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Year-Round News & Updates on the Minnesota Timberwolves
There are a few rumors floating around about the Minnesota Timberwolves, so I thought I take a minute to offer a few thoughts on them.
1.) Are the Minnesota Timberwolves interested in Hedo Turkoglu? The Orlando Magic will officially waive Turkoglu today at 5pm, making him an unrestricted free agent. The Los Angeles Lakers & Atlanta Hawks are two NBA teams that have already expressed interest. Hedo has already made it clear that he prefers to play in the NBA and won't entertain any offers from overseas. So, do the Wolves have any interest in the versatile forward from Turkey? According to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN, the Timberwolves did have some interest in him this summer. The problem now is that the Wolves have a full 15 man roster. Robbie Hummel has an un-guaranteed contract that becomes guaranteed on January 10th. A.J. Price's contract is reportedly already fully guaranteed. If the Wolves are interested in signing Turkoglu, they would have to waive one player and it would likely be one of those two. I think Turkoglu was a great player two or three years ago, but his skills have greatly declined. If the Wolves were to waive Price and give Turk a chance, I wouldn't be upset (considering Adelman refuses to give Price a chance despite consistent struggles from his reserve backcourt). My guess is that the Wolves won't make any kind of move on Turk and he likely ends up with a team like the Lakers that have a real need for him and his ability to play that point forward position. 2.) Shabazz Muhammad to the D-League? President of Basketball Operations Flip Saunders was on KFAN on Friday afternoon/evening and he told Dan Barreiro on air that Muhammad will be headed to the D-League and Saunders intends to go with him. That means Shabazz will suit up for the Iowa Energy and finally get some playing time. That also means that he'll be joining Othyus Jeffers (who plays for Iowa) who was a training camp invite for the Wolves this summer. Jeffers was recently named D-League Player of the Month. The biggest question out of all of this for me is: why isn't Gorgui Dieng going with him? Adelman has been incredibly reluctant to play Gorgui and with Turiaf's return on the somewhat near horizon, why not get the big fella some PT as well? 3.) Nikola Pekovic for Omer Asik? You may or may not be aware, but Nikola Peković is not only my favorite Timberwolf of all-time, but my favorite current NBA player, too. If the Wolves were to trade him for anyone, I would be pretty devastated. I was incredibly nervous this summer when the Wolves were not going to re-sign him. Now, there are rumors of the Wolves swapping him for disgruntled big man Omer Asik of the Houston Rockets. Luckily we already have some clarity on the issue. In the same interview with Saunders on KFAN, Flip quickly dismissed any notion that the Wolves were interested in trading Nikola Peković. I understand where the idea of Pek-for-Asik makes sense. Omer is one of the NBA's better defensive big men that could shore up some of the Wolves' concerns on the interior. However, the trade makes little sense for the Rockets who already have Dwight Howard and are in need of a stretch four type of big man. Add to that, that Asik has been out for quite some time with an injury and that Pek is playing the best basketball of his career and it just doesn't make any sense for anyone involved. Dismiss it and let's quit bringing it up. BONUS.) When will Chase & Ronny return? Chase is reportedly 'close', but he won't play on Saturday vs. the Thunder. No updates have been given on Turiaf, for more on the both of them, check out: Bud "Close" to Returning.
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The Minnesota Timberwolves' second unit has been an inconsistent mess through the first third of the NBA season. Most nights they look like the NBA's worst offensive reserves and very rarely do they play at an above-average level (offensively).
Alexey Shved is a player who should be known for his offense, but he has certainly had some growing pains since midseason a year ago. Robbie Hummel has gotten opportunities, but he's struggled to knock down a lot of open shots that we know he can hit. Dante Cunningham & Luc Richard Mbah a Moute are players known primarily for their defensive prowess. Rookies Shabazz Muhammad & Gorgui Dieng haven't been given any extended minutes/chances. A.J. Price was signed as an insurance policy because J.J. has been an injury prone player during his first two seasons in Minnesota. So, without Chase Budinger & Ronny Turiaf, the Wolves bench has struggled with an identity. Too often J.J. seems like the only offensive option on the floor and because he's either unwilling or simply unable to pass off to one of his fellow reserves, he 'presses' too much and the result is usually an ill-advised shot and subsequent miss. With Chase Budinger "close" to returning (according to Rick Adelman), that should take some of the offensive burden off of J.J. Barea as well as the team as a whole. If Chase can chip in 10-15 points a night; Love, Pek & K-Mart aren't going to be asked to do as much/it all. One problem has been offense from the second unit, the other is team defense, shot-blocking & rim protection. That's where Ronny Turiaf comes into the picture. Turiaf is still rehabbing from that elbow injury. He has taken part in some contact practices, though like Chase a return date hasn't been set in stone, though it's likely we'll see him sometime in the next week or two. Turiaf is the kind of high-energy player that can offer some rim protection that the Wolves are in desperate need of. When Turiaf went down with the fractured elbow in the second game of the season (vs. OKC) we all assumed that would mean more minutes for rookie Gorgui Dieng. That has definitely not been the case--instead we've seen more minutes for Pek, more minutes with Love at the 5 and even some with Dante Cunningham as the man in the middle. With Turiaf back in the mix the rotations will definitely change and the Wolves will have a strong, physical big man that they can turn to off the bench when an opposing big gets 'cooking' offensively. Adelman has said Budinger won't play on Saturday vs. the Thunder, though no mention of Turiaf was made. I don't know if that means Ronny isn't even close to returning or if he'll play on Saturday, or what... I guess we'll just have to wait and see. |
Cody AndersonA TWolves fan, bringing you the daily updates. News Archives
August 2017
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