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Northwest Notes: Edwards, A-Rod, Daigneault, Covington

November 25th, 2021 at 2:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves to a victory over Jimmy Butler and the Heat on Wednesday, putting up 33 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists in a game-high 43 minutes. Edwards was a plus-19 in the 12-point win and his performance earned rave reviews from a pair of his teammates with All-Star appearances on their résumés, as Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes.

“I think we’re watching him grow in front of us, just all around,” said D’Angelo Russell, adding that Edwards “got us over the hump” in the game vs. Miami.

“You need superstars to win in this league now,” Karl-Anthony Towns said of the second-year wing. “We need someone like him. We always talk about the big three. Well, he’s solidified himself. It’s amazing to see him getting better and better every game and figuring it out more and more.”

Edwards is building off his strong second half as a rookie and has boosted his numbers across the board so far this season, further solidifying his place as a long-term cornerstone in Minnesota. In 18 games (35.9 MPG), he has put up 22.8 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 3.4 APG on .434/.360/.746 shooting.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

  • How did Alex Rodriguez go from MLB All-Star to co-owner of the Timberwolves? In an in-depth story for The Athletic, Krawczynski explores A-Rod’s entry into the business world and how he teamed up with Marc Lore, his partner in the purchase of the Wolves.
  • Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault returned to the sidelines for Wednesday’s contest vs. Utah after missing the team’s three-game road trip to be there for the birth of his first child (Twitter link via Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman). Oklahoma City was 0-3 in Daigneault’s absence.
  • Trail Blazers forward Robert Covington was ejected from Wednesday’s game in Sacramento for throwing his face guard and hitting an official’s foot with it. As Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian relays, head coach Chauncey Billups and star guard Damian Lillard said after the game that it was an accident. “Roco always takes his mask off and tosses it to the side,” Lillard said. “This time he just tossed it and it literally bounced into the referee.” It remains to be seen whether Covington will be fined by the NBA for the incident.
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Timberwolves Notes: Edwards-KAT, Wiggins Trade, Inconsistency

November 14th, 2021 at 3:30pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Timberwolves need to carve out offensive opportunities for both Karl-Anthony Towns and ascendant second-year wing Anthony Edwards, opines Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Towns and Edwards appear to be the current core for Minnesota going forward.

Towns has thrived as a jump shooter but has been somewhat up-and-down scoring from inside the paint this season.

“I think we’ve studied it and just not getting a lot of production out of it, and I think his finishing could be a little better,” Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said of his post scoring. “I think we can get him to go maybe a little quicker, but by the same token, he’s not getting a lot of the benefit of the doubt down there.”

There’s more out of Minnesota:

  • The Timberwolves took a big swing with a 2020 trade that sent swingman Andrew Wiggins and a lightly-protected 2021 first-round draft pick to the Warriors in exchange for D’Angelo Russell, a longtime friend of Towns. Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic revisited the deal, executed by now-former team president Gersson Rosas, in the wake of a big night for Wiggins against Minnesota, noting that Golden State pretty definitively came out the winner. As Krawczynski writes, Wiggins has been a better fit for the Warriors than he was for the Timberwolves. In part because there is less pressure on him to be the 11-1 team’s main scorer, Wiggins can focus more on his improved perimeter defense. Russell, meanwhile, provides little help on defense and has been erratic offensively for the Timberwolves. The Warriors also used the first-rounder to select small forward Jonathan Kuminga with the seventh selection in this summer’s draft.
  • After a solid 107-83 victory over the Lakers on Friday night, the Timberwolves struggled to replicate their success against L.A.’s Staples Center neighbors, the Clippers, in a 129-102 loss on Saturday. Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic contends that this is who Minnesota really is: an inconsistent team with issues on both sides of the ball. Krawczynski says the Timberwolves grew complacent following one impressive showing against a Western Conference foe and let their guard down against another. “I feel like that’s really been the problem with us as a team is how do we not get tired of success,” said guard Josh Okogie. “I feel like after we have good performances, we have to be able to put that game behind us and focus on the next one and try to go 1-0 every night.”
  • In case you missed it, Luke Adams took a look at the Timberwolves’ offseason, which was focused primarily on retaining some young talent and adding veteran role players around the periphery of its roster.
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Northwest Notes: Billups, Powell, Edwards, SGA

October 24th, 2021 at 9:16am CST by Arthur Hill

Chauncey Billups has been emphasizing defense and ball movement since he was hired as the Trail Blazers‘ head coach in June, and that combination was on display in a win over Phoenix Saturday night, writes Jason Quick of The Athletic. Billups inherited a team that reached the playoffs eight straight years under Terry Stotts, but has lost in the first round in four of the past five seasons. He is determined to take the Blazers to a new level, and he said that starts with breaking bad habits.

“I could have taken this job and just kept everything the same and said ‘All right, let’s be a little bit better defensively.’ But they (the players) want more. I want more,” Billups said after his first career coaching victory. “You can’t keep everything the same and expect different results. So, I could have done that. ‘We are going to run everything y’all used to run.’ Great offense, boom, bam. Well, there’s a ceiling on that, in my opinion. Not only in my opinion, we’ve seen it play out.”

The players seem to welcome the new approach, even though it’s delivered with a hard edge. Damian Lillard, who has been the subject of trade speculation, has said that talking to Billups made him more open to staying with the organization. Jusuf Nurkic was so inspired after hearing Billups’ introductory press conference that he flew from Bosnia to Portland to meet his new coach.

“He’s very detailed,” Nassir Little said. “And not just Chauncey, all the coaches. They are very detailed in what they are saying. They don’t let anything slide through the cracks as they are teaching. The way they break things down, from close-outs to footwork, to who goes where on rotations, it’s all so detailed.”

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

  • The Trail Blazers believe Norman Powell avoided a serious injury to his left knee Saturday night, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Powell left the game in the second quarter, but the results from initial tests are encouraging, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link). Powell will undergo an MRI, according to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian.
  • Veteran guard Patrick Beverley has been impressed by the willingness to accept instruction he sees from his new Timberwolves teammate Anthony Edwards, per Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. “A lot of young guys, especially No. 1 picks — that’s no discredit of course to anybody — guys think they’ve got it figured out already …” Beverley said. “He’s always wide-eyed, bushy tailed and eager to learn. He’s like a sponge. He soaks up everything.”
  • Injuries limited Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to 35 games last season and he’s still adjusting to being back on a full-time schedule, notes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. “I think it only makes it harder the longer you go without playing,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “With that being said, it’s no excuse. Guys in the NBA do it all the time. I just gotta figure it out.” 
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Timberwolves Pick Up Options On Edwards, McDaniels

October 18th, 2021 at 6:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Timberwolves have picked up their third-year options on Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Both options are for the 2022/23 season.

The moves were a mere formality as Minnesota guaranteed the contracts of two of the team’s key players from last year’s draft.

Edwards, the No. 1 overall pick, averaged 19.3 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 2.9 APG in his stellar rookie season. He pumped in 23.8 PPG after the All-Star break.

McDaniels, the No. 28 pick, averaged 6.8 PPG and 3.7 RPG. He also ramped up his production after the All-Star break and is expected to start at power forward this season.

Edwards’ salary for 2022/23 will be $10.73MM, while McDaniels will get $2.16MM.

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Timberwolves Notes: Bolmaro, Prince, Vanderbilt, McLaughlin, Towns

September 17th, 2021 at 5:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Timberwolves rookie guard Leandro Bolmaro plays fearlessly, head coach Chris Finch told Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and other media members this week. The 23rd pick in the draft, Bolmaro is expected to sign his rookie contract shortly.

“We love that about him. He competes, he’s bouncy, he just knows how to play basketball,” Finch said. “He moves well off the ball, fits in around all of the pieces we already have.”

We have more on the Timberwolves:

  • Forward Taurean Prince, acquired in the Ricky Rubio deal with Cleveland, believes he’ll play all three frontcourt positions at some point this season, Hine adds in the same story. “The ball moves around and like coach said it gives a lot of opportunity to everybody,” Prince said. “Those are the best systems because everyone likes to play off each other and it maximizes everyone’s potential as well.”
  • Jarred Vanderbilt officially signed his new three-year, $13.8MM contract on Wednesday. According to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), the first-year salary is $4.05MM and he’ll get $4.374MM in 2022/23. Vanderbilt’s 2023/24 salary of $4.698MM is partially guaranteed at $300K. The contract also includes $162K in likely bonuses and $405K in unlikely bonuses, Smith adds.
  • Jordan McLaughlin also inked his new three-year, $6.5MM deal this week. The first-year salary will be $2MM, Smith tweets. In 2022/23, he’ll receive $2.16MM. His 2023/24 salary of $2.32MM is non-guaranteed. The contract includes $100K in unlikely bonuses in all three seasons.
  • A refocused Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the reasons for optimism in Minnesota, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes. The past two seasons for the team’s top big man have been marred by injuries and personal tragedy. He’s been working on his game diligently this summer, which bodes well for his continued development. Anthony Edwards’ encore after a powerful finish to his rookie campaign, plus the ability of Finch to have a full off-season to prepare the team for the upcoming season, should also entice fans. Krawczynski delves into a number of topics in the mailbag, including the possibility of Malik Beasley or D’Angelo Russell taking a sixth-man role.
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Wolves Notes: Edwards, Beverley, Simmons, Harding

September 1st, 2021 at 8:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Anthony Edwards has grown two inches in the past year and it may affect the way the Timberwolves use him, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. Edwards, who finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting, was 6’4″ when Minnesota selected him with the top pick in the 2020 draft. He’s now 6’6″ and may be even more versatile than he was last season.

Edwards averaged 4.7 rebounds per game as a rookie, but Hine notes that figure increased to 5.4 over the final 20 games as the Wolves asked him to put more emphasis on attacking the backboards. Coach Chris Finch is now considering using Edwards as a power forward in smaller lineups.

“He’s an extremely unique player and has all this raw ability, but he’s very literal when you coach him. Like I say to him, ‘I need you to go out and do X,’ he’ll do it,” Finch said. “We discovered in the last part of the season (when I’d tell him), ‘I need you to get seven rebounds tonight.’ We gave him goals almost every game or every period of time, so you give him stuff to focus on and he went out and did that.” 

There’s more from Minnesota:

  • Finch is looking forward to reuniting with Patrick Beverley, whom he coached several years ago as an assistant with the Rockets, Hine adds. Finch expects Beverley, who was acquired in a trade with the Grizzlies, to serve as a leader on defense. “He’s going to bring a lot of toughness, tenacious defense,” Finch said. “It gives our defense a bit of a personality. Defenses are always best when they start on the ball with the type of approach and aggressiveness he brings. I think one of the most encouraging things about bringing Patrick here is not how excited we are he’s coming, but he’s really excited. He knows he’s exactly the type of piece we need.”
  • Beverley appears to be on board with the Wolves’ pursuit of Ben Simmons. Responding to a tweet from NBA writer Ben Stinar suggesting that Simmons, Edwards, D’Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns would be a contender in the West, Beverley wrote “Facts” (Twitter link). Of course, as Stan Van Gundy noted in a reply to Stinar’s tweet, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Minnesota could land Simmons without giving up any of those three players.
  • Before hiring Elston Turner as an assistant on Finch’s staff, Minnesota considered Kings player development coach Lindsey Harding, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Harding began her WNBA career with the Minnesota Lynx.
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Northwest Notes: Jazz, Barton, Edwards, Nuggets Workouts

July 13th, 2021 at 6:03pm CST by Eli Cohen

Keeping Mike Conley is a top priority for the Jazz, writes Tony Jones of The Athletic in his off-season primer, but there are plenty of other questions beyond that facing this year’s No. 1 seed in the West.

One such question will be if the Jazz can hit on the 30th pick in the draft. While it’s not historically a wellspring for players who can help a team with championship ambitions, this is a deep draft and there are plenty of examples of success stories at that spot, such as Jimmy Butler, Kevin Porter Jr.., Kevon Looney, and Kyle Anderson, among others.

There’s also the question of their current young players on the roster. Though Donovan Mitchell is the only young player who is a member of the team’s core, the Jazz will have to decide which other youngsters they keep and try to develop, and which they let go.

We have more from around the Northwest Division:

  • Will Barton of the Nuggets was cagey about the topic of his impending player option deadline and whether he’ll look to enter free agency, writes Mike Singer of The Denver Post.  “Being appreciated,” Barton said of what he’s looking for in free agency. “Team knowing my value. Of course, an important role. Just the right situation. I want to win.” Barton will have to decide whether he picks up his $14.6MM player option by July 17.
  • The Timberwolves have brought Anthony Edwards back to Minnesota for an injury evaluation, reports Christina Long of The Star Tribune. Edwards was among the players chosen to practice with Team USA as part of the Select Team, but was seen limping off the floor last week. A Star Tribune source reports that the injury is non-knee related, and is a sprain.
  • The Nuggets held a workout for six draft prospects yesterday, tweets Mike Singer: Josh Christopher, Quentin Grimes, Jason Preston, Duane Washington, Jordan Goodman, and Matt Coleman. Of the six, Christopher and Grimes are the highest-ranked, and either one could potentially be in play when the Nuggets are on the board with the 26th pick.
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Olympics Notes: Booker, Tatum, Durant, Edwards

July 7th, 2021 at 9:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

Despite his extended playoff run with the Suns, Devin Booker isn’t having any second thoughts about his Olympic commitment, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Booker told reporters today that even if the NBA Finals go to a seventh game, which would be played July 22, he plans to be in Japan for Team USA’s opener against France three days later.

“Next (plane) smoking. I’ll be there,” he said. “I’ll be there. But obviously not my main focus right now. I’ve reached out to Coach Pop (Gregg Popovich), I reached out to (Jerry) Colangelo just recently and then I told them I saw all the guys reported to Vegas, and any other place I would rather be is the Finals, but I would love to be there with the guys and I’ll be there soon.”

Booker may miss all of Team USA’s 13-day training camp, which began today at UNLV. The Americans, who are also without Bucks guards Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton, will play exhibition games against Nigeria, Australia, Argentina and Spain before heading to Tokyo.

“Very important. Life goal of mine,” Booker said. “I’ve always said, I think it’s the most prestigious event that basketball can find. So to be a part of representing your country I think brings you to another stratosphere. Just thinking of the guys that have come before us and represented our country, and I don’t think there’s anything better than winning a gold medal.”

There’s more Olympics news to pass along:

  • Wearing No. 10 has been a tradition for Celtics forward Jayson Tatum in international basketball and it has taken on added significance following Kobe Bryant‘s death last year, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Bryant wore the number while winning gold medals in 2008 and 2012, and Tatum recognizes the importance behind it. “With this being the first Olympics since we lost him, it holds that much more value,” he said. “It’s not something I take lightly.”
  • Many were pleasantly surprised that Nets star Kevin Durant opted to play in the Olympics, and Popovich was especially delighted, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Popovich joked that he would have begged and cried to convince Durant to join the team, then said it shows the forward’s commitment to the game. Durant won gold medals in 2012 and 2016 and is 39-0 in FIBA competition.
  • Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards of the U.S. Select Team sprained his ankle today in a scrimmage with Team USA, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. The injury, which happened when Edwards stepped on Draymond Green‘s foot, isn’t viewed as serious, but Edwards will be sidelined for the rest of camp.
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Roster Announced For U.S. Select Team

July 1st, 2021 at 12:26pm CST by Arthur Hill

The roster has been released for the U.S. Select Team, which will help Team USA prepare for the Olympics, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The Select Team, which will practice with and scrimmage against the national team during the upcoming training camp in Las Vegas, is made up mostly of first- and second-year NBA players. It will be coached by Erik Spoelstra of the Heat.

Making up the roster are:

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Heat Notes: Spoelstra, Salary Cap, Robinson, Herro

June 25th, 2021 at 12:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Erik Spoelstra will have his first stint with USA Basketball this summer, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, who writes that the Heat head coach will have a role as the coach of the U.S. Select Team. That squad will be made up primarily of younger players and will practice and scrimmage against the Olympic roster. Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards will be among the players on that Select Team, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

While Heat star Jimmy Butler declined an invitation to play for Team USA, his teammate Bam Adebayo will be on the roster, and a number of other Heat players could end up representing other countries in Olympic qualifying tournaments or in the Tokyo Olympics. Spoelstra wanted to get involved as well, as Reynolds writes.

“I really just want to be a part of the program,” the Heat coach said. “I’m always pushing myself to get better in the offseasons; I go visit people and all that stuff. This is going to be a basketball immersion. I mean, the dinners, the team meetings … for where I am right now in my career, I think this is the perfect thing for a summer of development.”

Here’s more out of Miami:

  • The salary cap won’t increase as much by 2022 as was once expected, complicating the Heat’s ability to open up a maximum-salary slot for a 10-year veteran next summer, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. As a result, Jackson wouldn’t be surprised if the club signs some players to multiyear contracts this offseason, giving the club the flexibility to potentially acquire a star via sign-and-trade down the road.
  • Duncan Robinson, a restricted free agent this offseason, said his summer priorities will be to work on developing a reliable two-point shot, getting to the foul line more, and “moving better” on defense. Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald has the details.
  • Based on his conversations with league sources, Ethan Skolnick of Five Reasons Sports (video link) says he thinks there’s a 75% chance the Heat will trade Tyler Herro this offseason. Herro’s name came up in trade rumors prior to the March deadline, but the club was reportedly unwilling to include him in an offer for Kyle Lowry.
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