Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Timberwolves, Braun, Jokic, Vanderbilt, Beasley

October 23rd, 2022 at 6:09pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The 1-1 Timberwolves are continuing to adjust to their new-look roster as the 2022/23 season gets going, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

“The smaller we go, the better it is for me,” star Minnesota shooting guard Anthony Edwards said after the team’s 132-126 overtime loss to the rebuilding Jazz Friday night. Given that the team’s highest-paid players are seven-foot frontcourt starters Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, Krawczynski notes that this is a loaded statement.

“I have to get him the ball more,” head coach Chris Finch said of Edwards. “We ran a couple things to get the ball in his hands. And then, again, the ball got sticky. We tried to play through KAT there. But he’s got to get some looks. That’s on me.”

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

Nuggets rookie shooting Christian Braun seems to be carving out a solid bench role already, having logged a productive 23 minutes as a reserve for the Warriors, writes Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports. The 21-year-old Braun, selected out of Kansas in this year’s draft with the No. 21 pick, has emerged as a multi-faceted defender, and could prove to be a vital role player for a team with championship aspirations.
Reigning two-time Nuggets MVP Nikola Jokic, one of the league’s best passers, looks set to thrive surrounded by sharpshooting colleagues, notes Mike Singer of The Denver Post. New additions Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Braun raved about the depths of the center’s hoops knowledge. “Jok is unbelievable,” Caldwell-Pope said. Braun added: “You try to learn from him because he knows your spot probably better than you do.”
Jazz role players Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley have already been through their share of rebuilds, and hope to use their wealth of experience to help guide the youth movement in Utah, writes Sarah Todd of Deseret News. “Just trying to bring those same qualities and pretty much we’re in the same boat, trying to rebuild and establish a culture and create winning habits,” Vanderbilt said. “[W]e’ve been on three programs [with the Nuggets and the Timberwolves] that before we got there they weren’t playoff contending teams. “We ended up helping be a part of rebuilds and being a part of changing culture. This is not new for us.”

And-Ones: Breakout Candidates, Wembanyama, Thornwell

October 21st, 2022 at 12:36pm CST by Luke Adams

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype polled 20 NBA executives on their top three breakout candidates for the 2022/23 season and found that Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey was the most popular pick. While I’d argue that last season represented a breakout year for Maxey, some executives have far higher expectations for him going forward.

“Maxey’s going to be better than James Harden,” one general manager said to Scotto. “He just keeps getting better and better and will be a huge reason why they have success this season.”

Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, Magic forward Franz Wagner, and Rockets guard Jalen Green were among the other popular breakout picks, based on the responses Scotto got from executives. Interestingly, Warriors big man James Wiseman and Pistons forward/center Marvin Bagley III were each picked as this year’s top breakout candidate by one GM.

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

In his latest look at the top prospects in the 2023 NBA draft class, David Aldridge of The Athletic passes along several entertaining quotes from NBA executives, including one Eastern Conference exec’s response to whether Scoot Henderson could surpass Victor Wembanyama as next year’s No. 1 pick: “Scoot’s good, but, no. Short of Wembanyama having murdered somebody, there’s just no way.”
Veteran guard Sindarius Thornwell has signed with Frutti Extra Bursasport, the Turkish team announced this week (via Twitter). Thornwell has appeared in 160 total NBA games and played for New Orleans and Atlanta in 2020/21, but wasn’t in the league last season.
Longtime NBA referee Tony Brown, who officiated over 1,100 games, including one in the 2020 NBA Finals, passed away on Thursday after a fight with pancreatic cancer, according to his family (story via ESPN.com).

PJ Dozier To Join Iowa Wolves

October 20th, 2022 at 10:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

PJ Dozier will start the season with the Timberwolves’ NBA G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. Minnesota waived Dozier, who was on an Exhibit 10 contract, on Saturday as the team pared its roster to the 15-man limit. The former Denver wing tore his ACL last December and didn’t appear in any preseason games prior to being waived. Iowa’s opener is in two weeks.

Rudy Gobert said it will be “weird” to face his former Jazz teammates on Friday, Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes. “It’s all love for me,” the Timberwolves center said. “You know, I want to see these guys succeed and I’m sure they want to see me succeed, too.”

Wolves Notes: Gobert, Towns, Garza, Russell

October 20th, 2022 at 11:44am CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders in their 115-108 win over Oklahoma City to open the regular season on Wednesday. Stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards combined to shoot just 6-of-27 from the field for a total of 23 points.

However, center Rudy Gobert made his presence felt in his regular season debut with his new team, leading the way with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Head coach Chris Finch said after the game that Gobert’s “impact was strong everywhere,” while the center himself said there’s still plenty of work to do.

“It shows how good we can be and how much better we can be at the same time,” Gobert said of the Wolves’ up-and-down play in the opener, per Jim Souhan of The Star Tribune. “It’s going to be a process and every night is going to be an opportunity for us to get better.”

Here’s more on the Wolves:

The Wolves’ frontcourt pairing of Gobert and Towns, rivals turned allies, is the NBA’s biggest experiment entering this season, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes in an article looking back at how the duo came together and what we should expect from the two star big men.
Luka Garza was thrilled to have his Exhibit 10 contract converted into a two-way deal at the end of the preseason, as Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune details. “The coaching staff, the system, the players, everything kinds of fit me really well,” Garza said. “For a young big in this league there is no better environment to be in, with the best offensive big in the league and the best defensive big man. What better guys to learn from?” The opportunity to spend some time with the Iowa Wolves was an added bonus for the former Hawkeyes star. “I’m from (Washington) D.C., but now it feels like I’m from Iowa. So I’m super excited,” he said.
A potential unrestricted free agent in 2023, D’Angelo Russell enters this season seeking redemption after a disappointing showing in the Wolves’ first-round playoff loss this spring, says Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.
Michael Rand of The Star Tribune identifies five factors that will help determine how high the Timberwolves’ ceiling is, including their defensive consistency, Russell’s performance in a contract year, and the team’s role players being a net positive.

Timberwolves Waive Eric Paschall

October 19th, 2022 at 4:37pm CST by Rory Maher

The Timberwolves have waived forward Eric Paschall, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The team confirmed the news in a press release.

Pachall was on a two-way deal with the Wolves, so they now have a two-way opening after releasing him. Minnesota also recently converted center Luka Garza to a two-way deal from an Exhibit 10 contract, waiving guard A.J. Lawson to make room for him.

According to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Wolves were “very excited” to land Paschall on a two-way deal, but it sounds like he may have been cut due to “lingering Achilles issues.” He only appeared in one preseason game for the Wolves for 13 minutes, scoring one point.

The No. 41 pick in the 2019 draft, Paschall began his NBA career with the Warriors and had an impressive rookie season in Golden State in 2019/20, averaging 14.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 60 games (27.6 MPG). His role declined in his second season and he was traded in the 2021 offseason to Utah, where his minutes dipped further.

In 58 appearances last season for the Jazz, the 25-year-old averaged 5.8 PPG and 1.8 RPG on .485/.370/.767 shooting in 12.7 MPG. He was eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end, but didn’t receive a qualifying offer from Utah and became unrestricted.

It took about a month for Paschall to find a new team in free agency, and he said he contemplated retirement before ultimately accepting the two-way deal with Minnesota.

“It was just a lot, you know what I’m saying?” Paschall said. “I feel like mentally I wasn’t in the greatest place. Just tired. I was like, ‘I might just stop playing basketball.’ … You see the other players getting picked up, you’re not getting a call. You’re calling your agent every day. So I was at a point where I was like I might walk away.”

It’s unclear what the future holds for the three-year veteran, but he’ll clear waivers on Friday if he goes unclaimed.

Extension Notes: Russell, G. Williams, Clarke, Poole

October 17th, 2022 at 12:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell is about to begin the final season of the four-year contract he signed in 2019, and will be eligible to sign an extension anytime up until June 30, 2023, the day before he reaches free agency. However, Brian Windhorst of ESPN and Darren Wolfson of SKOR North and 5 Eyewitness News suggested during the latest episode of Wolfson’s The Scoop podcast that an extension for Russell probably isn’t around the corner.

“I have not heard any discussion of him getting an extension,” Windhorst said, per RealGM.

Wolfson agreed, adding, “I think (Russell’s) representation has reached out to the Wolves, but it doesn’t seem like it’s being reciprocated.”

The Timberwolves already have significant financial commitments to Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert on their books for the next several years, and will likely be signing Anthony Edwards to a lucrative long-term contract next summer, so it makes sense that the team would be unwilling to work out a big new deal with Russell before assessing how all the pieces fit together this season.

Here are a few more extension-related notes from around the NBA:

Celtics forward Grant Williams, extension-eligible for a few more hours, recently spoke to Brian Robb of MassLive.com about the possibility of getting a new deal. Williams shared some interesting insights, including explaining why he doesn’t view recently extended power forwards like Larry Nance Jr. and Maxi Kleber as direct comparables. “It’s one of those things like — you look at guys across the league, they maybe play different roles and a different situation,” Williams said. “You bring up Nance Jr. with the Pelicans and he’s probably their ninth or 10th man. They are one of the teams that are on the edge of making a run. Similar to Kleber’s, who is 30. He doesn’t necessarily have the versatility, the guarding — I try my best not to look at those guys. I just feel like you make your own market and understand your value.”
Brandon Clarke‘s four-year contract extension with the Grizzlies, reported to be worth $52MM, actually has a base value of $50MM, with $2MM in total incentives ($500K per year), tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic. The deal features four flat annual cap hits of $12.5MM, adds ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter).
Warriors guard Jordan Poole, who officially signed a four-year, $123MM+ extension on Sunday, told reporters that he “couldn’t stop smiling” when he put pen to paper on his new deal, as Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic writes. Poole didn’t have much to say about his practice altercation with Draymond Green, downplaying the impact he expects the incident to have going forward: “He apologized and we’re professionals. We plan on handling ourselves that way.”

Wolves Notes: Gobert, Chemistry, Edwards

October 16th, 2022 at 2:16pm CST by Luke Adams

With Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns sharing the court on the first time in Friday’s preseason finale, the Timberwolves looked very much like a group that had yet to play together, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, who writes that “the lane was clogged, the ball movement was non-existent and shots were clanking.” However, as Krawczynski outlines, the Wolves know integrating Gobert and the other new players on the roster will take some time and weren’t discouraged by the early returns. “I thought it was good at times, bad at times,” Gobert said after the game. “But I think that’s the fun of it.”

With Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns sharing the court on the first time in Friday’s preseason finale, the Timberwolves looked very much like a group that had yet to play together, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, who writes that “the lane was clogged, the ball movement was non-existent and shots were clanking.” However, as Krawczynski outlines, the Wolves know integrating Gobert and the other new players on the roster will take some time and weren’t discouraged by the early returns. “I thought it was good at times, bad at times,” Gobert said after the game. “But I think that’s the fun of it.”
Chris Hine of The Star Tribune takes an in-depth look at Anthony Edwards‘ intense offseason training regimen and explores how that work might translate to the court in the Timberwolves guard’s third NBA season. While much of the focus will be on Gobert’s impact, Edwards’ ability to continue taking his game to new levels may determine how high Minnesota’s ceiling rises.

Timberwolves Sign-And-Waive Emmanuel Mudiay, Two Others

October 15th, 2022 at 8:12pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Timberwolves announced the signing of former lottery pick Emmanuel Mudiay, along with guard Matt Lewis and forward Phillip Wheeler. All three were later waived, the team tweeted.

Mudiay will join Minnesota’s G League team in Iowa, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link), and Lewis and Wheeler will likely be headed there also. Krawczynski points out that new Timberwolves president Tim Connelly was running the Nuggets when they selected Mudiay with the seventh pick in the 2015 draft (Twitter link).

Mudiay, 26, was traded from Denver to the Knicks in 2018 and signed with the Jazz in 2019. He appeared in two games for the Kings last season after signing a 10-day contract in December and had a brief stay in Lithuania as well.

Lewis, 23, signed with the Timberwolves after going undrafted out of James Madison and played for Iowa last season. He averaged 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 32 G League games.

Wheeler, 20, played eight G League games last season with Rio Grande Valley and Mexico City. He also spent part of the year in Puerto Rico. His agreement with Minnesota was originally reported in June.

Timberwolves Waive Dozier, Elleby, Lawson

October 15th, 2022 at 11:25am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Timberwolves reached the 15-man roster limit by waiving guard PJ Dozier, forward CJ Elleby and guard A.J. Lawson, according to a team press release.

Dozier was signed to an Exhibit 10 contract last month. He spent the last three seasons with the Nuggets, where he averaged 6.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in 97 games (six starts).

Elleby received an Exhibit 10 contract in early August and appeared in two preseason games. He spent the last two seasons with the Trail Blazers. Last season, he averaged 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in 58 games.

Lawson held one of the team’s two-way contracts but Minnesota chose to give big man Luka Garza his two-way spot. Lawson signed his two-way deal in July. The Garza signing was officially announced in a press release on Saturday.

Lawson saw action in three preseason games for the Wolves and also played for the Mavericks’ summer league squad, for which he averaged 15.6 PPG and 6.0 RPG in five games.

Given Dozier and Elleby’s NBA experience, it wouldn’t be a surprise if either gets claimed. Dozier returned to basketball activities this summer after tearing his ACL last December.

Wolves Converting Luka Garza To Two-Way Deal

October 14th, 2022 at 10:47pm CST by Rory Maher

10:50pm: Lawson will be waived to make room for Garza, sources tell Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link). Minnesota was high on Lawson, but didn’t want to lose Garza, per Krawczynski.

10:26pm: The Timberwolves are signing center Luka Garza to a two-way deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

While Charania says “signing,” Garza is already under contract with the team, so the Wolves are technically converting his Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way deal. Minnesota’s two-way slots are currently occupied by A.J. Lawson and Eric Paschall, so they’ll need to waive one of them in order to convert Garza.

Garza, 23, was selected by the Pistons with the 52nd overall pick in the 2021 draft and spent his rookie season in Detroit, averaging 5.8 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 32 games (12.2 MPG). He was a standout for the Motor City Cruise, Detroit’s G League affiliate, putting up 20.6 PPG and 9.5 RPG in 16 games (29.8 MPG) and earning a spot on the All-NBAGL Third Team.

The former Iowa star’s contract with the Pistons was for two years, but the 2022/23 season was a team option, which Detroit declined, making him an unrestricted free agent. Garza signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Wolves in August.

Wolves head coach Chris Finch recently stated that he likes what Garza has brought to the team during training camp.

“He’s the perfect system fit for us. Great acquisition by our front office,” Finch said. “He’s a guy I think can really grow into our system here. He can stretch the floor and he can score around the basket. That’s a great combo. Not a lot of bigs can do that.”