Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Timberwolves Notes: KAT, Title Path, Branch, Spagnolo

July 28th, 2022 at 9:04pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After agreeing to a four-year, super-max extension earlier this offseason with the team that selected him first in the 2015 NBA draft, Timberwolves All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns penned an enthusiastic letter praising Minnesota fans in local paper the Star Tribune (h/t to NBA Retweet for capturing the image).

“To the best fans in the NBA,” Towns began his missive. “When I arrived in Minnesota in 2015, I carried a lot of weight on my shoulders… I arrived at a hopeful time for the franchise. The best part of my tenure here is that we have such a bright future ahead — because of you all, the fans.

“… I am not who I am today without you,” Towns continued. “Thank you for challenging me, holding me accountable, supporting me and giving me a place to grow up and learn what it means to represent this state…. I promise to continue leading us to new heights for years to come.”

Towns will be suiting up for a new-look Minnesota club this fall, thanks in no small part to the team’s blockbuster trade for former Jazz All-Star center Rudy Gobert.

There’s more out of Minnesota:

In recent remarks made after agreeing to his new contract, Karl-Anthony Towns claimed to revel in the challenge of lifting the team that drafted him onto the path to title contention, writes Michael Rand of the Star Tribune. “A lot of people in my position, you know, they get to this spot with their second contract and they’re looking to get a ring — the easiest ring around the league,” Towns said during a conversation for the Star Tribune’s podcast Daily Delivery. “I wanted to take the harder route. I wanted to be loyal to the people who brought me into this league and gave me a chance to prove my worth. I wanted to win here.”
Joe Branch, a Timberwolves front office executive who first joined Minnesota following a stint as an agent with Roc Nation, is on the cusp of heading back to the agency side, where he is set to latch on with BDA Sports, according to Marc Stein (Twitter link).
Shooting guard Matteo Spagnolo, drafted by the Timberwolves with the No. 50 pick this year, will join Italian club Aquila Basket Trento for the 2022/23 season, the team announced in a press statement. Spagnolo heads to Aquila Basket on loan from Real Madrid, for whom the 19-year-old has played since 2018. During the 2021/22 season, Real Madrid loaned Spagnola out to another Italian team, Vanoli Cremona. In 25 contests for Vanolia Cremona, the 6’4″ wing averaged 12.2 PPG on .440/.441/.861 shooting. He also notched 3.5 RPG, 2.6 APG and 0.8 SPG.

Northwest Notes: Beverley, Mitchell, Lillard, Thunder

July 27th, 2022 at 8:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

After working to create a culture change in Minnesota last season, Patrick Beverley was looking forward to helping the Timberwolves take the next step. Although he was caught off guard by the team’s decision to send him to the Jazz in the Rudy Gobert trade, Beverley told Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston he wouldn’t call the move a surprise (video link).

“Surprised, no not in this business,” Beverley said. “Understood it. Never personal, always business. We did some great things in Minnesota. We kind of revamped the environment there. Gave the fans something to be happy about.”

Beverley brought a veteran presence to a young Wolves team that reached the playoffs for just the second time in the past 18 seasons. He hopes to fill a similar role for Utah, but admits that things are unpredictable in the midst of Donovan Mitchell trade rumors.

“We’ll see what happens in the next couple of weeks. It’s a lot going on right now,” Beverley said (video link). “We’ll see where the dust clears. Hopefully Donovan Mitchell stays and the team is competitive. If that’s the case we’re very excited.”

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

The Knicks are still in position to make the best offer for Mitchell, but Jazz CEO Danny Ainge has the advantage of being able to wait until someone meets his price, notes Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. Larsen examines the trade assets from the Hawks, Hornets, Heat, Kings, Raptors and Wizards – all rumored Mitchell suitors – to see what they could potentially offer.
Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard considers himself fully recovered from abdominal surgery in January, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report. Lillard played 29 games last season before deciding to have the operation, but he admits that the pain had been bothering him for nearly five years. “I feel 100 percent healthy,” Lillard said. “I got a break from playing and going out there knowing I didn’t feel good, and the burden of, ‘We have to win. I have to perform well.’ That’s a little bit stressful. So the last seven-and-a-half, almost eight months without having to think about none of those things, it kind of cleared my mind. Physically, I feel great.”
Longtime Sixers executive Vince Rozman will join the Thunder as vice president of identification and intelligence, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Knight Has Partial Guarantees In Contract

July 26th, 2022 at 6:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nathan Knight‘s two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Timberwolves includes a $350K partial guarantee in year one and a $380,718 partial guarantee and team option in year two, Hoops Rumors has learned. Knight, who was on a two-way deal with Minnesota last season, signed a standard contract over the weekend. The 6’10” forward appeared in 37 NBA games last season.

Timberwolves Sign A.J. Lawson To Two-Way Contract

July 26th, 2022 at 5:14pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 26: The Timberwolves have officially signed Lawson to his two-way deal, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

JULY 19: The Timberwolves are signing free agent wing A.J. Lawson to a two-way contract, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Lawson excelled during the Las Vegas Summer League for the Mavericks, averaging 15.6 PPG and 6.0 RPG in five games.

Lawson, a 6’6” guard, was waived by the Hawks during training camp last fall. He then averaged 11.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG and 1.8 APG in 31.8 MPG for the College Park Skyhawks, Atlanta’s G League affiliate, while appearing in 33 games.

Lawson went undrafted in 2021 despite putting up 16.6 PPG and 4.1 RPG with a .351 3PT% in 21 games (31.3 MPG) as a junior for South Carolina in 2020/21.

Both of Minnesota’s two-way slots are empty, though the team has a two-way qualifying offer out to Nathan Knight.

Timberwolves Re-Sign Nathan Knight

July 24th, 2022 at 9:52am CST by Arthur Hill

10:30am: Knight’s contract carries a partial guarantee for the upcoming season, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).

9:52am: Power forward Nathan Knight has re-signed with the Timberwolves, according to the NBA’s transactions log.

Knight received a two-year contract with a team option on the second season, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Knight, 24, was a restricted free agent after playing on a two-way contract with Minnesota last August. He appeared in 37 games, making two starts, and averaged 3.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in 7.2 minutes per night.

Knight signed a two-way deal with the Hawks after going undrafted out of William & Mary in 2020. He played 33 games for Atlanta as a rookie.

Wolves Notes: Towns, Gobert, Edwards, Spagnolo

July 23rd, 2022 at 6:20pm CST by Arthur Hill

Karl-Anthony Towns‘ super-max extension will keep him with the Timberwolves through the end of the 2027/28 season, and the star center has plans to stay even longer. At a press conference Friday formally announcing the extension, Towns indicated that he wants to spend the rest of his career in the Twin Cities, tweets basketball writer Christos Tsaltas.

“My dream is to retire here (in Minnesota),” Towns said. “I’m very comfortable spending my time here. This place has a special energy.”

If that happens, Towns will be among a select group of modern elite players to spend their entire career with one team. He has been a cornerstone of the franchise since being taken with the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft, and the Wolves appear to be on the rise after reaching the playoffs last season and completing a huge offseason trade to acquire Rudy Gobert.

“I expect a lot of winning here,” Towns told reporters. “I want to win.”

There’s more from Minnesota:

Appearing on ESPN’s NBA Today (video link), Towns said he was in London when the trade with Utah happened. When his girlfriend told him, “You guys got Rudy,” he thought the team signed Rudy Gay. When she explained that it was actually Gobert, Towns started thinking about the possibilities of having two big men on the court together. “I just saw the vision of us both twin towers out there,” Towns said. “What he can do defensively, what I can do offensively, and we all putting that together for one organization, I think it’s going to be very different. The NBA hasn’t seen something like this (for years). It’s going to be unique and it’s going to be scary.”
In the same interview, Towns expressed supreme confidence in teammate Anthony Edwards and said the two of them need to “go out there and play at a level that hasn’t been seen since Shaq and Kobe, if possible” (Twitter link).
The Wolves have confirmed that second-round pick Matteo Spagnolo will play overseas next season, according to Cody Taylor of USA Today’s Rookie Wire. Spagnolo, the 50th overall selection, spent last season with Vanoli Cremona of Lega A, Italy’s top professional league. He played for Minnesota in the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 3.2 points, 1.8 assists and 1.4 rebounds in five games.

Contract Details: K. Williams, J. Green, Nembhard, Minott, Rivers

July 23rd, 2022 at 11:22am CST by Luke Adams

Kenrich Williams‘ new four-year extension with the Thunder came in at a total value of $27,170,000, Hoops Rumors has learned. Williams will earn $6,175,000 in 2023/24 when the extension goes into effect, then $6,669,000 in ’24/25. His final two years are each worth $7,163,000, with a team option on the ’26/27 season.

In other Thunder cap news, JaMychal Green gave up $2,628,597 in his buyout agreement with the team. As our chart of minimum salaries shows, that’s the exact amount an eight-year veteran like Green would earn on a minimum contract, which is what he’ll reportedly sign with Golden State.

Here are a few more salary notes from around the NBA:

The Pacers took advantage of their cap room by giving second-round pick Andrew Nembhard a contract with a declining structure. His four-year deal begins at $2,244,111 this season, then dips to $2,131,905 in 2023/24 and $2,019,699 in ’24/25 before increasing to the ’25/26 minimum of $2,187,451. The first three years are guaranteed, while the fourth is a team option.
The Timberwolves used a portion of their mid-level exception to sign second-rounder Josh Minott to a four-year, minimum-salary contract. It’s fully guaranteed for the first two years and non-guaranteed for the last two. Minott’s third-year salary would become guaranteed if he’s not waived by June 28, 2024, and the fourth year is a team option. Minnesota now only has about $692K left on its mid-level exception, which could potentially be used very late in the season to sign a player to a three- or four-year minimum-salary deal.
The Timberwolves‘ minimum-salary contract with Austin Rivers is only partially guaranteed for $650K. It would become fully guaranteed if he remains on the roster through the league-wide salary guarantee date in January.

KAT: It’s “Championship Or Bust” After Gobert Trade

July 22nd, 2022 at 10:02pm CST by Rory Maher

At a press conference to announce his super-max extension on Friday, Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns said he is fully aware of the expectations the team has going forward after trading an enormous amount of assets for three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.

“Championship or bust,” Towns said.

He elaborated further once the press conference was over.

“When you make the trade that we made, that’s the reality. I’m not trying to sugarcoat,” Towns told Michael Rand of The Star Tribune. “You’ve got to think that. That’s really what’s on the table. I don’t think the fans would be accepting of [a goal of] a third-round elimination. … Let’s be real. The standards are high. The pressure is high. And that’s when we should all love to play basketball even more.”

As Rand writes, the idea that Minnesota would have such lofty goals even last summer, after a disappointing season saw the team finish 23-49, 13th in the West, might have seemed preposterous.

But things change quickly in the NBA, Rand notes. The Wolves won 46 games last season and made the playoffs for just the second time in the past 18 years, and now after acquiring a four-time All-NBA center, the bar for success has risen dramatically.

New president of basketball Tim Connelly said he was grateful that Towns was so eager to recommit to the only franchise he’s ever known.

“For Karl, he’s seen a lot of tough days,” Connelly said, per Rand. “It was so exciting to hear how excited he was about Finchy (head coach Chris Finch) and his teammates and how quickly he was willing to get this done.”

Timberwolves Sign Josh Minott To Four-Year Deal

July 22nd, 2022 at 8:54pm CST by JD Shaw

JULY 22: Minnott’s deal with the Wolves is now official, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

JULY 16: The Timberwolves are signing forward Josh Minott to a four-year contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Minott was originally selected No. 45 overall by the Hornets last month, then was traded to Minnesota on the night of the draft.

Before declaring for the draft, Minott played one season at Memphis, averaging 6.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. The 19-year-old also shot 52% from the field, playing an average of 14.6 minutes per contest.

At 6’8″ and notably athletic, Minott has the potential to be a combo forward and excel on both ends. He can still improve his shooting — he only made two 3-pointers in 33 games last season — but that typically isn’t more pressing than work ethic, athleticism and size for young, developing players.

The Timberwolves also recently signed veteran guard Austin Rivers and still have an open roster spot to use. The team expects to compete for a title in the coming years, especially after adding Rudy Gobert to a core that already includes D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. Minott will be able to learn from a blend of young players and veterans during his rookie season.

Although Charania pegs the value of Minott’s new deal at $6.8MM, a four-year minimum-salary contract would be worth $6.94MM, so that’s likely what the former Memphis Tiger is receiving. The Wolves still had a portion of their mid-level exception remaining after signing Kyle Anderson, and will use some of that MLE to complete Minott’s deal.

Wilson Chandler To Join Front Office?

July 22nd, 2022 at 5:18pm CST by Rory Maher

Former NBA forward Wilson Chandler, who played 12 seasons in the league, has had “exploratory” discussions with the Timberwolves about joining their front office, according to Scotto, who notes that Chandler had four seasons of overlap under new Wolves president Tim Connelly while the two were with the Nuggets. Chandler had a productive career, averaging 12.5 PPG and 4.3 RPG on .443/.341/.770 shooting in 676 games (483 starts, 30.0 MPG).