Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wolves Owner Glen Taylor Looking For Successor

May 4th, 2012 at 5:44pm CST by Chuck Myron

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor wants to bring on a minority partner who could take over as principal owner of the team after a few years, Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press reports (via ESPN.com). The 71-year-old Taylor, who prevented a move to New Orleans when he bought it in 1994, said any such partner must commit to keeping the team in Minnesota. State lawmakers are considering a plan for what the AP report calls a "massive" renovation of the Target Center, and approval could come next week.

"I could find somebody to buy the team. That's not my problem," Taylor said. "I have to find someone that's committed to here. It's always best if it would be a Minnesotan. I'm telling you I don't know that's the way it's going to work out. I haven't had a lot of Minnesotans step up."

Taylor, who hasn't spoken to any candidates yet, says the move is partially motivated by his age, and that it's also a consideration in his unwillingness for the team to go through another rebuilding stage. He's instructed team President David Kahn to be aggressive this summer in free agency.

Taylor is also chairman of the NBA's Board of Governors and played a key role in negotiating the current CBA during the lockout. The specter of Taylor and commissioner David Stern stepping down soon, as well as the turmoil within the player's association which threatens to oust executive director Billy Hunter, means the next CBA is likely to be negotiated by new leadership on both sides.

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Minnesota Timberwolves

Odds & Ends: Kahn, Howard, Parzenski, Kings

May 1st, 2012 at 1:39pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Celtics, 76ers, and Nuggets look to even up their respective series tonight before heading home, let's round up some odds and ends from around the league:

NBA commissioner David Stern doesn't believe Derrick Rose's torn ACL or other major injuries were caused by the condensed 2011/12 schedule, as he told Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio. ESPN Chicago has details and quotes.
Stephen Litel of HoopsWorld wonders if keeping David Kahn as the team's GM is the best idea for the Timberwolves. Minnesota exercised its option on Kahn for 2012/13 last week.
Magic GM Otis Smith will travel to the Los Angeles area to check in on Dwight Howard's recovery from back surgery, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
Polish seven-footer Jakub Parzenski declared for the draft prior to Sunday's early-entry deadline, tweets Jonathon Givony of DraftExpress.com. Parzenski is ranked just 20th among 1991-born international players by DraftExpress.
Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee outlines the latest developments, or lack thereof, in the "unhappy marriage" between the Kings and the city of Sacramento.

Wolves Notes: Love, Darko, Beasley, Randolph

April 28th, 2012 at 8:53am CST by Zachary Links

Timberwolves President David Kahn and coach Rick Adelman spoke with the press on Friday morning and Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune has the goods..

Kahn called Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio the team's "cornerstones" and hopes to see the two players retire as lifelong T'Wolves. Outside of that, Kahn promised to be aggressive this year and implied that major changes are on the horizon.
The Wolves will consider trading the 18th overall pick (from Utah) for a proven veteran but will also evaluate the players that could be available to them. What they won't do, however, is trade down repeatedly to acquire cash and future selections as they did with the 20th pick last year. "That would be a terrible thing to do, and I can assure you that never would we consider that," Kahn said.
Kahn declined to discuss the futures of Darko Milicic, Michael Beasley, Anthony Randolph, and Martell Webster. Beasley and Randolph will become unrestricted free agents if the team doesn't pick up their qualifying offers. Meanwhile, it's hard to imagine that they'll exercise Webster's $5.7MM option for next season and Milicic, owed $5MM next year, figures to be an amnesty clause candidate.
Kahn is in talks to bring some of the team's drafted European prospects to Minnesota in June so that Adelman and his staff can evaluate them. That would include forwards Nemanja Bjelica and Henk Norel and center Paulao Prestes. Without specifiying who, Kahn said one of those players might be ready for the NBA. Zgoda says it's likely Bjelica, though he is still probably too soft for the Association.

Northwest Notes: Jazz, Blazers, Marshall, T-Wolves

April 26th, 2012 at 12:11pm CST by Luke Adams

The Northwest Division won't be a major focus in tonight's games, with the Thunder off, the Jazz locked into the eighth seed, and the Timberwolves' and Trail Blazers' spots in the lottery set. Only tonight's Nuggets game in Minnesota will have an impact — a win would result in a first-round matchup against the Lakers, while a loss and a Mavericks win over Atlanta would see the Nuggets head to Oklahoma City.

As we prepare for the last night of the regular season, let's check in on the latest updates from the Northwest:

Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor spoke to the media Wednesday about a number of topics related to the team's season and direction going forward. Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune has the highlights in two parts.
ESPN.com's David Thorpe (Insider link) examines the Blazers' needs heading into the draft, and explains why UNC's Kendall Marshall is the best fit for Portland.
Rick Adelman, like Kevin Love, hopes the Timberwolves are aggressive in pursuing roster upgrades this summer, writes Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. After saying he'll lobby management to make moves, Love adds that he'd like to have some input in personnel decisions.

Kevin Love Will Lobby For Offseason Moves

April 25th, 2012 at 12:26pm CST by Luke Adams

Kevin Love will be in line for a big raise next season when his new contract extension kicks in, but the Timberwolves should still have some flexibility to make roster moves. If the T-Wolves choose not to retain free agents like Michael Beasley and Anthony Randolph or partially-guaranteed players like Martell Webster, the team could have nearly $10MM in cap room, and Love would like to see them take advantage of it.

"I think we just need to make some moves," Love told Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, adding that he will encourage management to be aggressive in acquiring veterans.

Minnesota's own first-round pick will head to New Orleans, but the team will have Utah's first-rounder, which figures to take up some cap room. Between the draft pick and cap holds, the team won't have a ton of space to pursue high-end free agents, and Zgoda believes that a trade may be more likely than a free agent signing for the Wolves, perhaps for a player like the Rockets' Kevin Martin. Still, coach Rick Adelman thinks Minnesota's young core could attract free agents.

"When you look at Kevin and you look at Ricky [Rubio] and the style that we're going to play, it's going to be good," Adelman said. "I think people will look at it. We have some pieces people would like to play with. I mean, this team was pretty good not long ago and let's face it, guys like to get paid. So if you can pay 'em and you have some people around? There are some positives here."

The Timberwolves recently exercised their 2012/13 option on GM David Kahn, so he'll be responsible for attempting to improve a roster that looked like a playoff contender this season, prior to Rubio's season-ending ACL injury.

Courtney Lee Wants To Return To Rockets

April 23rd, 2012 at 10:26pm CST by Chuck Myron

Courtney Lee will be a restricted free agent this summer, but he'd "love to stay" with the Rockets, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

“Houston is always going to be my first choice," Lee said. "It’s up to those guys, if I get an offer, whether they match it or if they just come out and give me an offer.”

The Rockets acquired the former first-round pick as part of a four-way trade before the 2010/11 season, and used the 6'5", 200-pound shooting guard primarily as a backup until starter Kevin Martin got hurt midway through this season. Lee has averaged 14.2 PPG in 25 games as a starter this year, well above his career mark of 10.0 PPG.

A few teams, including the Pacers, Bulls and Clippers, were reportedly interested in trading for Lee this season, but the Rockets' price was too high. Houston's qualifying offer on Lee is $3.22MM, but he figures to command significantly more than that. The Pacers, in particular, will have plenty of cap room if they are still interested in pursuing him, and other teams in need of a shooting guard, like the Timberwolves, could get involved. The Rockets will have tough decisions to make on Lee and fellow free agent Goran Dragic. Both entered the season as backup guards, but emerged as starters and played well in the second half of the season.

Timberwolves Exercise Option On David Kahn

April 23rd, 2012 at 8:30am CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves have exercised the 2012/13 option on David Kahn's contract, reports Kent Youngblood of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Owner Glen Taylor says he has already informed or is informing the team's general manager of the decision.

Kahn is in the final season of his three-year guarantee in Minnesota, but the club holds team options for next season and 2013/14. Each option is separate, so the T-Wolves could still decide to decline their final-year option, despite picking up next season's.

While Kahn has received some criticism for his moves in Minnesota, most recently during the Kevin Love extension negotiations, the emergence of Ricky Rubio had the team looking like a playoff contender before injuries derailed the season. Kahn won't have the Timberwolves' first-round draft pick this June, as it's ticketed for New Orleans. However, as our tentative draft order shows, Minnesota is in good position to acquire Utah's first-rounder, which is top-14 protected and currently projects as 16th or 17th overall.

Odds & Ends: Pacers, Orton, Warriors, T-Wolves

April 22nd, 2012 at 10:09pm CST by Daniel Seco

If the Rockets beat the Hornets on Thursday, it will mark their third consecutive season of missing the playoffs while finishing with a winning record, tweets John Schuhmann of NBA.com. Let the pain of that fact sink in as we take a look around the league to catch up on the latest news and happenings.

Now that the Pacers have clinched the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, head coach Frank Vogel needs to figure out which players he needs to rest before likely facing the Magic in the first round, writes Conrad Brunner of Pacers.com.
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel says Magic rookie Daniel Orton has taken the criticism he received from head coach Stan Van Gundy in stride as he knows he has a long way to go to becoming a contributing NBA player.
Being out of the playoff race has allowed the Warriors to experiment with different lineups and provide extensive minutes to the team's rookies, reports the Associated Press (link via the San Jose Mercury News).
Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports Luke Ridnour has joined Kevin Love on the list of Timberwolves starters who are being shut down for the remainder of the season.
Monday night's game against the Sixers marks the Nets' final game in New Jersey after 35 mostly forgettable seasons, reports the Associated Press (link via NBA.com). The team will move to Brooklyn for the 2012/2013 season where they will play in the brand-new Barclays Arena.
Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com says Sixers head coach Doug Collins wants his team to take care of business against the Nets on Monday so they no longer have to worry about the Bucks sneaking into the playoff picture.

Timberwolves Notes: Williams, Adelman, Tolliver

April 21st, 2012 at 8:29pm CST by Daniel Seco

With their highest win total since the 2006/2007 season, the Timberwolves can look forward to next season with a sense of optimism thanks to an improving core of young players featuring Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams. Starting center Nikola Pekovic has also emerged as a solid contributor to a team that looks a few pieces away from being a legitimate playoff contender in the coming seasons. Let's head to Minnesota to check up on the latest news from the Timberwolves.

Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press says Williams wants to use the offseason to get into outstanding shape like Love did last year. Williams, a power forward by trade, would like to get down to 225-230 pounds so that he could potentially play either of the forward positions. Love is currently the starting power forward for the Timberwolves while Michael Beasley and Wesley Johnson have split time at small forward.
Timberwolves head coach Rick Adelman has been tracking the Jazz's chances for making the playoffs given how Utah's fate will determine if the T-Wolves will have a first-round pick in the upcoming NBA draft, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. If the Jazz make the playoffs, the Timberwolves will receive Utah's first-round draft pick (expected to be in the mid- to late teens), but the team would be left without a selection in the first round if the Jazz fail to make the playoffs. "We're certainly following it," Adelman said. "That'll add more excitement to the draft for us."
Zgoda spoke with backup center Anthony Tolliver, who said that his agent has had informal talks with the Timberwoles about a contract extension this offseason. Tolliver, an unrestricted free agent who has expressed interest in staying in Minneapolis, cannot receive a formal contract offer from the team until July 1. "There have been talks, but you never know on something like that," Tolliver said. "I'd love to stay, but so much can happen between now and then."

Draft Notes: Fournier, Lottery, Jazz, Wolves

April 20th, 2012 at 5:52pm CST by Alex Lee

With the 2012 NBA Draft scheduled for Thursday June 28th, we should expect to see more and more early entrant decisions and mock drafts as the next two months progress. Luke Adams recently posted an index page for our Prospect Profile series, which should become more complete as we near the draft. Let's take a look at some draft updates as we head into Friday night's games:

Jonathan Givony from Draft Express takes a look at Evan Fournier, and he says could be the only international player taken in this year's first round. Givony says the 19-year-old Frenchman is, at 6-foot-7 with a good frame, the ideal size to play wing in the NBA, but needs to work on his jumper.
Chad Ford in an ESPN insider piece provides a detailed look at the race for the top selections in June's draft as well as many of the existing trade scenarios that will help to shape the order. The Jazz, in particular, are an interesting case – they can still end up with two lottery picks, or they can end up with none.
Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press takes a look at the Timberwolves' draft situation, who will have an eye on the Jazz's final few games of the season. Minnesota traded away their own first rounder, but should the Jazz make the playoffs the Wolves would get their first rounder as part of the Al Jefferson trade. Walters says Minnesota is desperate for a shooting guard.