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Wolves Notes: Conley, Confidence, Maturity, Jokic, Gobert, NAW

May 16th, 2024 at 2:40pm CST by Rory Maher

Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley was ruled out for Tuesday’s Game 5 with a right soleus strain and is officially questionable for tonight’s Game 6. However, the 36-year-old plans to suit up, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (via Twitter).

After Game 5, head coach Chris Finch said the team was optimistic Conley could return for Game 6, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “We’re hopeful Mike can go in Game 6,” Finch said. “That was one of the reasons to be cautious with him right here, feeling that he could go [on Thursday].”

Conley’s leadership and steady hand in the backcourt have buoyed Minnesota throughout the team’s 56-win season, writes Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. The 36-year-old also understands his window of opportunity is shrinking, and the same may be true of the Wolves in the series.

“I’m one of those people, I don’t want to learn through losing,” Conley said. “I don’t want to learn by letting a team win a couple games in a series to make us change some things. Why don’t we, in games, figure this out? We’re good enough to do this. I don’t have time for it, y’all don’t have time for it.”

Conley, who signed a two-year extension during the season, played 76 regular season games in ’23/24 and is the team’s top on-ball decision-maker.

Here’s more on the Wolves:

Despite dropping three straight games for the first time all season, the Timberwolves remain confident as they look to stave off elimination against Denver in Thursday’s Game 6, according to McMenamin of ESPN. “Adversity has been something we’ve answered all year,” All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns said. “It’s something that if I was to go through this with anyone, I would go through it with these guys in this locker room. I have full confidence in these guys, I have full confidence in our locker room, I have confidence in our coaching staff. Everyone has been tremendous all year. It’s now time to put all that experience and that unity we’ve built throughout the whole year, even last year, and put it on the table and play our best basketball so we can give ourselves a chance to bring back Game 7 here.”
Star guard Anthony Edwards struggled with Denver’s extra defensive pressure in Game 5, but he said he’s looking forward to making up for it tonight in Minnesota, McMenamin adds. “Super excited,” Edwards said. “You get to compete. Get to go home and play with our backs against the wall. It should be fun.” If he’s healthy, Conley’s return should alleviate some double-team pressure from Edwards.
Despite their public proclamations of confidence, the Wolves haven’t dealt with adversity well the past few games, particularly from an emotional maturity standpoint, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune (subscriber link). Several players have been guilty of immature moments, which has been an issue for this group the past couple seasons, Hine adds. “I mean, we got to keep our head. I think that’s the story for us,” Rudy Gobert said. “… We have to be mentally tough, individually and collectively, to be able to keep playing our game and not let anything that happened in the game affect the way we play.”
Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic details how three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who is also the reigning Finals MVP for the defending-champion Nuggets, was able to eviscerate four-time Defensive Player of the Year Gobert and Minnesota’s top-ranked defense in Game 5. The Serbian superstar was particularly lethal in the third period, recording 16 points on just seven shot attempts and recording four assists, frequently while intentionally hunting Gobert. John Hollinger of The Athletic contends that Jokic’s remarkable performance — 40 points on 15-of-22 shooting, 13 assists, seven rebounds, two steals and a block with zero turnovers — isn’t being discussed enough.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker has become an unlikely X-factor for the Wolves, writes Andrew Lopez of ESPN. The former first-round pick was traded three times in quick succession but has turned into a defensive stopper and a leader for Minnesota, Lopez notes.
Jim Souhan of The Star Tribune argues that if the Wolves are eliminated by the Nuggets, they shouldn’t blow up the big man pairing of Towns and Gobert. Souhan also says the team should replace Kyle Anderson with another three-point shooter to improve the offense, which has been the primary issue over the past three games.

Rudy Gobert Fined $75K By NBA

May 14th, 2024 at 11:18am CST by Luke Adams

Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has been fined $75K by the NBA, the league announced today in a press release (Twitter link). According to the announcement, the fine is in response to Gobert making an “inappropriate and unprofessional gesture that questions the integrity of the league and its game officials.”

After being whistled for a loose ball foul in Sunday’s Game 4 loss to Denver, Gobert was captured by TNT cameras making a “money” gesture by rubbing his fingers together as he walked back up the court (Twitter video link).

Gobert was hit with a $100K fine just over two months ago for making that same “money” sign after being called for a foul. In that instance, he didn’t back down during his postgame media session from the insinuation that gambling money was affecting certain referee calls, telling reporters, “Mistakes happen. Referees make mistakes, too. But sometimes I think it’s more than mistakes.”

The NBA’s press release today says that Gobert’s history of “improper conduct” toward game officials was taken into account. This fine was presumably smaller than the one in March because the brief gesture wasn’t quite as blatant and wasn’t accompanied by postgame commentary.

For what it’s worth, $100K is the maximum amount that the NBA can fine a player in cases like this one.

Wolves Notes: Conley, Edwards, Towns, McDaniels, Defense

May 10th, 2024 at 5:04pm CST by Luke Adams

As Sam Amick of The Athletic details, adding veteran guard Mike Conley at the 2023 trade deadline was one of the best moves the Timberwolves have made in recent years. In addition to being a perfect on-court fit for Minnesota’s playing style, Conley has served as something of a “connector” between Rudy Gobert and his teammates and has been a veteran mentor to rising star Anthony Edwards, writes Amick.

Conley, who had been on an expiring contract this season, is no longer averaging 20-plus points per game like he did earlier in his career, but he continues to play at a high level in his role, averaging 5.9 assists per game and making 44.2% of his three-pointers this season. His ability to remain productive was a factor in his decision to sign a two-year extension with the Wolves earlier this year, he tells Amick.

“Before I signed the extension, it was like, ‘Man, it could be this year, it could be next year, it could be any year,'” Conley said, referring to possible retirement. “But then as I played this year out, I was like, ‘Man, I haven’t slowed down yet, and I just can’t imagine myself leaving when I haven’t hit that bottom yet.’ So I’m just gonna burn these tires off and not put a date on it and see what happens.”

The 36-year-old said he hasn’t thought much about what the next phase of his career will look like once his playing days are over, but he envisions himself being “around this game” even after his retirement. While he’s not sure coaching is in the cards, he mentioned a front office role or a media job as a couple possibilities.

Here’s more out of Minnesota:

Chris Hine of The Star Tribune spoke to Edwards’ longtime skills trainer and coach Kierre Jordan about the work the former No. 1 overall pick has put in to become one of the NBA’s most effective postseason scorers, while Mo Dakhil and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic broke down some game film from the first two games of the Denver series to illustrate how we’re witnessing Edwards’ development in real time.
Minnesota has received trade inquiries on Karl-Anthony Towns in the past year or two and could have decided to move him last offseason, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN (Insider link), who hears from sources that some of the offers the Wolves got were “decent.” However, the team stuck with its star big man and he has rewarded that trust. Lowe likens Towns’ transformation in Minnesota to the way Aaron Gordon found an ideal role in Denver after being miscast as a ball-handling star in Orlando, noting that Edwards’ ascent has helped put Towns in a better position to succeed.
Asked by Malika Andrews of ESPN (Twitter video link) where he ranks himself as an NBA defender, Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels placed himself second, behind only his four-time Defensive Player of the Year teammate. “I think I’m the best defender in the NBA besides Rudy (Gobert),” McDaniels said. “We got the DPOY, so I’ll take the step back. But I feel like I’m up there with Rudy. Just the versatility — I can guard one through four, using my length on smaller guys and even bigger guys.”
The ferociousness of Minnesota’s defense evokes some championship teams of the past, per David Aldridge of The Athletic, who compares the Wolves’ suffocating D on Nuggets guard Jamal Murray to the way the “Bad Boy” era Pistons would guard Michael Jordan.

Timberwolves Notes: Gobert, Finch, Towns, Draft Workout

May 9th, 2024 at 10:58am CST by Dana Gauruder

Rudy Gobert, who was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year this week, is grateful to the Timberwolves organization for sticking by him after a rough first year in Minnesota, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes.

“When things didn’t go as smoothly as we wanted them to last year, they never doubted me,” Gobert said. “They have shown me love every day, pushing me to be better every day, and I really appreciate that.”

He also feels the entire city has embraced him after many league observers called the blockbuster trade with Utah a disastrous move during and after last season.

“I think we are trying to accomplish something bigger, but more importantly I think I’ve found a home,” he said. “I’ve found a team, a coaching staff, an organization and a city that has embraced me, and a group that has embraced me. I feel like it’s like a family. We are there for each other. We really care about one another.”

We have more on the Timberwolves:

Gobert missed Game 2 after the birth of his first child and was thrilled to watch his teammates dismantle the Nuggets in a 106-80 blowout, Dave McMenamin of ESPN relays. “It was incredible,” Gobert said. “I was exhausted, obviously, holding the baby and watching the game at the same time, but I had a little bit of emotions at the end because it felt like there was something special.”
Coach Chris Finch has been showing his toughness during the series, running the team shortly after undergoing knee surgery for a ruptured patella tendon. “He hops over on the crutches at times when he’s yelling at guys behind the bench,” Conley told Krawczysnki. “That passion he has for the game, it’s rubbing off on other guys. We’re doing a great job of keeping him involved, keeping him engaged and he’s doing a great job keeping on us and just being who he is.”
Karl-Anthony Towns has won the league’s Social Justice award, Marc Spears of Andscape.com reports. Among other issues, Towns has championed voting rights for formerly incarcerated people. He is expected to be given the award prior to Game 3 on Friday.
The Wolves will be hosting a pre-draft workout on Thursday for six prospects, mainly potential second-rounders, the team’s PR department tweets. Isaiah Crawford (Louisiana Tech), Thierry Darlan (G League Ignite), Aaron Estrada (Alabama), A.J. Johnson (Illawarra Hawks), Riley Minix (Morehead State) and Jaylen Wells (Washington State) are the participants. Wells is ranked No. 54 on ESPN’s Best Available list, while Johnson is pegged at No. 62.

Rudy Gobert Named Defensive Player Of Year For Fourth Time

May 7th, 2024 at 5:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rudy Gobert has been named the Defensive Player of the Year for the fourth time in his career, the NBA announced on Tuesday (via Twitter).

The Timberwolves center joins Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace as the only four-time winners of the award. Gobert also claimed the award in 2018, 2019, and 2021 when he played for Utah.

Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama, who was unanimously voted the Rookie of the Year on Tuesday, finished second in the voting, with the Heat‘s Bam Adebayo a distant third.

Gobert was the league’s second-leading rebounder (12.9 per game) and sixth-leading shot-blocker (2.1). More significantly, he anchored a Timberwolves defense that held opponents to a league-low 106.5 points per game during the regular season. Minnesota was also best in defensive field goal percentage, limiting opponents to 39.0 percent shooting.

Gobert received 72 of a possible 99 first-place votes while compiling 433 points. Wembanyama, who was the league’s top shot-blocker at 3.6 per game, received 19 first-place votes and earned 245 points.

Adebayo received three first-place votes and wound up with 91 points, eight more than fourth-place finisher Anthony Davis of the Lakers (four first-place votes).

Pelicans forward Herbert Jones finished fifth and Celtics guard Jrue Holiday, who notched the other first-place vote, was sixth. The full voting results can be found here.

Wolves Notes: Defense, McDaniels, Gobert, Morris, Ownership

May 7th, 2024 at 7:20am CST by Luke Adams

While Defensive Player of the Year favorite Rudy Gobert has earned much of the credit for anchoring a Timberwolves defense that ranked No. 1 in the NBA this season, Minnesota turned in an impressive defensive performance without Gobert available on Monday, limiting the Nuggets to just 80 points on 34.9% shooting and forcing 19 turnovers in a Game 2 blowout.

“We’ve had some really, really good defensive efforts this year, but that has to be right up there with the best of them,” Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “On the ball, off the ball, the physicality, the execution of the game plan. … Just really locked in on defense.”

Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns led the offensive attack for the Wolves with 27 points apiece, but it was fellow starter Jaden McDaniels who turned in the game’s best plus-minus mark (+26) despite recording as many fouls as points (5) and making just 2-of-7 shots from the floor. McDaniels’ under-the-radar impact didn’t go unnoticed by his head coach.

“He hasn’t connected in the scoring column, but my God, he’s a +26. The other day he was a +23,” Finch said (Twitter link via Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic). “He didn’t have a bucket. He’s got five points in the series and he’s a +50. It’s not about how you score, it’s about how you help your team win.”

Here’s more on the Wolves, who will take a 2-0 lead over the defending champs back home to Minnesota:

Gobert, who missed Game 2 due to the birth of his first child, is expected to return to the lineup for Game 3, says McMenamin. That game won’t be played until Friday, giving the teams three days off this week.
Finch lauded his team after Monday’s win for its effort on defense, sharing the ball, and generally playing like a team that fans want to root for, as Chris Hine of The Star Tribune writes. Naz Reid suggested those traits are the result of a culture that has improved in recent years. “When I first got here, [the culture] wasn’t the best, it wasn’t perfect,” Reid said. “But obviously we’re all humans, and over that time we gradually got better. We got more cultured. Time to where we kind of became a unit, a team where we trust each other. We’re selling out for each other.”
The Timberwolves still need 10 more victories to win a championship, but they look like the NBA’s best team right now, contends Jim Souhan of The Star Tribune. Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports makes a similar case in a column of his own, writing that Minnesota has made the Nuggets look like anything but champions.
Wolves reserve point guard Monte Morris exited Game 2 due to a right index finger sprain, the team announced (via Twitter). It’s unclear whether the injury will force him to miss additional time going forward. Morris has played just 40 total minutes across Minnesota’s six playoff games, so his possible absence wouldn’t have a significant impact on the team’s rotation.
As the Wolves continue to dominate on the court, the team’s off-the-court ownership battle between Glen Taylor and the Marc Lore/Alex Rodriguez group is headed to arbitration. Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic spoke to a handful of legal experts to get a sense of what to expect from that process. “I see this as an uphill battle for Taylor,” one sports investment banker told Vorkunov,” but something that might make sense for him to have potential asymmetric upside if he can either prevail or find a way to get a settlement or a higher number.”

Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert To Miss Game 2

May 6th, 2024 at 7:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rudy Gobert will miss Game 2 of the Timberwolves’ series against the Nuggets, Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tweets.

Head coach Chris Finch told the assembled media during the pregame press conference that Gobert wouldn’t make it to Denver, in part due to weather conditions. Numerous flights to Denver have been delayed today due to windy conditions, Bennett Durando of the Denver Post tweets.

Gobert left the team after Game 1 due to the birth of his first child and was listed as questionable to play earlier in the day. Gobert, the favorite to win the Defensive Player of the Year award on Tuesday, had six points, 13 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in Game 1.

Without Gobert, the Timberwolves will have to lean on Naz Reid to match up with Nikola Jokic. Reid had 16 points off the bench in Game 1.

Western Notes: Gobert, Finch, Hardaway, Pelicans, OKC, Suns

May 6th, 2024 at 1:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has been downgraded to questionable for Game 2 against the Nuggets on Monday night for personal reasons, tweets Sam Amick of The Athletic. According to Amick (Twitter link), based on conversations with Wolves officials, it sounds as if Gobert’s availability is “completely up in the air.” His status is believed to be related to the birth of his first child, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets.

Gobert only scored six points in Minnesota’s Game 1 victory, but played an important role in the win, grabbing 13 rebounds and blocking three shots. The Wolves were a +12 during his 35 minutes. If he ends up missing Game 2, it will negatively impact the team’s chances of taking a 2-0 lead back home to Minnesota.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Chris Finch‘s new spot on the sidelines worked out well in Game 1, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. The Timberwolves‘ head coach, who underwent knee surgery last Wednesday, had to sit next to the scorer’s table in the second row of the bench to protect his knee, but he had no issues communicating with his players. “It’s a little surreal just being that much separated from the action, if you will. But it was great,” Finch said. “I felt like I was in a safe place. I have utmost confidence in our staff and their ability. I thought they did an amazing job. Communicated well. Of course, it was all made better by a really good win. It’s our new reality. Just got to find a rhythm.”
While the Mavericks will be without big man Maxi Kleber (shoulder) for their second-round series vs. Oklahoma City, another rotation player is set to return to action. Tim Hardaway Jr., who missed the last four games of the first round with a sprained ankle, will be available on Tuesday for Game 1, tweets Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.
The Pelicans and Thunder essentially began their rebuilding processes at the same time and were in similar positions five years ago, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com, who considers how and why Oklahoma City has “zoomed ahead” of New Orleans since then.
Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic spoke to several national NBA reporters – from ESPN, The Athletic, NBA.com, and other outlets – about what went wrong in Phoenix this season and how they might try to fix the Suns this summer.

And-Ones: MVP Race, Awards Announcements, Barton, Betting, Barkley

May 5th, 2024 at 8:38pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are the finalists for the Most Valuable Player award. ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Tim Bontemps take a closer look at the contenders and reveal the results of a straw poll. Jokic is the clear favorite to win the award for the third time, while Lowe gives Doncic the edge for second place due to his superior play-making.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Speaking of the MVP race, the league will announce the winner on Wednesday night, according to NBA Communications (Twitter link). The Rookie of the Year award will be announced on Monday and the Defensive Player of the Year will be revealed on Tuesday. Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert, respectively, are the favorites for those two awards.
Former NBA forward Will Barton has joined Cangrejeros de Santurce, a Puerto Rican team, according to Sportando. Bardon also had short stints wih CSKA Moscow and Granada this season. Barton played a total of 56 games for Washington and Toronto last season.
In the aftermath of Jontay Porter getting banned from the NBA for gambling-related offenses related to prop bets, the NBA and its partner sportsbooks are discussing changes to combat similar occurrences in the future, David Purdum of ESPN reports. Among the changes that have been discussed is prohibiting betting on players with two-way contracts. There have also been discussions on not allowing bets on the “under” on a player prop, though there are concerns that restricting wagers could push bettors into the unregulated betting market.
Charles Barkley stated on the Dan Patrick Show (Twitter link) that if TNT loses its NBA broadcasting rights, he’ll become a free agent. He’s unsure about “Inside the NBA” moving to another network because host Ernie Johnson said he wouldn’t leave Turner Sports. The NBA is in serious negotiations with NBC, Amazon and ESPN/ABC to split up the broadcasting rights, which could leave TNT out of the picture.

Timberwolves Notes: Edwards, Game 1, Reid, Gobert

May 5th, 2024 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Anthony Edwards is putting up historic numbers, and the Timberwolves suddenly look like a legitimate threat to the defending champs, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Edwards sc0red 43 points in Minnesota’s Game 1 victory at Denver Saturday night, joining Kobe Bryant as the only other player 22 or younger with back-to-back 40-point games in the playoffs. His 119 points over the Wolves’ past three postseason games are the most in franchise history.

“To be honest, he’s a special player, I have huge respect for him, he can do everything on the floor,” Nikola Jokic said of Edwards. “You need to give him respect, how good and how talented he is.”

Edwards connected on his first five shots from the field as Minnesota made an early statement by taking an 18-4 lead. He finished 17-for-29 with seven rebounds, three assists, a steal and two blocks. He also radiated the confidence that the Wolves will need to pull off the second-round upset.

“It’s not about introducing ourselves to nobody. We know who we are,” Edwards said. “We’re coming out and as long as we got each other’s backs, it don’t really matter what anybody else thinks.”

There’s more on the Timberwolves:

In a post-game interview with TNT (video link), Edwards credited his Team USA experience last summer with helping to prepare him for big moments. Edwards emerged as one of the stars for the U.S. in the FIBA World Cup and he’s expected to play a major role at this year’s Olympics.
Even with Minnesota’s fast start, it took a strong performance from Naz Reid to get to the finish line, notes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. With Karl-Anthony Towns in foul trouble, the Sixth Man of the Year had 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Wolves took the lead for good. Reid is eager for the opportunity after missing last season’s playoffs with a wrist injury and barely playing in the 2022 postseason due to personal issues. “I just never gave up. I just fight, fight,” he said. “… Being undrafted kind of got me that edge that I have now. I have my teammates. They kept me up the whole time.”
Minnesota also found ways to frustrate Jokic in Game 1, Hine adds in a separate story. Even though the two-time MVP had 32 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, the Wolves forced him to turn the ball over seven times and were able to disrupt his usual offense late in the game. “Jokic is a very, very smart player, but I think I’m a very smart defender, too,” Rudy Gobert said. “Sometimes you’re going to win some of these, sometimes I’m going to win some of them, and just always try to stay a step ahead in those situations.”