Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Kobe, Wolves, Extensions, D’Antoni

November 10th, 2014 at 10:01am CST by Chuck Myron

A work stoppage cost two months of the season the last time players and owners negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement, but union executive director Michele Roberts wants to avoid a repeat come 2017, as she tells Michael Lee of The Washington Post.

“I don’t want a lockout. I don’t want a strike. What I want is anything any reasonable person would want — and that is labor peace,” Roberts said. “That’s what I hope for, but I’ve got to be prepared for a lockout.”

The specter of the next labor negotiations will continue to grow as they creep closer and as Roberts continues to settle into her role. However, with Roberts and Adam Silver replacing Billy Hunter and David Stern in their respective roles on opposite sides, there’s reason to expect the talks will proceed differently this time around. Here’s more from around the NBA:

Kobe Bryant reiterated to USA Today’s Sam Amick that he can’t envision playing past the end of his contract in 2015/16, and he was even more definitive in his declaration that he won’t ask for a trade, no matter how often the Lakers lose this season. “It’s not going to happen,” Bryant said. “It’s not going to happen. You go through the good times, you’ve got to go through the bad times.”
Timberwolves executive/coach Flip Saunders has no plans to add another point guard in absence of Ricky Rubio, who’s out up to eight weeks with a sprained left ankle, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Rookie Zach LaVine is starting in Rubio’s place while Mo Williams remains on the bench.
Saunders and Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau are among many who believe the league should have an earlier deadline for rookie scale extensions so that negotiations don’t spill into the season, observes Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press.
Mike D’Antoni has been hanging around Hornets practices and games and giving feedback to Charlotte coach Steve Clifford, notes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. “I know this: He was in Charlotte for three days, and we had a great time. We talked basketball, like, two or three hours a day,” Clifford said. “He still has a real passion for coaching. I know that.”
The Grizzlies have recalled rookies Jordan Adams and Jarnell Stokes from the D-League, the team announced via press release. Memphis assigned the pair on Saturday, in time for Adams to score 20 and Stokes to put up 13 points and 13 rebounds in a preseason game for the Iowa Energy.

Western Notes: Young, Grizzlies, D-League

November 8th, 2014 at 4:39pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Thaddeus Young was one of many veteran players the Sixers rid themselves of as part of their rebuilding through the draft lottery plan, and the forward is finding life with the Wolves much better than he anticipated, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. “It was frustrating to go out there each and every day to keep fighting and then you’re not coming up with anything,” Young said of his final year in Philadelphia. “But that situation is over now. I have a new team, new beginning and new chapter so I’m just ready to go out there and continue to play and get better with this team. We have a solid mixture of young guys and a solid mixture of veteran guys, which we didn’t have – the veteran guys – last year in Philadelphia and they don’t have the veteran guys this year as well.”

Here’s more from out west:

Young also made a statement that would seemingly indicate he hasn’t closed the door on possibly re-signing with the Wolves next summer, Kennedy adds. In discussing the future of the franchise, Young said, “I think the sky’s the limit for this team. If it’s not this year, then it’s the following year. We have really good pieces on this team as far as young guys and we have solid veterans as well. I think we all complement each other very well, enough to go out there and do some things.”
On the court the Grizzlies are the picture of consistency and lack much in the way of drama, but the team’s front office has been the exact opposite, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes. Powell’s article examines the difficult run the team has had regarding its coaches and front office staff, including Dave Joerger replacing Lionel Hollins as coach two seasons ago, and the issues between ownership and former CEO Jason Levien.
The Grizzlies have sent Jordan Adams and Jarnell Stokes to the Iowa Energy, their D-League affiliate, the team announced in a press release. Stokes has yet to make an appearance for the Grizzlies this season, and Adams has gone scoreless in his one minute of action.

Ricky Rubio Out Up To Eight Weeks

November 8th, 2014 at 2:56pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Wolves have announced that starting point guard Ricky Rubio will be out indefinitely after injuring his ankle during last night’s loss to the Magic in Orlando, and USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt reports that Rubio is likely to miss seven to eight weeks of action. This was after an MRI taken in Miami revealed what was termed a “significant left ankle sprain.” According to Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune, Minnesota will know a more definitive timetable in a couple of weeks once the swelling goes down. The MRI revealed no breaks or tears, which is good news for both the player and his team.

Rubio’s injury is among a rash of early season maladies that have sidelined a number of NBA stars, including Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Bradley Beal, and Marcus Smart, who also injured his ankle last night, but is only expected to miss a couple of weeks.

The 24-year-old Rubio recently inked a four-year, $55MM contract extension with the Wolves, which includes $1MM in incentives. So far this season Rubio has averaged 9.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 10.0 APG. With Minnesota’s roster sitting at the maximum 15 players, it’s likely that Mo Williams will take over starting duties. It is also possible that the team will wait to re-evaluate Rubio in two weeks time prior to making a decision on another roster move, though that is just my speculation.

And-Ones: Wiggins, Ariza, Mavs

November 7th, 2014 at 10:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins is only averaging 9.8 PPG after his first four NBA games, but the Wolves rookie is already drawing comparisons to another NBA star, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops writes. “He reminded me of Paul George,” an Eastern Conference GM told Scotto. “Paul came in a better off-ball defender than Andrew. He’s [Wiggins] probably a good on-ball defender. Paul had a very difficult time handling the ball when he came in and worked on it and their shooting is similar. I’d say Andrew is a hair better athlete and Paul is a little bigger maybe.” The biggest difference between the two players as rookies is Wiggins is under much more scrutiny and pressure than George was as a rookie thanks to his top slot on the draft board, adds Scotto.

Here’s more from around the league:

Despite quite a few predictions of a Cavs–Bulls Eastern Conference Finals, the Raptors and the Wizards might prove those prognostications premature, Eric Koreen of The National Post writes. Toronto and Washington are taking different approaches regarding the mixture of veterans and younger players on their respective rosters, notes Koreen. The Raptors are building around a younger core, and the Wizards, despite younger stars like Bradley Beal and John Wall, have added a number of long-in-the-tooth veterans this past offseason. Wizards coach Randy Wittman said, “Obviously, talent prevails. You’ve got to have that first. It was important for us to have a mixture of veterans with our young guys,” Koreen adds.
The Mavs have been affiliated with the Texas Legends of the D-League for five seasons and view the partnership as a way to experiment with new ideas, Bryan Gutierrez of ESPNDallas.com writes. “There have always been a lot of advantages to having the team in Frisco, but we’re using it more experimentally now,” Mavs owner Mark Cuban said. “There are certain things we’ll hopefully unveil that will be different. We’ve been practicing some things, and hopefully they will work. We want to try some things that will hopefully change things up.”
Trevor Ariza is making it easy for Rockets fans to forget that Chandler Parsons is now in Dallas, Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) writes. Thus far, Ariza is averaging 15.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 3.2 APG, while shooting a ridiculous 55% from behind the arc for the 6-0 Rockets.

Flip Saunders On Love Trade, LeBron, Goals

November 7th, 2014 at 2:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

The return of LeBron James to the Cavs had the greatest reverberations of any offseason move, but the most persistent storyline over the summer involved one of his new teammates. Kevin Love trade talk was a near-daily feature on Hoops Rumors for months on end, and the man at the controls was Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders, who also spent time looking for a coach before deciding that he was his own best candidate for the job. Saunders reflected on the trade to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post, who shares Saunders’ remarks in his weekly column on leaguewide affairs. The entire piece is worth your time, but here’s a look at Saunders’ most notable revelations:

On how he viewed the chances, as of July 1st, that he would trade Love:

“It was 50-50. We had made up our minds … we knew what we wanted, and I was very comfortable coaching Kevin and [dealing with] everything else. A lot of times, it boils down to the players … it boils down to money. If you can pay somebody $20 or $30MM more sometimes, when it comes down to it they might flinch, but they might end up staying.”

On the effect LeBron had on the trade:

“We were in a situation where if LeBron doesn’t go to Cleveland, do we trade [Love]? Probably not. He’s probably still here. But the way it worked out, LeBron went there, and a lot of pieces started to fall into place for Cleveland and it became a very logical thing for them to try to make a push to try to win a championship to get a guy that, ultimately, is one of the two best power forwards in the league, and that became a reality for them.

On his post-trade goals:

“Then, for us, it became [a situation in which] we wanted to try to maximize what we wanted to do. With Love leaving, I don’t want to say we were in a total rebuild … more of a retool situation. We wanted to get young, athletic talent that we thought had the potential where, in three years, that we could hit home runs and they could be a team that makes a run like the Oklahoma City Thunder and develop like that.”

Western Notes: Rockets, Thunder, McLemore

November 6th, 2014 at 12:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said he won’t judge coach Kevin McHale merely by how far the team goes in the playoffs this year and expressed support for the front office as he spoke with Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Alexander pointed to Trevor Ariza and Kostas Papanikolaou as key additions in an offseason that, as the owner acknowledged, didn’t go as planned.

“It was a very difficult offseason,” Alexander said. “There were big decisions that really didn’t go our way. It was tough. It was tough going through it and hoping you’d be able to rebound and have a really good team. I liked the moves that we made. And we still have flexibility to make other moves, which I believe is important.”

The Rockets, with a league-best 5-0 record, put that unbeaten mark on the line tonight against a Spurs team that plans to rest Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

The Thunder would likely apply for a second hardship provision, which would give them a 17th roster spot, if they expect that a knee injury that Perry Jones III suffered Tuesday will force him to miss a significant amount of time, according to Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. The team is poised to make Ish Smith its 16th player.
Ben McLemore has hired the Klutch Sports Group for his representation, the agency announced (Twitter link). The second-year shooting guard recently left agent Rodney Blackstock. Klutch has close ties to the Cavs, but the earliest McLemore could reach unrestricted free agency by his own choosing would be the summer of 2018.
Flip Saunders said uncertainty over the Timberwolves roster this summer prior to the Kevin Love trade helped keep him from hiring Lionel Hollins as Minnesota’s coach, observes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Saunders said he couldn’t promise Hollins, who interviewed for the coaching job that Saunders ultimately took for himself, that the Wolves would have the sort of veteran roster that Hollins is accustomed to, as Bontemps notes.

Western Notes: Thompson, Kobe, Fesenko

November 5th, 2014 at 1:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Klay Thompson agreed that the starting salary in his extension with the Warriors couldn’t escalate past the current $15.5MM projection for next season’s 25% maximum salary, even if the max ends up coming in higher, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports. That means the deal will be no more lucrative than $69MM over four years, and Lowe heard from a couple of agents who believe the Warriors acted unfairly in the way they structured Thompson’s deal (Twitter link). Still, it doesn’t appear that it will end up having been a sacrifice for Thompson, since it’s unlikely next year’s salary cap, to which maximum salaries are tied, will reflect any of the revenue from the league’s new $24 billion TV deal, according to Lowe. The league’s salary cap projections for 2015/16 remain around $66-68MM as league office execs favor a gradual phase-in of the TV money that wouldn’t start until 2016, Lowe writes. There’s more on Thompson and the Warriors amid the latest from Western Conference:

The promise of future production, expendability, strong character and the ability to attract fans are a few of the qualities that current and former team executives tell Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher they believe players who sign maximum-salary contracts should possess. All of those execs agree that Thompson is a max player, but their opinions are mixed on Kawhi Leonard, to whom the Spurs decided against giving a max extension.
Kobe Bryant‘s two-year, $48.5MM extension looks like an albatross for the 0-5 Lakers, but Warriors executive and part-owner Jerry West doesn’t agree, as he told KNBR radio, “Whatever they’re paying, he’s earned it,” West said, as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group notes (Twitter link).
Timberwolves camp cut Kyrylo Fesenko has inked with Avtodor of Russia, the team announced (translation via David Pick of Eurobasket.com, on Twitter).

Northwest Notes: Thunder, Jackson, Jazz, Ingles

November 4th, 2014 at 9:00am CST by Chuck Myron

The league has proposed setting the 2016/17 salary cap between $78MM and $82MM in discussions with the union about phasing in the increases that the league’s new TV revenue will bring about, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports. Those figures would still be quite a leap from next season’s projected $66.5MM cap, and they’d set up lots of teams with flexibility for the summer of 2016, when Kevin Durant is poised to hit free agency. Some teams are optimistic that Durant will consider a wide array of suitors, while others have heard that he’s already down to the Thunder and the Wizards, according to Lowe. In any case, there’s much on the line on Oklahoma City in the next 19 months or so left before Durant’s contract expires, as Lowe examines. Here’s more on the Thunder and their Northwest Division rivals:

The Thunder are confident that they’ll be able to match other clubs’ offer sheets for restricted free agent-to-be Reggie Jackson next summer, sources tell Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link). Given the roughly $63.57MM of guaranteed salary the Thunder already have on their books for the 2015/16 season, retaining Jackson might require exceeding the luxury tax threshold, something they’ve been reluctant to do in the past.
Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey isn’t planning simply to let his team’s young core grow on its own, and he says he’ll use it as a draw to attract free agents, as he tells Jody Genessy of the Deseret News, promising to be “very aggressive” in free agency next year. Still, Alec Burks tells Genessy that the team’s commitment to youth is one reason why he was eager to sign his extension with Utah.
The Clippers weren’t pleased when the Jazz claimed Joe Ingles off waivers, as coach/executive Doc Rivers admits his club had designs on re-signing the 27-year-old rookie, Genessy tweets.
Thaddeus Young, who can become a free agent in the summer, sees a bright future ahead for the Timberwolves, as he tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Wolves, D-League, Cherry

November 2nd, 2014 at 9:23pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Being both the coach and president of basketball operations for the Wolves put Flip Saunders in a unique situation regarding Ricky Rubio‘s extension, writes Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press. “Dealing with the GM, it’s always tough,” Rubio said. “But if you only see him in the office, that’s good. But then you have to see him in the practice, it’s a little tougher. But I think Flip handled the thing very well. He was not different, but when we’re out on the court, we were only talking about basketball. We didn’t talk about business in the practice facility. That helped me to feel comfortable.”

Here’s more from around the league:

The Kings‘ D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, who selected Brady Heslip with their first round pick, were deemed the biggest winner of the D-League draft by Keith Schlosser of SB Nation. Schlosser also notes that Marquis Teague will learn more discipline running the floor by playing for the Thunder-affiliated Oklahoma City Blue.
Will Cherry‘s two year, minimum salary deal with the Cavaliers is partially guaranteed, notes Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. The exact amount of the guarantee is not yet known.
Though he signed a three-year, $15MM deal with the Kings this offseason, Darren Collison‘s original goal was to return to the Clippers, and the player said that being a starter wasn’t a priority in his decision, Jovan Buha of Fox Sports reports (Twitter links). Collison also said that Sacramento was the first team that contacted him, but that he felt that the club’s priorities were finding a big man and help on the wing, Buha notes.
Collison did admit that there was some miscommunication between him and team president Doc Rivers regarding his level of interest in re-signing with the Clippers, Buha tweets. For his part, Rivers said, “I wanted to keep him [Collison]. I thought he would have been perfect for here forever. But I know math a little bit,” tweets Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times.
Willie Reed, who was recently waived by the Nets, has signed a guaranteed contract for the remainder of the season with Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli league, David Pick of Basketball Insiders reports. The 6’10” Reed averaged 4.0 rebounds in 16.6 minutes in two preseason games for Brooklyn.

Chris Crouse contributed to this post.

Wolves Notes: Rubio, Incentives, Taylor

November 1st, 2014 at 10:28am CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s new $24 billion TV deal helped sway Wolves owner Glen Taylor to make a final push to sign Ricky Rubio to an extension, Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press writes. With the salary cap set to increase over the next few seasons, Rubio’s deal won’t seem quite as large in the near future, especially in comparison to the deals that will be inked once the new CBA is ironed out, notes Krawczynski.

Here’s more out of Minnesota:

Taylor acknowledged that in the wake of the Kevin Love trade, Rubio would be the player that would lead the team’s young core into the future, Krawczynski adds. “He [Rubio] came to us with such high expectations and he immediately proved why we were so high on him,” Taylor said. “Unfortunately he got hurt at the end of his rookie season, but he has worked so hard to come back and we believe he has a long and successful career ahead of him. He’s a great foundation for our franchise and we’re very happy to keep Ricky here long term to work and grow with the young nucleus that we have.”
For his part, Rubio understands the pressure that comes along with signing a large contract, notes Krawczynski. “You’re getting paid more, you have to earn it,” Rubio said. “You have to show why you’re getting paid this money. Of course there’s going to be extra pressure. I wanted to be more of a leader and take this team to another level.”
The reported $1MM in incentives contained in Rubio’s extension with the Wolves are tied to several shooting percentage benchmarks, primarily field goal percentage and free throw percentage, Krawczynski tweets. Rubio has a career slash line of .369/.323/.799.