM salary isn’t exorbitant for a player with his skill-set, but he’s coming off two poor seasons, both of which were shortened by injury issues.
- During an appearance on ESPN’s The Jump on Wednesday, Jimmy Butler acknowledged that he knew heading into the offseason that the Bulls would likely trade either him or Derrick Rose, as Nick Friedell of ESPN.com details. Butler also isn’t 100% sure he’s safe, even after he made it through the draft without being dealt. “I don’t think anything is for certain,” Butler said. “I really don’t. I love the city of Chicago, Chicago basketball, I think everybody knows that. They drafted me; I’ve been here my entire career. Nothing is for certain.”
- RealGM’s list of future traded draft picks has the details on the future second-rounder sent to the Pistons by the Magic in the Jodie Meeks trade. The criteria are some of the most convoluted I’ve seen on a traded pick, but the upshot is that Detroit will receive a 2019 second-round selection from either Cleveland, Houston, Portland, or Orlando.
- As the Timberwolves survey the market for free agent bigs, Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News tweets that Brandon Bass is another potential target on the team’s radar.
The Sixers have generally steered clear of the free agent market, particularly when it comes to high-priced players, during their lengthy rebuilding process, but that approach could change this year. The team reportedly has “serious” interest in Harrison Barnes, who may be in line for a max contract, and agents who have spoken to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News suggest there’s a different vibe around the team this summer.
“By all indications, they’re going to be aggressive, and I think once you get past that first tier of free agents, you are going to have a perfect storm in Philadelphia that is going to make players want to go there,” one agent told Deveney. “Brett Brown is a good coach. They’ve got money. They’ve got playing time available. I mean, it couldn’t be a more different situation than what we’re used to.”
Here’s more on the Sixers, via Deveney:
- More on the Sixers, from another player agent: “I’ve got guys who tell me they want to going there. I mean, excited to go there. It’s a different approach.”
- Philadelphia isn’t expected to pursue top-tier free agents like Al Horford, but the team will be willing to gamble on young guards and wing players who could command large salaries, like Barnes. A source confirmed to Deveney that the Sixers do indeed plan to show interest in Dion Waiters and Allen Crabbe, as we’ve heard this week.
- Evan Fournier and Jordan Clarkson are two more free agents who may receive consideration from the 76ers, but both players are restricted FAs and will be difficult to pry away from their current teams, writes Deveney.
- The Sixers are expected to pursue “one or more point guards” on the trade market, according to Deveney, who says the team explored a possible deal for Ricky Rubio on draft night. Such a deal would have had to be a three-way trade to get the Timberwolves the veteran help they were seeking.
- Per Deveney, Philadelphia has also expressed some trade interest in Patrick Beverley, whom the Rockets have reportedly shopped.
- Jason Smith will be among the free agent big men to receive interest from the Timberwolves this offseason, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who tweets that Smith will be more of a “fallback-type” option for Minnesota.
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has finalized the sale of shares of the franchise, bringing in two minority stake-holders, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. According to Windhorst, Taylor closed separate deals with Shanghai-based businessman Lizhang Jiang and New York-based real estate magnate Meyer Orbach. Per Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter links), Jiang – the NBA’s first Chinese minority owner – purchased about 5% of the Wolves, while Orbach took on about 9.5%. News of these sale agreements first surfaced in April.
Taylor had previously been in talks to sell 30% of the Timberwolves to Grizzlies minority-share owner Steve Kaplan, and they were reportedly discussing a plan to have Kaplan eventually succeed Taylor as the Wolves’ primary owner. Windhorst suggests that deal has fallen apart, though Krawczynski tweets that there’s “still some optimism” that the two sides could eventually work something out.
The Timberwolves will decline the $1.2MM team option on small forward Damjan Rudez, making him an unrestricted free agent, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical tweets. Rudez only appeared in 33 games for Minnesota last season, averaging 2.3 points in 8.4 minutes.
The 30-year-old Rudez saw considerably more playing time in his first season in the league, appearing in 68 games with the Pacers during 2014/15 while averaging 4.8 points in 15.4 minutes. He was traded to Minnesota last July in exchange for Chase Budinger. His most attractive skill is his long-distance shooting — the 6’9” Rudez has averaged 39.1% on 3-point attempts during his short NBA career.
Rudez spent most of his career in Europe, most recently with CAI Zaragoza of Spain, before signing with Indiana. He was a three-time Croatian League All-Star.
The young, steadily improving Timberwolves didn’t have a rotation spot for Rudez, as he languished behind Andrew Wiggins and Shabazz Muhammad.
Free agent center Joakim Noah is putting together a list of possible destinations and seems increasingly likely to leave Chicago, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Noah and his agent, Bill Duffy, are working though a priority list as they search for Noah’s next team, Cowley reports. In order, those are a winning team, a chance to start and finish games and a franchise that will support his foundation, Noah’s Arc. The Knicks’ prospects for landing Noah improved with the Derrick Rose trade, according to Cowley. The Wizards and Timberwolves, under the direction of former Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau, will also be contenders.
There’s more tonight out of Chicago:
- The Bulls have been talking to a few teams about a trade involving Taj Gibson, Cowley writes in the same piece. The 31-year-old power forward will make $8.95MM next season in the final year of his contract. Cowley says the Bulls also seem likely to lose free agent center Pau Gasol, who will turn 36 soon and doesn’t want to be part of a rebuilding project.
- Denzel Valentine‘s college coach says the No. 14 pick will be fine in the NBA despite concerns about the condition of his knees, relays K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. “I think he’ll be great for the Bulls,” said Michigan State’s Tom Izzo. “I know people are worried about the knees. I’m not saying he’s got 20-year-old knees, but the guy played in 144 of 148 games. He missed some practices when he had surgery on it, but that was it. I used to have to drag him out of games. He practiced. He worked out. He loves the game.”
- Free agent point guard Brandon Jennings could help fill the void left by the loss of Rose, suggests Kendall Gill of CSNChicago. Jennings averaged 6.9 points and 3.5 assists this season in 48 games with the Pistons and Magic.
The list of teams expected to be in the mix for Al Horford‘s services is expanding. It was previously reported that the Magic, Pistons, Lakers and Rockets would be attempting to poach the big man from the Hawks. The Wizards, Celtics and Heat are also expected to pursue the 30-year-old, according to Darren Wolfson of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Wolfson adds that the Wolves will likely try to make a run at Horford, but are unlikely to get him to sign.
The Hawks are reportedly viewed as the frontrunner to lock up Horford since they can offer the most money and years. Atlanta intends to put a max deal on the table. He just finished up his ninth year in the league, meaning he’s eligible for the second-tier max salary this summer.
He could certainly take LeBron James‘ path and sign a shorter deal with an opt out after one season. Such a move would vault him into the third-tier max salary next offseason, which would allow him a starting salary of nearly 35% cap instead of the roughly 30% he is currently eligible for. Still, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors pointed out, given his age, he might opt to take long-term security.
Horford played in all 82 games last season for the first time in his career. He is a career 53.5% shooter from the field and a 34.0% shooter from behind the arc. He matched a career high in blocks with 1.5 per contest last season and he ranked 7th in the league among centers in ESPN’s Real Plus/Minus.