Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hawks Trade Adreian Payne To Wolves

February 10th, 2015 at 1:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:57pm: The pick going to Atlanta will become a second-rounder if it’s not conveyed within the protected years, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).

1:34pm: The Hawks have traded Adreian Payne to the Timberwolves for a first-round pick, the Wolves and have announced. The Hawks have also acknowledged the deal via press release. Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported that Payne would leave the Hawks, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune had him going to the Wolves, and Vivlamore noted the inclusion of the first-rounder (All Twitter links). It represents a sharp turnaround for the Hawks on Payne, whom the Hawks drafted 15th overall out of Michigan State just this past June. The first-rounder that Atlanta receives is for 2017, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Minnesota only had its own first-rounder for that year. The pick will be lottery protected through 2020, sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

“We are extremely excited to welcome Adreian to Minnesota,” Timberwolves coach/executive Flip Saunders said in the team’s statement. “Adreian fits the mold of a young, athletic and talented player who we believe will fit in well with our young and talented core. We’ve liked him for a while and look forward to seeing him grow with us in a Wolves uniform.”

The Wolves were indeed high on Payne going into last year’s draft, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. The power forward has gone on D-League assignment four times this season and has appeared in only three NBA games as the Hawks haven’t found much use for him amid their ascent to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

The move opens a roster spot for Atlanta, which had been carrying a full 15-man roster. It’s possible, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), that the Hawks would fill it with Ray Allen, whom they’ve sought, or Gary Neal, who worked under Hawks coach and acting GM Mike Budenholzer when they were both with the Spurs. The Timberwolves are reportedly exploring the idea of a buyout or trade involving Neal, whom they just acquired earlier today from the Hornets. The move also helps make way for the Hawks to sign Edy Tavares, a center whom the team drafted 43rd overall in 2014, when the offseason rolls around, Wojnarowski notes (on Twitter).

The Wolves had immediate plans for the roster spot they opened up in their Mo Williams trade earlier today, as Krawczynski reported earlier today, and Payne restores the team to 15 players, including Lorenzo Brown, who’s on a 10-day contract. It represents a chance for the team to buy low on a highly regarded prospect, and the protection on the pick heading to Atlanta means Minnesota won’t give up a pick higher in the order than the one the Hawks used on Payne last year.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images.

Trade Candidate: Thaddeus Young

February 9th, 2015 at 10:32pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Timberwolves expected to contend for a playoff spot this season, but injuries and disappointing play have dropped the team into the cellar of the Western Conference. The team is currently 11-41, which is good for second place in our Reverse Standings, thus guaranteeing the Wolves a top-five pick in the 2015 draft if they hold that position. The franchise has a great passing point guard in Ricky Rubio, a few nice long-term pieces in Gorgui Dieng and Shabazz Muhammad and a potential star in Andrew Wiggins. The Timberwolves have a good nucleus and the future looks bright, but the light at the end of the tunnel is a few seasons down the road.

The team also employs several veterans, including Thaddeus Young. The Wolves chose to acquire Young instead of a top-10 protected first-round pick as part of last summer’s blockbuster Kevin Love trade. That pick, which originates from Miami, has a decent chance of ending up in the lottery. The decision was a blemish in an otherwise good trade, a rarity for a team dealing away a star player. The team simply overestimated the talent on its roster and thought it could make the playoffs this season.

Young thought he was coming into a situation where he could help a winning team, but instead, the forward will be on one of the worst teams in the league for the second consecutive season. Young subtly requested a trade from the Sixers last season, in part because of the team’s direction. Although Young hasn’t requested a trade this season and the Wolves haven’t implemented the same kind of tanking strategy as the Sixers, which I previously examined, the situation remains unappealing.

Young had a rocky start to the season, but he has played better since the start of 2015, averaging 14.3 points and 1.9 steals per game. His role has been overextended at times this year. As with many non-stars in the league, Young’s usage rate and player efficiency rating (PER) have an inverse relationship. When his usage rate stays below 20.0, the league average, the forward has experienced his best seasons in terms of PER, with his rating peaking at 18.93, which is well above league average. As his usage rage has risen about that figure, he has experienced his worst seasons in terms of PER, with his rating falling all the way to 14.90 this season. Still, the talent is there and most contending teams could always use another contributor come playoff time.

The Nets were interested in acquiring Young as part of a bigger trade that sent Brook Lopez, whose value I examined last month, to the Thunder. The Nets were interested in flipping Kendrick Perkins to the Wolves as part of a three-way trade, though it’s unclear if Minnesota would have required more to part with Young. Only netting a veteran on an expiring contract in exchange for Young would represent a severe drop-off in the 26-year-old’s value, considering what Minnesota passed up to obtain him. Last season, as our own Chuck Myron pointed out, Young’s value was at its peak. This season, his value might be at its low point.

Young will make slightly more than $9.41MM this season and more than $9.71MM next year. He has an early termination option at the end of this season that could void the final year of his deal, which could make a trade even more tricky. Getting a team to give up any sort of valuable asset for the forward could be problematic given his ability to hit the free agent market during the offseason. Any team that comes close to acquiring him would probably want to suss out which way he’s leaning on the option. Most suitors would probably shy away if they get the impression that he’ll opt out, although that’s just my speculation.

The Raptors could be a potential fit after they were “sniffing around” the league for an upgrade at the power forward position. Players such as Taj Gibson, David West and Kenneth Faried have been mentioned in connection with Toronto. Young would most likely cost Toronto much less to obtain than any of the trio but it is questionable whether Young is an upgrade over current starter Amir Johnson. Toronto would give Young a situation akin to what Jeff Green stepped into when he was traded to Memphis. Green has played well as complementary option and the Grizzlies have gone 12-2 since acquiring the Georgetown product.

Young has proven he can be a productive player when he has talent around him. Just this season, in games with Ricky Rubio in the lineup, Young has averaged 15.4 points per game while shooting 47.9% from the field and posted a plus-minus of plus 23. In games without Rubio in the lineup, Young has scored 14.1 points per game while shooting 43.7% from the field but has a plus-minus of minus 241.

Many teams would love to acquire the forward but only for the right price. Young’s value has taken a severe hit this season and it may be a great buy-low opportunity for some willing franchise. Yet, as is the case with the Nuggets and Arron Afflalo, if the Wolves can get a return that rivals what they gave up for Young, they would be wise to jump on that opportunity.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mavs, Wizards Eye Kevin Martin?

February 9th, 2015 at 3:53pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:53pm: The Wizards regard Will Bynum as their chief target aside from Ray Allen, writes J. Michael of CSNWashington.com, so it doesn’t appear as though Martin is a high priority for them.

MONDAY, 10:35am: There’s “nothing there yet” regarding the Mavericks and Martin, a source tells Wolfson (Twitter link).

FRIDAY, 2:33pm: Washington hasn’t discussed Martin to this point, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities hears (Twitter link).

9:10am: The Mavericks and Wizards are “among the possibilities” for Kevin Martin, as Chris Mannix of SI.com writes within his Open Floor column, calling the Timberwolves shooting guard a “player to keep an eye on” as the February 19th trade deadline approaches. Still, a source told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News about a week ago that there’s “almost zero chance” the Wolves swing any deals because of the long-term salary commitments involved with many of their veterans. Martin, who makes nearly $6.793MM this season, is under contract through 2016/17, a season for which he has a player option worth almost $7.378MM.

Despite those salaries, Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press wrote last week that he didn’t get the sense that the Wolves wanted to trade the 11th-year veteran. Martin has played in only 14 games this season, including a 37-point performance against the Knicks in which he broke his right (shooting) wrist. He returned to action just last week after an absence of more than two months because of the wrist, and he scored 30 points in Minnesota’s last game, a victory over the Heat. The 32-year-old is averaging 20.5 points per game so far this year, which would represent his first season with a scoring average of better than 20.0 PPG since 2010/11.

Neither the Mavs nor the Wizards have a trade exception large enough to absorb Martin, and both teams are fairly close to the tax threshold, so they’d have to send out matching salary. Washington has the additional burden of a hard cap. The only expiring contract the Wizards have that’s greater than the minimum salary and doesn’t require the player’s consent for a trade is the team’s deal with Andre Miller, who makes $4.625MM this season and has recently fallen out of the rotation. The expiring contracts for the Mavs are all minimum-salary deals, except the ones for Tyson Chandler and Rajon Rondo, players the team will almost certainly keep.

Western Notes: Malone, Howard, Clippers

February 9th, 2015 at 3:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Former Kings coach Michael Malone made a second visit to Minnesota to speak with Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor after Flip Saunders invited Malone to observe the team for a while last month, as TNT’s David Aldridge reports amid his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Aldridge speculates that Saunders, serving in a dual role as coach and president of basketball operations, is eyeing Malone as a potential replacement as coach for whenever Saunders decides to concentrate on his executive role. Malone is also a rumored candidate for the Magic’s head coaching job. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Dwight Howard says he was given a timetable of six to eight weeks for recovery from the right knee swelling that’s kept him out of action since January 23rd, according to Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle. The Rockets announced this past Wednesday that he’d miss at least a month, though team doctor Walt Lowe says there isn’t a specific time frame for his return, other than that he’ll be back this season, Creech writes.
The Clippers are unlikely to make a 10-day signing before the All-Star break, as Dan Woike of the Orange County Register hears (Twitter link). The team has reportedly spoken with Sebastian Telfair about a potential deal.
The Rockets have recalled rookies Clint Capela and Nick Johnson from the D-League, the team announced (on Twitter). It was assignment No. 4 for Capela and the third D-League stint for Johnson, as our assignments/recalls log shows. Johnson is averaging 10.7 minutes per game in 17 NBA appearances, while Capela has seen only 18 total minutes with the big club.
Al-Farouq Aminu has given the Mavericks the best dollar-for-dollar production of any player on the roster, opines Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com, arguing that the minimum-salary signee has excelled doing many of the same duties Shawn Marion did last year.

Timberwolves Open To Trading Mo Williams

February 9th, 2015 at 3:07pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:07pm: Charlotte and Minnesota talked about a deal that would send Williams and Troy Daniels to the Hornets, but that conversation stalled within the past few days, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

FEBRUARY 9TH, 1:10pm: The Hornets are also a likely suitor for Williams, Wolfson tweets, adding that while he believes the Wolves will trade Williams, no deal is close.

JANUARY 30TH, 3:18pm: The Cavs, Clippers and Heat are among the teams to watch regarding Williams, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 Twin Cities, adding that there’s a “small chance” that the Pistons become involved (Twitter link). The return Minnesota would receive for Williams would be “minimal,” Wolfson also says.

11:49am: Rival teams believe the Wolves are making Mo Williams available to potential trade partners willing to relinquish a draft pick, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Williams is indeed available, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (on Twitter). Still, a source told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that there’s “almost zero chance” that Minnesota makes any deal this season, given the limited market for its veterans, as Deveney wrote earlier this morning.

The source who spoke with Deveney referred to the long-term financial commitments to some of those vets as stumbling blocks, but Williams is on a $3.75MM deal that only covers this season. Many executives and scouts who spoke with Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck for a December report identified Williams and teammate Thaddeus Young as likely trade candidates. Young has a player option worth almost $9.972MM for next season, and Krawczynski doesn’t get the sense that the Timberwolves want to trade Kevin Martin, Nikola Pekovic or perhaps Young, as the AP scribe wrote in his tweet.

Williams, a 12th-year veteran, has been starting in place of the injured Ricky Rubio, though the team does have lottery pick Zach LaVine and 10-day signee Lorenzo Brown in reserve. Williams’ 6.4 assists per game are his most since the 2010/11 season, and his 12.5 points per game represent a bounceback from his 9.7 PPG scoring average for the Blazers last season, the first time he hadn’t averaged double figures in points since his rookie year. Still, the now 32-year-old Williams wanted to return to Portland this past summer, and there was reportedly mutual interest in a deal with the Mavs before they signed Jameer Nelson instead.

Western Notes: Nuggets, McGary, Wolves

February 8th, 2015 at 1:38pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Nuggets‘ next victory should come during the 2015 draft lottery, opines Woody Paige of The Denver Post. Paige argues that Denver should employ a tanking strategy during its final 31 games of the season and points out that although it would be tough to catch the Sixers, Knicks, or Wolves in the loss column, having the fourth-worst record is an attainable goal. The fourth-worst record would give the team a 11.9% chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick, as our reverse order rankings indicate. Denver currently owns a record of 19-32, which is tied for eighth-worst in the league. In order to lose enough games to fall that drastically in the standings, the Nuggets would most likely have to sit players or trade them away, similar to how Philadelphia traded away Evan Turner last season, although that is just my speculation. Our own Chuck Myron looked at Arron Afflalo as a trade candidate and also examined the chances that Wilson Chandler leaves town before season ends.

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

The Thunder have recalled Mitch McGary from their D-League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, according to the team’s twitter feed. The rookie has only appeared in two games to date for the Thunder and accrued a total of three points and three rebounds. The big man is playing in today’s game against the Clippers because Kendrick Perkins is serving a one-game suspension.
Inking Nick Collison to an extension was an extremely important part of the Thunder’s future plans, writes Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. Tramel adds that in addition to being good friends with Kevin Durant, Collison’s always positive attitude is an asset in itself. The power forward’s extension, worth $7.5MM, will keep him under contract through the 2016/17 season.
The Wolves are benefiting from having Flip Saunders coach the team in addition to being their president of basketball operations, writes Tom Powers of the Pioneer Press. The team is able to evaluate all the talent on its roster without worrying about the outcomes of games. “From a guy that’s in the management, me coaching is probably easier than having a coach,” Saunders said. “If I had a veteran coach, he’d be coming in every day wanting to trade everybody. They’re trying to win games. If I had a young coach, he’d be worrying about winning so he wouldn’t want to play the young guys. He’d be playing veterans, and the young guys wouldn’t get time.” Minnesota is currently 10-40 on the season, which puts the team in a good position to add more talent via the 2015 draft.

And-Ones: Shaw, Lakers, Early, Marble

February 7th, 2015 at 12:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

There is still a strong belief within the Nuggets front office that Brian Shaw can become an elite NBA coach, Chris Mannix of SI.com writes. Denver’s GM Tim Connolly also reiterated that the franchise has no intention of firing Shaw this season. In his two seasons in Denver, Shaw’s overall record is 55-77, including a fourth place finish in the Northwest Division in 2013/14.

Here’s more from the West:

Shaw admitted that the all of the trade speculation regarding the Nuggets‘ players has become a distraction to the team, Mannix adds. “When you hear your name swirling around in trade rumors, it can’t help but have an effect on most people,” Shaw said. “But I say now and I say to them, it’s something we can’t control. As a player I was traded a few times. I can say to them until I’m blue in the face that they should continue to play and control what you can on the floor, but you are still going to think about it. It’s still going to have an effect on you. But whatever happens is going to happen. It’s part of the business and we have to deal with it.”
The Knicks have recalled Cleanthony Early from their D-League affiliate in Westchester, the team has announced.
The staff over at ESPNLosAngeles.com discussed the Lakers‘ point guard situation, and the consensus was that Jordan Clarkson, whom Los Angles selected with the No. 46 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, has been a pleasant surprise this season and should factor into the Lakers’ future plans. The 22-year-old rookie out of Missouri is averaging 6.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 27 appearances, including six starts.
The latest player rankings for the 2015 NBA draft were released by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com, and the updated list sees Ohio State star D’Angelo Russell shooting all the way up to the No. 2 spot. In addition, Kristaps Porzingis has dropped out of the top five for the first time this season.
Flip Saunders, the Wolves‘ president of basketball operations, said that since Minnesota’s roster is finally healthy, the team intends to send Glenn Robinson III to the D-League for seasoning, Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune tweets. Minnesota has yet to assign a player to the D-League this season, as our tracker shows.
Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders examined the Lakers roster and ran down where each player stands in regard to the franchise’s future.
The Magic have recalled Devyn Marble from the Erie BayHawks, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel tweets. This concludes Marble’s second sojourn of the season to the D-League.

Wolves Sign Lorenzo Brown To Second 10-Day

February 6th, 2015 at 4:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:45pm: The deal is official, the team has announced.

8:00am: The Timberwolves and Lorenzo Brown have agreed upon a second 10-day deal, league sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The point guard’s first 10-day expired at the end of Thursday. This will be the last 10-day deal Brown can sign with the Wolves, who’ll have to either sign him for the season or let him sit in free agency once the deal runs to term.

Minnesota is keeping Brown in spite of this week’s return of starting point guard Ricky Rubio. Backup Mo Williams, whom the team is rumored to be willing to trade, has a sore hip that has him listed as questionable for tonight’s game, but it nonetheless appears as though there isn’t as much call for Brown as there had been when the team signed him. Brown started and played all but five seconds of Minnesota’s game against the Cavs on Saturday, but he saw only a minute and a half of action the next time out, which was the game in which Rubio came back, and Brown didn’t play at all in the Wolves’ last game.

The Pistons were also reportedly interested in the 24-year-old Joel Bell client before the Wolves snapped him up. Minnesota is at 15 players with Brown on the roster, and the other 14 players are signed through the end of the season.

Western Notes: Burke, Smith, Pelicans

February 5th, 2015 at 6:58pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Trey Burke has embraced his new role of coming off of the bench for the Jazz, and the change has benefited both the player and the team, Chad Mobley of NBA.com writes. “There’s this fixation with the bench and starting and to me what Trey has embraced is not so much the bench. I don’t want him to embrace the bench, I don’t want him to embrace starting, I want him to do what’s best for our team,” coach Quin Snyder said. “He’s embraced becoming a better player. I don’t want it to be about the bench for him. If he starts again I want him to keep getting better.”

Here’s more from the West:

The Benson family’s legal squabble over the control of the Pelicans and Saints threatens to ruin the clan’s sports legacy in New Orleans, Margaret Cronin Fisk and Laurel Brubaker Calkins of Bloomberg News write.
Josh Smith is a big fan of playing for the Rockets, and he views his time in Houston this season as a chance to revitalize his career, Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston tweets. “It [Houston] does have a home feel. I can’t stop smiling because I’m in such a good position with a great opportunity in front of me,” Smith told Berman.
Rookie Andrew Wiggins is the Wolves‘ lone ray of hope for a better future, and he is providing Minnesota with an acceptable return for dealing away Kevin Love to the Cavs, Pat Borzi of USA Today writes.
Suns center Alex Len is essentially a rookie after missing most of the 2013/14 campaign due to an injury, and the big man is starting to feel the effects of logging heavy minutes, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “There is going to be some adjustment for him for playing these big minutes,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “Eighty-two games is a lot of games. You’re traveling and doing all this and you kind of get worn down. You have to get used to playing like that.“

Sixers Sign Tim Frazier To 10-Day Contract

February 5th, 2015 at 1:50pm CST by Eddie Scarito

THURSDAY, 1:50pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release. The statement makes no reference to a corresponding move, so the team remains at 16 players, with Kirilenko’s presence of the suspended list giving the team the chance to carry one more than the 15-man limit.

WEDNESDAY, 10:40pm: The Sixers intend to sign Tim Frazier to a 10-day contract on Thursday, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Philadelphia’s current roster count sits at 16 players, including the suspended Andrei Kirilenko. But Larry Drew II‘s second 10-day deal ends today, and with the team set to bring Frazier aboard, it doesn’t look like Drew will be signed by Philly for the remainder of the season, though that is just my speculation.

Frazier, a 24-year-old point guard, has been playing for the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics’ D-League affiliate. In 27 games, Frazier has averaged 15.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 8.9 assists in 35.8 minutes per contest. His slash line is .450/.271/.783.

Frazier went undrafted out of Penn State in 2014, and had worked out for both the Wolves and the Celtics this past summer. The 6’1″ guard attended training camp with Boston, but was waived a week after joining the team.