Michael Beasley Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Timberwolves Notes: Love, Rubio

February 25th, 2012 at 6:29pm CST by Jesse Blanchard

While everyone seems eager to marry large markets and larger than life superstars, Minnesota Timberwolves teammates Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio are proving stardom can be achieved just as readily by performance on the court. The Timberwolves duo, along with rookie Derrick Williams, represent the greatest contingent of talent Minnesota has sent to All-Star weekend festivities since Kevin Garnett, Tom Gugliotta, and Stephon Marbury in 1997. Some notes on the Timberwolves this All-Star weekend:

Timberwolves general manager David Kahn took a risk by signing Kevin Love to a four-year extension with an opt-out after three years instead of the five-year maximum. But with Minnesota at 17-17, Love is buying into the Timberwolves, writes Hoops World's Stephen Litel.
A big reason behind the Timberwolves success is the play of rookie point guard Ricky Rubio, who Suns rookie Markieff Morris said has "dimes for days," in comparing Rubio to Suns point guard Steve Nash (via Stefan Swiat at Suns.com)
Magic Johnson sees some of his game in Rubi o as well, as he tells the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Lost in all the Timberwolves relative success are the New Orleans Hornets, whose acquired first-round pick from the Timberwolves (via the Clippers) is being devalued with each passing day, writes Benjamin Hoffman of the New York Times' Off the Dribble blog.
Also from Hoffman's piece is mention of the Timberwolves overcrowded front court situation, with Love set in the rotation and Michael Beasley, Derrick Williams, Nikola Pekovic, Darko Milicic, and Anthony Randolph all vying for minutes. Those are some interesting trade pieces for the Timberwolves to use in building a solid supporting cast.

The Asking Price For Monta Ellis

February 23rd, 2012 at 2:11pm CST by Luke Adams

With the Warriors working actively to find a trade they like before the deadline, Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News decided to explore what sort of package Golden State could be seeking for Monta Ellis, one of the team's prime trade chips.

According to Kawakami, the Timberwolves and Warriors discussed a trade last June, with the Timberwolves offering Michael Beasley and Nikola Pekovic for Ellis, while the Warriors wanted to expand the deal to land Minnesota's top draft pick as well. As Kawakami points out, Minnesota wouldn't make such an offer now, with Pekovic having taken a huge step forward this season (17.2 PPG, 10.4 RPG in February), but at the time, each side thought the other was asking for too much.

Ellis' 2011/12 numbers have been as good as ever – his 19.4 PER would be a career high – so there's no reason to think the Warriors have dropped their asking price since June. Golden State is thought to be seeking a young star in return for Ellis, and Kawakami hears the team doesn't want to trade the 26-year-old for just cap relief.

But is there a team out there who would part with a young star for Ellis? As talented as he is, the former second-round pick is an undersized two guard who isn't particularly strong on defense, and is owed $11MM per season through 2013/14. I can't think of many teams who would be willing and able to meet the Warriors' asking price, and I can't see the Warriors lowering their demands much, given Ellis' scoring prowess. Unless something changes over the next few weeks, I think we should expect Ellis to remain in Golden State past March 15th.

Lakers Rumors: Kupchak, Beasley, Gasol

February 20th, 2012 at 7:45pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Amidst Kobe's plea to management to make a decision on teammate Pau Gasol, here are some other things we've scavenged as the Lakers prepare for their game against the Trail Blazers tonight at the Staples Center.

GM Mitch Kupchack addressed the media in response to Kobe as well as his stance on the Lakers being in trade talks.
Chris Broussard of ESPN.com writes that the Lakers have spoken to the Timberwolves regarding their interest in forward Michael Beasley.
Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that while there isn't too much progress in the ongoing trade talk involving Gasol, he also tweets that the stalled talks are due to the Lakers' specific asking price.
SI.com's Chris Mannix tweets that the Rockets are not interested in trading point guard Kyle Lowry in a deal for Pau.
Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports that although coach Mike Brown does not want to get involved between Kobe and Mitch Kupchack, he admits that the rumors could be bothering Gasol.
Earlier today, we reported other rumors surrounding the Lakers forward.