Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Zagars, Media Rights, October Deadlines, More

October 21st, 2023 at 8:11am CST by Tristan Tucker

Latvian guard Arturs Zagars is out for at least five months due to a knee injury, Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews reports (Twitter link). As detailed in a piece from Eurohoops, Zagars suffered the injury on October 14 while playing in Lithuania’s top league.

Zagars received NBA interest through the summer following a standout FIBA World Cup performance for Latvia. The 23-year-old guard averaged 12.4 points, 7.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game and set a tournament record with 17 assists in his team’s final contest. He ultimately wound up signing a three-year deal with Turkey’s Fenerbahce in September and they loaned him to the BC Wolves of Lithuania, with whom he suffered the injury.

As confirmed by Eurohoops and Urbonas, Zagars suffered an MCL injury and will undergo surgery and continue rehab in Istanbul under Fenerbahce’s medical staff.

There are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

ESPN and TNT are considering signing new media rights deals with the NBA that include fewer games per season, according to The Wall Street Journal (hat tip to RealGM). Such an agreement would allow the league’s two main broadcasting partners to continue working together at an affordable amount. It would also put the NBA in position to explore creating a packge of games for one or more streaming services, with both Amazon and Apple already expressing interest.
The NBA’s extension and roster cut-down deadlines are looming, and ESPN’s Bobby Marks (ESPN+ link) broke down every rookie extension and veteran extension candidate, as well as all remaining roster decisions ahead of the season. Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey, Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels and Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley are the major rookie extension candidates to watch, Marks notes, though Maxey likely won’t get a new deal. Many of the veterans facing an October 23 deadline for a contract extension, such as the Bucks‘ Giannis Antetokounmpo, are also unlikely to extend because they can earn more money by waiting until the offseason.
In another piece exploring the NBA’s October deadlines, Danny Leroux of The Athletic further breaks down the upcoming dates to note. Leroux points out the deadline for decisions on third- and fourth-year team options on rookie contracts is also approaching on October 31.
With the tip of the NBA season just days away (October 24), Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype provided a team-by-team look at which players are the most likely to earn consideration for the league’s end-of-season awards. Raptors forward Scottie Barnes gunning for Most Improved Player and Kings guard Malik Monk in the running for Sixth Man of the Year are among Gozlan’s most intriguing picks. Interestingly, Gozlan believes the Pelicans‘ best chance at earning end-of-season recognition is if Zion Williamson enters the MVP conversation.

Wolves Release D.J. Carton, Trevor Keels, Tyrese Martin

October 20th, 2023 at 4:39pm CST by Rory Maher

The Timberwolves have released D.J. Carton, Trevor Keels and Tyrese Martin, the team announced in a press release.

Carton, who went undrafted in 2021, was signed to an Exhibit 10 deal that would entitle him to a bonus worth up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s G League affiliate. He spent last season with Iowa, averaging 15.6 PPG, 5.5 APG, 4.0 RPG and 1.2 SPG on .529/.365/.813 shooting in 25 regular season contests (31.0 MPG).

Keels also signed a training camp deal that featured an Exhibit 10 clause. The 42nd pick of last year’s draft spent 2022/23 on a two-way deal with the Knicks, appearing in three games with New York. He spent most of his rookie season in the G League with the Westchester Knicks.

The 51st overall pick in the 2022 draft, Martin was waived by Atlanta in July after appearing in just 16 games for the Hawks last season as a rookie. He scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in his 66 total minutes at the NBA level.

Martin saw more frequent playing time for the College Park Skyhawks in the G League, averaging 18.0 PPG, 9.2 RPG, and 1.9 APG on .503/.366/.805 shooting in 23 regular season contests (33.9 MPG) for Atlanta’s G League affiliate. It’s unclear what type of contract he signed with Minnesota.

The Wolves now have 17 players under contract, with 14 players on guaranteed standard deals and all three two-way spots filled.

Wolves Cut Matt Ryan, Convert Daishen Nix To Two-Way Deal

October 20th, 2023 at 1:20pm CST by Luke Adams

1:20pm: The moves are official, per RealGM’s transaction log.

11:16am: The Timberwolves are making a roster change ahead of the regular season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Minnesota will waive sharpshooter Matt Ryan and convert Daishen Nix‘s Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal.

Ryan appeared in 34 total games for the Lakers and T-Wolves in 2022/23, averaging 3.6 points in 9.1 minutes per game while making 38.1% of his three-point attempts.

Ryan’s ability to hit outside shots – he’s a career 40.1% three-point shooter in 37 G League regular season appearances – helped earn him a two-way qualifying offer from Minnesota in June, and he eventually accepted that QO in September. However, he’ll lose his two-way spot just a few days ahead of opening night.

Nix, 21, had a solid preseason for the Wolves after joining the team on a non-guaranteed camp deal, averaging 6.0 points and 3.3 assists in just 10.6 minutes per contest, with a red-hot shooting line of .571/.750/1.000.

The young guard already has 81 games of NBA experience under his belt with the Rockets, having spent the last two seasons in Houston. He averaged 3.7 PPG and 2.3 APG in 16.0 MPG (57 appearances) in 2022/23.

Nix will join Luka Garza and Jaylen Clark as Minnesota’s two-way players, while Ryan will become an unrestricted free agent if he passes through waivers without being claimed.

Timberwolves Sign D.J. Carton

October 19th, 2023 at 10:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Free agent guard D.J. Carton has signed with the Timberwolves, the team announced in a press release.

Carton joined the Hornets after going undrafted in 2021, but he was waived before the start of the season. He has been in the G League since then, spending one season with Greensboro and playing for Minnesota’s affiliate in Iowa last year. He averaged 13.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 47 combined G League games.

He also played for the Timberwolves during this year’s Summer League, averaging 9.0 points and a team-best 6.8 assists in five games.

Carton received an Exhibit 10 contract, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. That means he’ll be eligible to earn a bonus of up to $75K if he gets waived by Minnesota and spends at least 60 more days with Iowa.

The Timberwolves created a roster opening by waiving Vit Krejci on Wednesday. They’re now back to the preseason limit of 21 players.

Vit Krejci Waived By Timberwolves

October 18th, 2023 at 10:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Timberwolves have waived guard/forward Vit Krejci, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

The 23-year-old signed with Minnesota last month after the Hawks released him in August. He appeared in just one of the team’s four preseason games, scoring four points and grabbing two rebounds in a little more than seven minutes of action.

The 37th pick in the 2020 draft, Krejci spent one season with Oklahoma City before being traded to Atlanta. He appeared in 59 combined games with the two teams, averaging 3.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per night.

Because he had an Exhibit 10 contract with the Wolves, Krejci is eligible for a bonus worth up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate in Iowa. He has previous G League experience with Oklahoma City Blue and the College Park Skyhawks.

The move brings the Wolves’ roster down to 20 players.

Knicks Monitoring Karl-Anthony Towns, Who Says He, Thibodeau Resolved Differences

October 14th, 2023 at 8:43pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Timberwolves‘ trip to Madison Square Garden Saturday night carried a lot more intrigue that a normal preseason game. That’s because of a report from Stefan Bondy of The New York Post that the Knicks are monitoring Karl-Anthony Towns‘ situation in Minnesota in case he becomes available on the trade market.

A potential deal with the Wolves would reunite Towns with Tom Thibodeau, who coached him for two-and-a-half seasons in Minnesota. That was early in Towns’ career and their relationship was often tumultuous, but sources tell Bondy that Thibodeau would welcome the chance to coach Towns again.

“Watching the progress he’s made throughout his career, he’s as gifted as they come,” Thibodeau said. “When you look at an offensive player, particularly a big, the skill set that he has, I think we all saw, to win the three-point contest and stuff like that, there’s nothing he can’t do offensively. He has continued to get better, I think. He had some injuries to deal with. I watched him play in FIBA (the World Cup, for the Dominican Republic), he played really well there. He’s really, really gifted.”

Speaking to reporters before Saturday’s game, Towns admitted that he and Thibodeau clashed the last time they worked together, but added that they resolved their differences years ago, Bondy adds in another story. He didn’t go into details of what they talked about, but he expressed a high opinion of Thibodeau’s coaching abilities.

“I got no problems with Thibs. We’ve been squashed that,” Towns said. “I still look at Thibs as one of the best Xs and Os coaches I’ve been able to play for. He breathes winning and I got nothing but respect for him.”

Towns also refused to address any trade speculation, responding to a question by saying, “I don’t really have time to think about that.”

Bondy points out that Towns’ connections to the team and the area make the Knicks a natural destination if the Wolves ever decide to move him. In addition to his familiarity with Thibodeau, Towns is a native of northern New Jersey and team president Leon Rose is his former agent.

Towns is one of the NBA’s best-shooting big men, but his sizable contract and a potential salary crunch in Minnesota could eventually make him available. Towns’ contract extension will kick in next season, paying him roughly $49.7MM, $53.7MM, $57.7MM and $61.6MM over the next four years. Adding that to the extension Anthony Edwards received this summer and the expected new contract for Jaden McDaniels gives the Wolves a very expensive payroll for a team that has been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs the past two years.

Towns has also proven to be an awkward fit alongside Rudy Gobert, who was acquired in a trade last summer. Gobert is owed nearly $85MM over the next two seasons and has a $46.7MM player option for 2025/26, and he’s not likely to bring the return in a trade that Minnesota could get by dealing Towns.

With a roster filled with young talent and a stockpile of draft assets that can rival anyone in the league, the Knicks are well positioned to pursue the next star that becomes available. If that turns out to be Towns, the organization appears ready to consider an offer.

Western Notes: McDaniels, Kleber, Prince, J. Green, Grizzlies

October 14th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels is dealing with a minor left calf strain and hasn’t been able to practice this week, sources tell Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Krawcyznski, McDaniels won’t be available for Saturday’s preseason game vs. New York, and the expectation is that he’ll be reevaluated in a week-and-a-half.

That puts McDaniels’ availability for the regular season opener on October 25 in potential jeopardy. It’s also possible the 23-year-old will have signed a new contract extension by the time he sees the floor again. The deadline for rookie scale extensions is Oct. 23, and McDaniels is among the prime remaining candidates to receive one.

Here are a few more items from around the Western Conference:

Mavericks big man Maxi Kleber has missed at least 22 games in each of the last three seasons, including 45 in 2022/23. The focus this offseason for Kleber, who didn’t play for Germany during the World Cup, was ensuring that he felt 100% entering the NBA season. “I wanted to make sure I was healthy,” Kleber said, per Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. “That was obviously not the case last year and it was very frustrating when you can’t be out there with the team. So the goal (in the summer) was to progressively increase the workouts to be ready for the long NBA season.”
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham isn’t committing to Taurean Prince as his fifth starter to open the season, but the veteran forward has started the team’s last three preseason games – including twice alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell, and Austin Reaves – and scored 17 points in 20 minutes vs. Golden State on Friday. “You can just throw him on the floor,” Ham said of Prince, according to Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. “He’s a pro’s pro. He’s the quintessential three-and-D guy. His scrappiness. His activity. His communication with his teammates trying to keep everybody focused on that side of the ball. As well as a guy who doesn’t have to force anything. He knows his spots. He knows where to be. He can finish in the paint, make threes obviously. But just the consummate professional.”
Jeff Green‘s playing career could’ve ended prematurely when he underwent open-heart surgery in 2012, but the Rockets forward is now the NBA’s ninth-oldest player and says he’s trying to “enjoy the little things” as he enters his 17th season, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “I’m really appreciative of all the things that I’ve been through to get to this point,” Green said. “I could have ended at year five. And here I am, going into year 17 and able to still play this game that I love.”
Memphis finished last season third in the NBA in defensive rating. New Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart sees no reason why the team can’t finish first in that category this season, as Teresa M. Walker of The Associated Press details.

Northwest Notes: Jokic, Collins, Milton, Division Preview

October 14th, 2023 at 8:18am CST by Tristan Tucker

After winning the 2023 NBA Championship, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic made headlines throughout the summer by expressing his desire to go back home and then later partying in his hometown of Sombor, Serbia. ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk took a look back at “the summer of Jokic” and explored the center’s approach to the offseason.

Nuggets team president and governor Josh Kroenke didn’t text Jokic like normal this summer, Youngmisuk writes, instead allowing the two-time MVP to refresh.

“We all kind of left him alone,” Kroenke said. “For him to get away from basketball, be with his family and reconnect with who he is fundamentally is only going to be a benefit for the Nuggets and for basketball because he comes back fresh.”

Jokic claimed he only touched a basketball “a couple of times” this summer, but did stick to a routine he’s used through the past three years, which resulted in two MVPs and a championship, Youngmisuk details. Head coach Michael Malone noted the time of seemed to benefit Jokic mentally and when teammate Aaron Gordon came to visit during the summer, he was impressed by the depth of Jokic’s routine, according to Youngmisuk.

“He’s the best player in the world,” Gordon said. “He works out like a monster. … His regimen, his diet and how detail-oriented he is with his body, is second to none.”

Youngmisuk notes Jokic has been more vocal in practices and team settings, displaying a new type of confidence as he and the team aim for a second straight title.

“He’s only 28,” Gordon said. “So he’s going to get even smarter at manipulating the defense [and] offense. … I don’t see anybody stopping him. They still haven’t found the answer for him yet.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

The Jazz traded for forward John Collins this offseason after he had a productive six seasons with Atlanta, averaging 15.8 points and 8.0 rebounds. However, both Collins and Utah’s coaching staff understand getting the 6’9″ forward acclimated in a new system might take some time, Sarah Todd of the Deseret News writes. “I have to adapt to a bunch of things that I wasn’t used to doing in Atlanta, and that’s part of the game, and I’m embracing it because it’s a new chapter for me and it also allows my game to grow,” Collins said.
Eight players in the Timberwolves‘ likely rotation for their first regular season game on October 25 were on the team at the end of last season, Chris Hine of The Star Tribune writes. However, Wolves head coach Chris Finch said he’d like to ideally play a nine-player rotation, and Hine believes free-agent addition Shake Milton is likely to be that ninth player. Minnesota signed Milton to a two-year, $10MM deal after the guard averaged 9.3 points and 2.7 assists across his first five NBA seasons in Philadelphia.
The Northwest Division hosts the defending champion Nuggets, but also one of the few rebuilding teams in the league in the Trail Blazers. Tony Jones, Jason Quick and Josh Robbins of The Athletic preview the division which features rising stars like the Jazz‘s Walker Kessler and the Timberwolves‘ Anthony Edwards. The trio is bullish on the Thunder‘s Chet Holmgren, with Jones saying Oklahoma City getting him back from injury is the best offseason “addition” in the division. Meanwhile, Quick and Robbins believe Denver losing Bruce Brown and Jeff Green are the moves with the biggest potential to backfire. I recommend checking out the article in full, if you’re an Athletic subscriber, to get a solid picture for the division next season.

Milton Shakes Things Up On Second Unit

October 10th, 2023 at 10:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Shake Milton appears to be settling on the Timberwolves’ second unit behind Mike Conley and Anthony Edwards. Milton, who scored 12 points in the team’s preseason opener, will be looked upon for scoring with that unit, as well as being a trustworthy play-maker and pick-and-roll partner with Rudy Gobert, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes. “We’ve talked a lot about him internally and been so happy and surprised, even better than we thought he could be,” coach Chris Finch said. Milton left the Sixers and signed a two-year, $10MM deal with Minnesota at the start of free agency.

NBA GMs Like Celtics’ Offseason Moves, Title Chances

October 10th, 2023 at 11:59am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics and Bucks made the best overall moves this offseason, according to the NBA’s general managers. In his annual survey of the league’s top basketball decision-makers, John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes that 23% picked Boston as having the best summer, while another 23% picked Milwaukee. The Trail Blazers (17%) and Lakers (13%) were among the other clubs who received multiple votes.

Of course, the Celtics’ and Bucks’ pre-camp trades for Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard, respectively, were huge factors in the positive perception of their offseasons. Of Schuhmann’s GM respondents, 47% said the Lillard acquisition was the most impactful move of the offseason, while Boston’s addition of Holiday placed second at 13% (the Celtics’ trade for Kristaps Porzingis tied for fourth, at 7%).

Both Boston and Milwaukee are viewed by the league’s general managers as good bets to compete for the title in 2024. The Celtics were selected by 33% of Schuhmann’s respondents as the team that will win the championship the season, while the Bucks got 23% of the vote share. No other Eastern club received a vote, with the Nuggets (33%), Suns (7%), and Clippers (3%) representing the only other teams that were chosen as potential champs.

Here are a few more interesting results from Schuhmann’s GM survey, which is worth checking out in full:

As much as the NBA’s general managers like Boston’s roster, it was the Grizzlies‘ acquisition of Marcus Smart from Boston that was voted as the most underrated player addition of the summer (17%), narrowly edging out the Mavericks‘ sign-and-trade for Grant Williams (14%).
The NBA’s GMs are high on the Thunder. Oklahoma City was the runaway winner as the team with the league’s most promising young core (73%) and also earned the most votes for which club will be most improved in 2023/24 (30%).
Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama got plenty of love from the league’s GMs. He was the top choice for Rookie of the Year (50%) and was the overwhelming pick for which rookie will be the best player in five years (90%). He also placed second among the players Schuhmann’s respondents would most want to start a franchise with today, with his 23% vote share trailing only Nikola Jokic‘s 33%.
NBA GMs expect Ime Udoka of the Rockets to be the head coach that has the biggest impact on his new team (57%), followed by Monty Williams of the Pistons (17%).
Jordi Fernandez of the Kings, viewed as a future NBA head coach, comfortably won the vote on the league’s best assistant (31%).
The NBA’s GMs consider Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (23%), Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (20%), and Magic forward Franz Wagner (13%) the top candidates for a breakout year.
Which rookie was the biggest steal in the 2023 draft? Rockets wing Cam Whitmore (43%) was the top choice, with Jazz guard Keyonte George, Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson, and Heat forward Jaime Jaquez each receiving 10% of the vote.