Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Odds & Ends: Grizzlies, Sixers, Wolves, Kennedy

September 20th, 2013 at 1:41pm CST by Luke Adams

Few NBA teams had less roster turnover this offseason than the Grizzlies. As our free agent tracker shows, the only player who signed with the team for more than the minimum was Tony Allen, who has played in Memphis since 2010 and emerged as one of the club's leaders. However, the team will be in for some changes on the bench, where former assistant Dave Joerger takes over the head coaching job from the departed Lionel Hollins. Joerger tells Lang Greene of HoopsWorld that while he'll stick to many of the things that made last year's team successful, he expects to add a few new wrinkles to the mix as well.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:

Former Pistons head coach John Kuester is currently the top candidate to be hired as Brett Brown's lead assistant with the 76ers, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype spoke to Ricky Rubio, who identified the Timberwolves' new deals with Nikola Pekovic and Chase Budinger as the club's best signings of the summer.
Rebuilding is often a necessary process, but it has to give way to something substantial eventually, writes Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com. Deeks examines the free agent fates of Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson, noting that the Hawks were able to land Millsap for fewer years and dollars than the Bobcats signed Jefferson in part because Charlotte is paying a sort of "Bobcats tax" based on its reputation as a perennial lottery team.
In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Larry Coon lists the Nets, Bobcats, and Rockets among the winners of the league's new CBA, while placing the Celtics, Bulls, and Thunder in the losers column.
Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside takes a look at D.J. Kennedy's persistent quest to earn a spot on an NBA roster. Kennedy will be in camp with the Mavericks in October.

T-Wolves Mulling Offer To A.J. Price?

September 19th, 2013 at 8:44pm CST by Ryan Raroque

1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson reports, per a source, that the Timberwolves are discussing the possibility of bringing point guard A.J. Price into training camp, adding that the 6'2" guard had a nice year with the Wizards while current Minnesota GM Milt Newton had been a team executive in Washington. According to Wolfson, Price's agent Jeff Schwartz had also spent plenty of time speaking with president of basketball operations Flip Saunders this past summer (Twitter links).

In 57 games and 22 starts for the Wizards last season, Price put up career highs in minutes (22.4), points (7.7), assists (3.6), and three point field goal percentage (35.0%).

Wolves Notes: Turiaf, Williams, Camp Roster

September 18th, 2013 at 4:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves held a press conference today to introduce offseason signee Ronny Turiaf to the media, and while no groundbreaking news emerged from the presser, Turiaf did express enthusiasm about joining a potential playoff team in Minnesota.

"I'm so excited about joining this team because of what they already are and what I can bring to the table," Turiaf said, according to Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press (link via the Star Tribune). "It's this kid excitement, this pureness about really wanting to accomplish something special."

Here's more out of Minnesota…

When GM Flip Saunders called him during July's free agent period, Turiaf felt like Minnesota was where he belonged, he told reporters today (Twitter link via Timberwolves PR).
Saunders was asked about the looming decision on Derrick Williams' $6.33MM fourth-year option, which is due by the end of October, and replied "I think he's going to be here," according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune says that he doesn't think there's any real debate over whether the Wolves will pick up Williams' 2014/15 option, adding that Saunders seems to view it as a straightforward decision (Twitter links). Meanwhile, Wolfson suggests (via Twitter) that he thinks the team will exercise Williams' option, but eventually trade him.
The Wolves continue to talk to agents and could add at least one more player to their training camp roster, tweets Zgoda.

Rick Adelman Confirms Return For 2013/14

September 16th, 2013 at 8:27am CST by Zachary Links

There wasn't a tremendous amount of doubt surrounding Rick Adelman's status for the upcoming season, but it wasn't until recently that everything was 100% locked in. Over the weekend, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor confirmed to Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune that the veteran coach will be on the sidelines to open the 2013/14 season.

Adelman was expected to be with the team going forward, but it wasn't for sure until he brought his coaching staff out to his home in Portland, Oregon last week and laid out the plans for this season. While the 67-year-old is undoubtedly excited about the upcoming season, he has much more important matters to tend to at home with his wife facing some health issues. Hopefully, this week's news means that Adelman's wife is feeling a whole lot better and on the road to recovery.

The highly-respected coach has yet to see the playoffs during his two years in Minnesota, but optimism is high around the T'Wolves that they'll be able to find their way in. For his career, Adelman owns a 1002-707 record with the Trail Blazers, Warriors, Kings, Rockets, and T'Wolves.

Contract Details: Sanders, Pekovic, Harris, Bost

September 10th, 2013 at 2:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com is back with another round of salary details for several of the new contracts signed in recent weeks. Here's a round-up:

Larry Sanders' new four-year contract extension with the Bucks will pay him an even $11MM in each season. Those figures will increase slightly if Sanders reaches contract incentives currently considered unlikely.
The Timberwolves' five-year deal with Nikola Pekovic will pay the big center $12.1MM in each of the next four seasons, before dipping to $11.6MM in year five. His potential incentives are also listed as unlikely, meaning they don't count against the cap for now.
Elias Harris' deal with the Lakers is a two-year, minimum-salary pact. It's guaranteed for $100K in year one, and fully non-guaranteed in year two.
The Cavaliers inked Matthew Dellavedova to a two-year contract that looks virtually identical to Harris' — his minimum salary is partially guaranteed for $100K in 2013/14.
Like Harris and Dellavedova, Dee Bost also signed a two-year minimum contract, but his deal with the Trail Blazers is only guaranteed for $25K this season.

Odds & Ends: Lakers, Celtics, Davis, Valanciunas

September 9th, 2013 at 9:40pm CST by Zachary Links

The Lakers started last season with a Hall of Fame-bound backcourt of Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash with Steve Blake and Jodie Meeks in support. They ended it with two former second-round picks – Darius Morris and Andrew Goudelock – playing close to 40 minutes apiece in a playoff game. Last season proved that backcourt depth is important for L.A., and Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com breaks down the Lakers' guards from top to bottom, including the return of Jordan Farmar and newcomer Nick Young. Here's tonight's look around the NBA…

Former NBA player and new Wolves assistant coach Bobby Jackson has been putting Chase Budinger and rookie draft picks Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng, and Lorenzo Brown through tough two-a-day workouts, writes Dennis Brackin of Star-Tribune.
The HoopsWorld staff previewed the season ahead for the Bobcats and the potential impact of top acquisition Al Jefferson.
The Celtics will have offseason additions Kris Humphries and rookie Kelly Olynyk vying for time at the power forward position, writes Marc D'Amico of NBA.com. Humphries was a staple in the Nets' starting lineup for some time but coach Brad Stevens could wind up starting the offense-oriented Olynyk right out of the gate.
Magic forward Glen Davis, who has been recovering from a broken left foot, is expected to be cleared to resume basketball activities by month's end, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. Big Baby is a trade candidate in Orlando and the Magic would like to move him if he can show that he is healthy and productive.
RealGM's Jonathan Tjarks looks at the Raptors' Jonas Valanciunas and sees the evolution of today's big man. Valanciunas is big and skilled enough to push smaller defenders around, but still quick and active enough to survive in a more wide-open game. The 21-year-old was taken with the fifth overall pick in the 2011 draft.

Flip Saunders On Love, Williams, Kahn, Newton

September 9th, 2013 at 4:51pm CST by Zachary Links

Timberwolves president Flip Saunders has had a very busy summer, but he's finally at the point of the offseason where he's down to lower priorities. In fact, David Aldridge of NBA.com writes that he has gotten far enough down the checklist to start working on the player intros.

"I believe that whether it's your game introductions, or the music that's played, that it have a purpose. And you have to understand your fan base and what really makes them go," Saunders said. "We want them to have the kind of experience that when the fans do come in, they come back."

Here's more from Aldridge's chat with Saunders…

On his relationship with Kevin Love:

I've probably had as much communication with him as any player that I've had, over the course of the summer. I know there have been a lot of things said about him. But he's been extremely committed to the organization. We've asked him to do things from a business standpoint, meeting with different sponsors and different things, and he's been readily available to do that. I communicate with him, I'd say, three times a week, just to see how things are going..I don't know if there's fence-mending. I just kind of came in with myself, and I knew Kevin a little bit from before. I was just very point blank with him about expectations I have for him within the organization. He was very receptive and very open to that.

On predecessor David Kahn's front office setup:

They had — not saying it's wrong — but they had, he had made a decision that they were going to go more like baseball, where they had a lot of satellite scouts, and the scouts were pretty much scattered pretty much around the country..Talking with [owner] Glen [Taylor], I believe there was more organization in the places where I'd been, like with Detroit and Joe [Dumars], and other places that I'd been. I'd already been looking at Chicago back through their heyday. They had people that were there. And they had contact every day with the management, and also with the team. So going out scouting and looking at players, they had a better understanding of what the team needed.

On Milt Newton's role as GM:

He's going to have a lot of responsibility. Where he was at, he was ready to make the step to have more responsibility, maybe have more influence in what happened, both with the day-to-day and also with the vision of the team. I believe in him and [director of basketball operations] Rob [Babcock] we cover a lot of areas with the management team going forward.

On former No. 2 overall pick Derrick Williams:

He's made a big push this summer to lose weight and be quicker, and hopefully be able to play some three. We'll see over the next three weeks, and into training camp, that month, what this offseason has done with him, and what losing weight and being a little quicker has done for him. His biggest thing is, can he guard threes? The way Coach [Rick] Adelman plays, he'll be able to fit him in offensively.

Will Saunders return to coaching?

I'm extremely happy where I'm at. I never get into hypotheticals or what ifs, or what coulds, because you never really know. But I'd say when I'm just talking to people, I don't think I've been any more relaxed, happier. I'm in a perfect situation. I can really mold the team. I have a lot of input on how a team can be formed. And I don't think about coaching because Coach Adelman has been very open to me.

Odds & Ends: 2014 Draft, Jay Z, Wolves, Mavs

September 9th, 2013 at 3:57pm CST by Luke Adams

We're 290 days away from the 2014 NBA draft, but for ESPN.com's Chad Ford, it's by no means too early to forecast next June's first round. In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Ford presents his first 2014 mock draft, headlined by a top five of Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Dante Exum, and Jabari Parker.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the Association:

The NBPA is still waiting for official confirmation that Jay Z has divested his ownership stake in the Nets before granting him full NBA agent certification, according to Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal (Twitter links). We heard last week that the rapper is selling half his Nets share to head coach Jason Kidd, and the other half to a current minority owner.
The Timberwolves officially announced today that they've hired Bobby Jackson as a player development coach and promoted David Adelman, Rick Adelman's son, to assistant coach (Twitter link). Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune adds (via Twitter) that the Wolves didn't pick up Shawn Respert's option at the end of August, leaving Jackson as the team's only player development coach.
Bryan Gutierrez of ESPNDallas.com loves the Mavericks' decision to re-sign Brandan Wright to a two-year, $10MM contract, giving the team a grade of A+ for the move. I'm not sure I'd go quite that far, though it looks like a solid value for Dallas.
Speaking to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Marcus Camby discusses his decision to sign with the Rockets, the recruitment he received from Dwight Howard, and his plan to coach after his playing career is over.
In a piece for Secret Rival, Hoops Rumors contributor Mark Porcaro examines a few former Big East standouts, rounding up where they're playing now. You can take a more in-depth look at the latest international player movement in our tracker, which we introduced earlier today.

Northwest Notes: Jazz, T-Wolves, Thunder

September 8th, 2013 at 7:36pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jazz have a big decision on their hands this fall as they have until Halloween to extend Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward. Utah is comfortable with heading into the season without new deals for either player, but it might behoove them to lock them up before they see big minutes in 2013/14 and increase their value. In last week's poll, most Hoops Rumors readers said that they expect both players to get extensions ironed out. Here's more from the Northwest Division..

Zach Harper of CBSSports.com sees an extension of roughly $8MM per season for Hayward and the Jazz.
Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities has reported on multiple occasions that the Timberwolves would likely leave their final regular season roster spot up for grabs between Othyus Jeffers, Robbie Hummel, Lorenzo Brown and another big man, but Flip Saunders tells WCCO that there's no unnamed big man forthcoming, as Wolfson points out via Twitter. So, it appears it's down to Jeffers, Hummel and Brown, though none of the three have inked a camp invite yet.
The Thunder, after relocating from Seattle, had the luxury of being able to build at a slower pace because the fans in OKC were supportive and anxious for basketball. A move to Seattle would have afforded the Kings a similar opportunity, HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram argues.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Newton, Rockets, Durant

September 6th, 2013 at 8:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

Most of the day's news has come from the Western Conference, where the Trail Blazers signed a player, the Thunder dropped one, the T-Wolves added to their front office. We also asked whether the Jazz are likely to extend Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, both, or neither, with a majority of readers who responded feeling as though Utah will get a pair of deals done. There's yet more going on in the West, as we detail:

Michael Lee of The Washington Post provides background on new Timberwolves GM Milt Newton, whose hiring became official today. Newton spent the last 10 seasons with the Wizards.
The Rockets have four players on their roster currently participating in international competitions, as well as a pair of "draft-and-stash" guys who are also taking part in those events. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle checks in on how all of them are doing,
Kevin Durant gave a qualified no when asked if he'd ever leave the Thunder, and while Royce Young of DailyThunder.com says Durant's "as of now" caveat is noteworthy, Young doesn't think it carries too much significance with KD tied to the team until 2016.