Glen Taylor Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Timberwolves Owner: Jimmy Butler Is Available

September 21st, 2018 at 6:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Defying his front office executives, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is telling other owners and GMs at the NBA’s Board of Governors meetings that Jimmy Butler is available and they can make trade inquiries directly to him, if necessary, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Taylor’s willingness to deal the disgruntled swingman, who can become an unrestricted free agent this summer, flies in the face of an earlier report by Wojnarowski on Friday that the Timberwolves were rebuffing calls on Butler’s availability.

This leads to speculation that a showdown is looming between Taylor and Tom Thibodeau, the Wolves’ president of basketball operations and head coach, Wojnarowski notes. GM Scott Layden reports to Thidobeau and is the usual point person on trade talks.

Thibodeau has no desire to deal Butler in any scenario that would set back the team’s chances of making the playoffs again and advancing deeper into the postseason.

In contrast, it appears that Taylor’s mind is made up that Butler must go.

“The owner’s trading him,” a Board of Governors attendee told Wojnarowski. “That was made clear. It’s just a matter of when.”

There is a good possibility that Butler will not report to camp when it opens next week, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Krawczynski details how the Butler-Thibodeau relationship deteriorated over the past year.

Thibodeau is willing to let any drama between Butler and the team’s other two stars, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, play out in training camp and into the regular season. Taylor, on the other hand, does not want to go through a potentially dysfunctional season and see the franchise’s image tarnished, Wojnarowski continues. The franchise’s business operations have successful marketed the team’s stars and don’t want that campaign completely ruined, Wojnarowski adds.

Taylor has gotten involved in trading high-profile players in the past, including Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love.

Jimmy Butler Rumors: Dieng, Clippers, Bucks, More

September 21st, 2018 at 2:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The early trade market for Jimmy Butler is “confused and cool” as teams contemplate the risk of trading for the All-Star wing, according to Zach Lowe, who takes a deep dive into the Butler situation his his latest piece for ESPN.com. The 29-year-old’s reported desire for a five-year contract that could be worth in the neighborhood of $190MM may make some potential suitors back off, though those teams could also be posturing in the early going, Lowe notes.

One of the most interesting tidbits that Lowe passes along in his article is on the Timberwolves‘ desire to include Gorgui Dieng in a deal if they decide to move Butler. Lowe is skeptical that any prospective trade partners will be eager to take on Dieng, who still has three years and over $48MM left on his contract.

Here’s more from Lowe and others on Butler and the Wolves:

It would be “shocking” if the Clippers were willing to offer rookie guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in any package for Butler, sources tell Lowe. In fact, there has been no indication that the Clips haven’t acted aggressively – or much at all – on Butler so far.
The Bucks placed a courtesy call to the Timberwolves asking to be kept in the loop if the team gets serious about moving Butler. Still, Lowe doesn’t view Milwaukee as a fit, observing that Khris Middleton would probably have to be included. The Bucks would likely have a better chance next summer to re-sign Middleton than Butler.
After reporting earlier today that the Timberwolves are telling teams Butler’s not available, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has updated his story to suggest that opposing clubs believe the “fastest avenue” to negotiating a trade is to engage owner Glen Taylor, rather than Tom Thibodeau. Thibodeau is less inclined to part with Butler, but Taylor has stepped in on this sort of matter in the past, overseeing trades involving Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love.
In the wake of Butler’s trade request, initial reports suggested his desire to leave Minnesota was motivated more by “contractual matters” than any discord with Karl-Anthony Towns or Andrew Wiggins. A source in Butler’s camp who spoke to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times disputes that notion, suggesting it was “manufactured” by “ownership mouthpieces” to make Butler look bad. “According to the source, this is about a philosophy in making an impact in the Western Conference,” Cowley writes. “In Butler’s mind you can’t run down a dynasty like Golden State when two of the so-called dogs in the pack are in fact kittens.” Presumably, that’s a reference to Towns and Wiggins.

Wolves Notes: Butler, Taylor, Offseason

April 29th, 2018 at 9:40pm CST by marksuleymanov

With the Timberwolves‘ season over after their loss to the Rockets in the first round, the focus now turns to the roster and how the organization can build a long-term roster with its current assets. The first man on that agenda is Jimmy Butler, whom the team acquired as part of a draft-day trade last summer.

Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune writes that Butler’s future will be one of the most important Timberwolves storylines to watch this summer. Butler can opt out of his contract and hit the free agent market a year from now. So if the Timberwolves can’t reach an extension with Butler, it’s not out of the question that they’d test the trade market to see what kind of value they could get in lieu of him leaving as a free agent.

Butler seems unlikely to go anywhere, as owner Glen Taylor has indicated that the star forward is a crucial part of the team. Still, keeping him in Minnesota will require some financial maneuvering on the Wolves’ end. Andrew Wiggins‘ max extension is about to take effect, and Karl-Anthony Towns will soon be eligible for a considerable payday of his own.

Check out more notes surrounding the Wolves below:

In the same story, Taylor spoke about the Timberwolves making their first postseason since 2005. While the result was an early playoff exit, Taylor said that, at least, the team reached its goal of making the postseason.“I thought with the changes we made, the people we brought in, the sacrifices we made in moving some young, potential people, that we needed to be in the playoffs,” Taylor said. “Those were my expectations.”
Earlier in the week, we wrote about the possibility of Butler, who spent his first six seasons with the Bulls, ending up back in the Windy City if he hits free agency in 2019.
Chris Hine of the Star Tribune breaks down Minnesota’s offseason and what the team should be focused on as free agency and the draft approach.

Northwest Notes: Blazers, Rose, Brewer

March 9th, 2018 at 6:21pm CST by Austin Kent

The Trail Blazers have surged into third place in a wild Western Conference playoff race thanks largely to an impressive level of depth, Jason Quick of NBC Sports Northwest writes. On a nightly basis, Portland’s success can be at least partly attributed to team defense and solid performances from role players.

“In the past two years, when we went on great runs, it’s always been C.J. McCollum has a great stretch, or I have a great stretch,” lone Trail Blazers All-Star Damian Lillard said. “But now, it’s much more collective – both this season and during this run.”

Quick cites Jusuf Nurkic‘s in-season improvement shooting around the basket, the pleasant emergence of rookie Zach Collins and a clutch performance from Shabazz Napier as some of the driving forces behind the Trail Blazer’s recent success.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

The Nuggets have struggled since offseason addition Paul Millsap made his return from an extended absence. Now the playoff hopeful club needs to figure out how to right the ship. “When a player of Paul Millsap’s magnitude misses 44 games and comes back with 22 games to go, that is a huge challenge,” head coach Michael Malone told Gina Mizell of The Denver Post. “Especially when the team was playing so well.“
We wrote last month that Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor wasn’t interested in having his team sign Derrick Rose. That line of thinking changed after Jimmy Butler went down with his knee injury, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes.
The Thunder may have found a suitable replacement for the injured Andre Roberson in recently bought out veteran Corey Brewer. “I’m not comparing him and Andre in any way personality-wise or player-wise,” head coach Billy Donovan told ESPN’s Royce Young, “But the one thing I will compare them, they both have a pop and a bounce to them where they play the game where they find the ball. They find it and are able to make plays.”

Wolves Notes: Franchise Valuation, Rose, Saunders

February 16th, 2018 at 10:54am CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves only ranked 27th in Forbes’ most recent list of NBA franchise valuations, but like the 29 other teams in the league, Minnesota has a perceived value of at least $1 billion, coming in at $1.06 billion. For Wolves owner Glen Taylor, who bought the team for $88.5MM back in 1994, that’s a staggering figure.

“It never occurred to me that anything like this would happen,” Taylor told Sid Hartman of The Star Tribune. “But it has been, especially in the last few years, partly due to the big contract we got on TV, but just everything — the advertisements, sponsorships have gone up, attendance has gone up every year, and therefore the value has gone up.”

While Taylor was reportedly seeking a successor at one point to take over control of the franchise, a deal with Steve Kaplan fell through, and the Timberwolves’ majority owner has since re-committed to his investment in the team. Taylor, who is 76 years old, won’t control the Wolves forever, but it doesn’t seem as if he has any desire to sell anytime soon — particularly with the club in position to claim a playoff spot for the first time since 2004.

Here’s more out of Minnesota:

While the Timberwolves have been linked to Derrick Rose since he was traded from Cleveland to Utah – and subsequently waived – Taylor says his club hasn’t had any plans to sign the former MVP, according to Hartman. “If we could find the right person to fit into our team and have some ability to play, get out there on the floor, we are certainly going to look at it,” Taylor said. “We kept one slot open all year long just in case that possibility occurred. But as of today we don’t have anybody in mind.”
Earlier today, we passed along word from Taylor – via Hartman – that the Timberwolves are willing to accommodate a Shabazz Muhammad buyout.
The late Flip Saunders, who served as the head coach and president of basketball operations for the Timberwolves, was honored by the franchise with a banner on Thursday night, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN details. Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic took an in-depth look at the Wolves’ decision to honor Saunders, and what he meant to the organization.

Wolves Notes: Garnett, Rotation, Jones, Patton

December 11th, 2017 at 11:48am CST by Luke Adams

Kevin Garnett was the greatest player in Timberwolves history, but it seems unlikely that he’ll get involved with the franchise during his post-playing career unless something changes with the team’s ownership situation. Garnett said as much back in April, when he suggested that he could see himself returning to the Wolves at some point, but criticized current owner Glen Taylor in the process.

Asked more recently by Shlomo Sprung of Awful Announcing about the possibility of rejoining the Timberwolves in an ownership or management capacity, Garnett again expressed interest in the idea, but once again indicated that he wouldn’t want to coexist with Taylor.

“I don’t want to be partners with Glen, and I wouldn’t want to be partners with Glen in Minnesota,” Garnett said. “I would love to be part of a group that buys him out and kind of removes him and go forward.”

With Taylor showing little interest in selling his controlling share of the franchise, a reunion with Garnett appears to be unrealistic at this point. Here’s more from out of Minnesota:

During his time in Chicago, Tom Thibodeau earned a reputation for leaning heavily on his starters, perhaps to a fault. Despite receiving some criticism for that approach, Thibodeau is taking a similar approach in Minnesota, indicating this weekend that he’s comfortable sticking with an eight-man rotation, per Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune. Jimmy Butler is tied for third in the NBA in minutes per game, while Andrew Wiggins is sixth and Karl-Anthony Towns is also in the top 20.
Backup point guard Tyus Jones is one of those eight Timberwolves currently in the rotation, and when he replaced Jeff Teague in the starting lineup for three games, he averaged 40.0 MPG. He spoke to Youngblood about Thibodeau’s lineup habits, along with a few other topics.
Rookie center Justin Patton made his professional debut on Friday with the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s G League affiliate. While Patton played well, he’s on a minutes limit, and is expected to remain in the G League for several weeks, Youngblood writes for The Star Tribune. “We want to make sure he can handle playing a certain amount of minutes in a game there,” Thibodeau said. “Basically it’s three, four weeks of games and practices. That sort of thing.”

And-Ones: Youth Movement, Asian Influence, Seattle

November 9th, 2017 at 9:30pm CST by Austin Kent

The current crop of NBA rookies is one of the best that hoops fans have seen in years, Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders writes. The scribe cites Ben Simmons and Jayson Tatum as two first-year players who’ve looked poised and dominant in significant roles out of the gates.

It’s not just a top-heavy class either, however, all of Kyle Kuzma, Lauri Markkanen and Donovan Mitchell have impressed over the course of their first months in the NBA.

The youth movement may not be limited to the 2017/18 season though. Marc Spears of The Undefeated recently profiled the 12 best collegiate players who could make an impact at the NBA level as early as next season, going so far as to declare that Michael Porter Jr. should have greater star power than anybody in the 2017 class.

There’s more around the league:

As the world economy shifts, more and more prominent Asian businesses and billionaires are looking to buy into the NBA. Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune breaks down the trend that formally started when Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor sold a 5% stake in the franchise to Lizhang Jiang.
While Tim Leiweke remains confident that he and his Oak View Group represent Seattle’s best chance of regaining an NBA franchise, it’s not necessarily going to happen as soon as some fans would hope. He spoke on the topic at length with Q13’s Bill Wixey.
The BIG3 will add retired point guard T.J. Ford to its ranks, an ESPN report says. The guard averaged 11.2 points and 5.8 assists per game over the course of 306 NBA starts in eight seasons.

Wolves Notes: Ownership, Muhammad, Towns

October 30th, 2017 at 10:25am CST by Luke Adams

It was less than two years ago that Glen Taylor nearly worked out an agreement to sell a portion of the Timberwolves to Steve Kaplan, with an eye toward Kaplan eventually taking over a controlling interest in the franchise. However, since that deal fell through, Taylor has doubled down on his investment in the Wolves, pouring money into renovating the arena and revamping the roster, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

As he explains to Krawczynski, Taylor has had no shortage of opportunities to sell the Timberwolves, and any sale would net him a significant profit, considering he bought the franchise for just $88MM back in 1994. However, the long-time owner of the Wolves doesn’t want to see a new ownership group move the team out of Minnesota, and most potential investors are interested in doing just that.

Krawczynski suggests that Taylor could have sold the team for at least $700MM within the last couple years, with the Wolves’ owner hinting that he could have done much better than that if he’d been eager to sell.

“Even right now I have people that would call me up and give me substantially more than the number you just said,” Taylor said. “And I’ve said I’m not interested in selling. I just want to play this thing out.

“I certainly could sell the team if money was my driving factor,” Taylor added. “But it wasn’t when I bought it. I never anticipated selling it (to make money).”

Here’s more on the Wolves’ ownership situation, a long with a couple more notes out of Minnesota:

Although Taylor is in no rush to sell the Timberwolves, Krawczynski’s report notes that Taylor is 76 years old, and none of his children are interested in taking over the business, so he’ll have to find a buyer at some point down the road.
While it’s not official yet and he’s not sure how long the process will take, Shabazz Muhammad plans to change his legal name to ‘Bazz,” as he tells Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune. “I just like it,” Muhammad said. “Everybody calls me that anyway.”
Karl-Anthony Towns enjoyed his best game of the season on Friday night, racking up 33 points and 19 rebounds in a win over Oklahoma City. As Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune relays, Towns’ teammates – who recognize his ability to take over games – would like to see that sort of effort from him on a nightly basis. Towns will be extension-eligible for the first time in 2018, and figures to be in line for a maximum-salary deal with more performances like Friday’s.

Wiggins Can Get Max If He’s Loyal To Wolves

August 7th, 2017 at 4:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor wants assurances from Andrew Wiggins that he’s committed to the franchise and determined to improve his game before giving the high-scoring forward a max extension, according to Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press.

Taylor wants to receive those pledges in a face-to-face meeting with Wiggins, who averaged 23.6 PPG last season.

Wiggins is still working on his rookie contract and the exact amount of an extension is tied to the 2018/19 salary cap. Based on projections, a five-year, max extension for Wiggins would net him slightly under $148MM, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors recently detailed.

Wiggins’ name has popped up in trade rumors regarding Cavaliers disgruntled point guard Kyrie Irving but Taylor insists he won’t give up Wiggins in the team’s efforts to land the All-Star floor leader. The addition of All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler in a blockbuster deal with the Bulls this summer has made the Timberwolves a popular pick as the most improved team next season.

Wiggins can certainly find areas for improvement beyond his scoring average. His 35.6% shooting from long range last season was the best of his 3-year career but far from elite. He could also become a better rebounder (4.0 RPG last season), free throw shooter (76%) and defender, both man-to-man and in takeaways (1.0 SPG).

If Wiggins is maxed out, the Timberwolves will have five players on the current roster making at least $14MM for the 2018/19 season.

Timberwolves Rumors: Wiggins, Thibodeau, FAs

August 4th, 2017 at 10:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves’ trade offer for Kyrie Irving doesn’t include Andrew Wiggins, and that appears unlikely to change. According to Sid Hartman of The Star Tribune, team owner Glen Taylor has “made it clear” that the club intends to lock up Wiggins to a five-year, max extension in the near future. Hartman adds that the former top pick “is not available to anybody in a trade.”

While that news doesn’t come as a huge surprise, it’s hard to imagine the Wolves being putting together a viable package for Irving without including Wiggins, so Minnesota looks to be a long shot to acquire the Cavaliers’ star point guard.

Here’s more from out of Minnesota:

Taylor owns about 70% of the Timberwolves, and while a pair of minority stakeholders are looking to sell their shares in the franchise, that’s not the case for Taylor, as Hartman details. “We have a couple of my limited [owners] that have indicated that they’re going to sell, and we have another limited [owner] that is going to buy them,” Taylor said. “I won’t be selling any of my stock. Whatever I have, I’m keeping.”
Although Taylor would have liked to see the Timberwolves play better in 2016/17, he remains confident in Tom Thibodeau‘s long-term vision for the team, per Hartman. “I brought him in here for the long run,” Taylor said of Thibodeau. “We tried it with the young players, and it appears that we need more experience on the team to get where we want to get. [Thibodeau] is flexible and he’s trying his best to bring in the quality guys we need to get to the championship, so I’m happy.”
Taylor’s sights for 2017/18 are set higher, according to Hartman. “Well, of course we have to get into the playoffs,” Taylor said. “And where we get into … the playoffs is probably very important for us. To get into fourth place so you have home-court advantage would really be the super position.”
The Wolves expect to sign three more players to veteran minimum contracts, according to Taylor, via Hartman. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News indicated earlier this week (via Twitter) that the club had a contract offer out to a shooter.