Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bulls Close To Deal With Mike Dunleavy

July 1st, 2013 at 6:40pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls are the front-runners for Mike Dunleavy, and they're negotiating a two-year, $6MM deal, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Other teams remain in play, but there's confidence an agreement can be reached, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link).

Wojnarowski pointed earlier to the Rockets as another option for Dunleavy, if Houston falls short of signing Dwight Howard (Twitter link). The Mavs, Lakers and Wolves are also in the mix, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Knicks reportedly like him, too. Still, Dunleavy is intrigued by the chance to play alongside Derrick Rose, Johnson notes (on Twitter).

The 32-year-old Arn Tellem client spent the past two seasons with the Bucks, where he made a career-high 42.8% of his three-point attempts this past season. When I examined his free agent stock, I figured he could fit in as a role player on a contending club, and that appears to be just what he would sign to do in Chicago. The Bulls would be using their mini mid-level to bring him aboard.

Spurs In Mix For Andrei Kirilenko

July 1st, 2013 at 2:22pm CST by Luke Adams

Having declined his player option for 2013/14, Andrei Kirilenko is on the open market, and at least one team besides the Wolves has Kirilenko in its sights, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Stein tweets that the Spurs are expected to be in the mix for the Russian forward.

San Antonio has the opportunity to clear a good chunk of cap space this summer, but it will depend on what the team decides to do with free agents Manu Ginobili, Tiago Splitter, and Gary Neal. Re-signing all three players at reasonable prices could ensure that the team doesn't have the room necessary to pursue Kirilenko. But if the club were to let Splitter walk, for instance, there may be room to make a player like Kirilenko a competitive offer.

Kirilenko turned down a $10MM+ salary from the Timberwolves to hit the open market, and in an interview with Russia's Sport Express (translated by HoopsHype), he explains that he's seeking the security of a long-term contract. The 32-year-old believes he has at least three productive seasons left in him, and indicated he's open to returning to Minnesota, though Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune doesn't believe the Wolves have much interest in a reunion (Twitter link).

Wolfson On Mayo, Iguodala, Redick, Dunleavy

July 1st, 2013 at 10:17am CST by Chuck Myron

Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities has plenty on all things Timberwolves in his latest dispatch, including a look at the itinerary for president of basketball operations Flip Saunders that sheds some light on the team's order of free agent priorities. Here's what Wolfson is sharing:

The team's top targets appear to be Mayo, Redick and Martin, Wolfson tweets.

Earlier updates:

Saunders will meet with O.J. Mayo, and he could meet with Andre Iguodala as well, since agent Rob Pelinka has them together in Los Angeles. Iguodala, though, is probably out of the team's price range, Wolfson writes.
Saunders will then see Wasserman Media Group clients J.J. Redick and Mike Dunleavy Jr. Dorell Wright will likely meet with Saunders as well. Finally, Saunders will take his reported meeting with Rick Adelman favorite Chase Budinger, who's strongly interested in signing with the Bucks.
Kevin Martin is on the Wolves' radar, too, according to Wolfson. If Saunders can't land him or any of the above targets, he'll turn to Marco Belinelli.
Though it's more likely that Andrei Kirilenko will sign elsewhere, he'll still consider re-signing with Minnesota, a source tells Wolfson. The team made phone calls and held meetings last night, but it did not reach out to Kirilenko, Wolfson tweets.
Owner Glen Taylor's strong preference is to stay out of the luxury tax, and it's likely the team will remain below the tax line, but if Saunders can make a "can't miss" proposition to become a tax team, Taylor may consent to doing so.
We'd heard that the team plans to waive Greg Stiemsma before his non-guaranteed contract becomes fully guaranteed later this month, and Wolfson says the same is true for Mickael Gelabale, though Wolfson believes the team may try to find trading partners for them in the meantime.
J.J. Barea, Luke Ridnour and Derrick Williams are the others on the team's trading block.
The team has not reached out to Carlos Delfino, Wolfson reports via Twitter.

Wolves Offered Martin Four-Year, $30MM Deal

July 1st, 2013 at 6:21am CST by Zachary Links

The T'Wolves have offered Kevin Martin a four-year deal that is worth as much as $30MM with incentives, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter). Martin is represented by Dan Fegan of Relativity Sports, according to the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.

Martin, of course, spent last season with the Thunder after coming over from Houston in the James Harden trade. The guard averaged 14.0 PPG while shooting 45% from the floor in 27.7 minutes per contest last season.

The Thunder would like to facilitate a sign-and-trade for Martin if they are unable to retain him, but that could be tricky given their lack of cap flexibility.

Several Teams Interested In Chase Budinger

July 1st, 2013 at 12:48am CST by Luke Adams

9:44am: There is strong mutual interest between Budinger and the Bucks, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times.

12:48am: As expected, Flip Saunders and a Timberwolves contingent is meeting with free agent wing Chase Budinger in San Diego, as Sean Deveney of the Sporting News tweets. However, the Wolves aren't the only team interested in signing Budinger.

According to Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter), the Pelicans, Bucks, Pacers, and Mavericks all have some level of interest in Budinger. Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News adds the Lakers to that list of potential suitors (Twitter link), though Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times hears that Budinger will likely receive more than the $3.18MM mini mid-level that the Lakers can offer (Twitter link).

Budinger, 25, missed most of the 2012/13 season with a knee injury, but provides excellent outside shooting when healthy.

Odds & Ends: Mayo, Martin, Noel, Bulls

June 30th, 2013 at 8:45pm CST by Zachary Links

Here's the latest from around the Association as we gear up for the start of free agency..

The Jazz, Bucks, Timberwolves, Clippers, Blazers, Bobcats, and Bulls are all likely suitors for Mavs guard O.J. Mayo, USA Today's Sam Amick tweets. Mayo is expected to turn down his $4.2MM option this summer and it makes a lot of sense considering the number of teams with major cap space to burn.
Kevin Martin is expected to draw interest from the Bucks, Pelicans, Timberwolves, Mavericks, and Pistons, as well as the Thunder, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Before Nerlens Noel fell to pick No. 6, the Pelicans were entertaining the idea of trading that selection to the Bobcats for Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe notes amid his weekly roundup.
Drastic change isn't likely to blow through the Windy City for the Bulls this summer, writes Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com. There's still a lot of moving pieces for the club, but the major shifting probably won't come until the summer of 2014 for the Bulls.
The Wizards face some tough decisions with free agency approaching, writes Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Washington obviously won't be in play for any of the elite free agents this summer and they have their sights set on less-thrilling goals, like retaining small forward Martell Webster.
We hear similar news out of Portland, where Joe Freeman of The Oregonian cautions fans not to expect anything too crazy out of the Blazers. Of course, there have been rumblings over LaMarcus Aldridge's discontent.

Wolfson On Mayo, Budinger, Belinelli, Iguodala

June 30th, 2013 at 10:04am CST by Chuck Myron

Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities covers a broad spectrum of Minnesota sports in his weekly Scoops column, but with the NBA draft just completed and free agency about to start, his focus this week is on the Timberwolves. Let's dive in:

Wolfson writes that Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders may meet with O.J. Mayo this week, and Wolfson adds via Twitter that there's a strong belief that the meeting will indeed take place, around the same time Saunders meets with Chase Budinger.
Minnesota is also considering Marco Belinelli.
The Wolves are unlikely to go after Andre Iguodala, and his high price tag isn't the only reason.
A source tells Wolfson that while the Wolves like Bucks big man Ekpe Udoh, who was rumored this week to be part of a trade for Luke Ridnour, the team is getting plenty of offers for Ridnour, and Minnesota may wind up with a more attractive player than Udoh in return.
Bojan Dubljevic, whom the Wolves took 59th overall, will remain in Europe for at least two more years.
Another rumor around draft time had the Wolves swapping the No. 26 pick for MarShon Brooks, but such a deal was "never that close," Wolfson writes.
Greg Stiemsma has left agent Mike Naiditch, and the Priority Sports Agency will now handle his representation.

Western Links: Brown, Mavericks, Clippers

June 29th, 2013 at 9:39pm CST by Spencer Lund

The deadline for the Suns to waive Shannon Brown in order to pay half of his $3.5MM salary for the 2013/14 season has passed, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter). Brown was re-signed to a two-year deal worth $7MM with excess Suns' cap room in July of 2012.

The Suns could waive Brown and only eat half of his $3.5MM contract if they did so before whichever occurred first: 36 hours after 11:59 pm the day of the 2013 NBA Draft, or June 30th. That first deadline has passed, so now the Suns are on the hook for the full amount.

Here are some more notes on the Western Conference, including Kobe Bryant's thoughts on Dwight Howard's free agency:

Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News writes that no matter when the Mavericks see Howard, they'll have a captive audience.
But fellow Dallas Morning News columnist, George Diaz, wants his Mavs readers to remember that Howard cherishes fun over titles.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets that the Mavs don't expect to hear from Shawn Marion today, since they'll only be notified if he elects to opt out of the final of his contract, and they expect the deadline to pass quietly. Marion has an early termination option for the last year of a deal that will pay him $9.32MM next season (w/ some performance bonus'). SI's Chris Mannix confirms he's not going to opt-out (Twitter).
According to Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune, DeMarre Carroll is hoping to get a longer stay with the Jazz.
ESPNLosAngeles.com writers Ramona Shelburne and Arash Markazi debate whether the addition of Doc Rivers makes the Clippers championship contenders.
Shelburne also says the Clippers are taking their time before making any moves after bringing on Doc Rivers (Twitter), so they're going to take their time with possible Eric Bledsoe and DeAndre Jordan moves.
Dan McCarney of the Express-News checks in with the Spurs' Euro stash.
Mike Trudell of Lakers.com spoke with the Lakers' Kobe Bryant about Dwight Howard's impending free agency, and sent out a few tweets with Kobe's answers.

Zgoda On Wolves, Mayo, Stiemsma, Kirilenko

June 29th, 2013 at 1:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

Andrei Kirilenko's decision to opt out of his contract could be something of a game-changer for the Wolves, since it frees up more than $10MM of salary for next season. That means the team has greater flexibility to pursue a new starting shooting guard or small forward through trade or free agency, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, pointing to O.J. Mayo as a likely target. President of basketball operations Flip Saunders has said that re-signing restricted free agent Nikola Pekovic is the club's primary offseason goal, and Zgoda looks at what could come next for the Wolves:

Minnesota will waive Greg Stiemsma before his contract becomes fully guaranteed on July 17th, according to Zgoda. I'd imagine the team will try to find takers for Stiemsma's contract in trades before then, though that's just my speculation. There's no partial guarantee on his deal, so the Wolves won't owe him anything if he's off their roster by the 17th of next month.
The Wolves aren't likely to offer more than two seasons in another contract for Kirilenko.
Zgoda wrote earlier this month that either J.J. Barea or Luke Ridnour was likely to be traded by draft night, and while that didn't happen, the team was in talks with the Bucks about a Ridnour/Ekpe Udoh swap this week. The Wolves still trying to trade one or both of Barea and Ridnour, according to Zgoda.
The Wolves would like to include the minimum-salary deal of Chris Johnson in a Barea or Ridnour trade, too.
Saunders is expected to meet with free agent small forward Chase Budinger in San Diego to talk about a new deal.

Andrei Kirilenko To Opt Out

June 29th, 2013 at 10:55am CST by Zachary Links

Andrei Kirilenko is opting out of his deal with the T’Wolves, a source tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (on Twitter). The Russian will hit the open market rather than earn $10.22MM with Minnesota next season.

We’ve heard that the Wolves would like to bring Kirilenko back, but aren’t keen on a deal that would pay him $10MM+ per season. Kirilenko’s opting out may not be a sign that he is expecting a deal with an AAV beyond $10MM, but the 32-year-old could be seeking something in that neighborhood on a multi-year deal.

If the Wolves do not retain Kirilenko, they could be left with a decent chunk of cap space this summer. With AK off of the books, the Wolves have roughly $39MM in guaranteed salary for next season. Of course, the Wolves will have to commit a considerable amount of money to Nikola Pekovic if they decide to match his offer sheet. All indications are that the club wants to retain the 27-year-old.