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Year-Round News & Updates on the Minnesota Timberwolves
The Utah Jazz made the playoffs as an eighth seed in the Western Conference and as a result, the Minnesota Timberwolves get their first overall pick. That was a part of the trade they made before last season, when they traded Al Jefferson to the Jazz for Kosta Koufos (now with the Nuggets) and two first round picks (lottery protected).
Utah lost a three-way tiebreaker with the New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks (who all had the same 36-30 record). The tiebreaker then decided who would select 16th, 17th & 18th. The NBA made a blind draw that left Utah sitting last after the Knicks went first and the Mavs second. Of course, the Timberwolves' own first round pick belongs to the New Orleans Hornets. They acquired that pick in an offseason trade with the Los Angeles Clippers as a key part of that Chris Paul swap. The Clippers previously owned it because of a trade that sent Marko Jaric to the Minnesota Timberwolves back in 2005. With our pick and how we finished, the pick currently sits at 10th overall, with a 1.1% chance of winning the lottery (aka the 1st overall pick). The Wolves will likely select a shooting guard in the draft. Players that the Wolves will look at include, Kentucky's Doron Lamb, Washington's Terrence Ross or Tony Wroten Jr., Syracuse's Dion Walters, small forward Royce White from Iowa State or potentially an athletic shot-blocking center/forward. There's also a good chance that Kahn packages the pick and trades for a veteran, likely at one of the wing positions (shooting guard/small forward). The Wolves also own the 58th overall pick in this summer's draft, acquired in a trade with Oklahoma City, when they sent Lazar Hayward to the Thunder. Their own second-round pick, 40th overall, belongs to Portland via Houston. That's all for now, hope you enjoy/are enjoying the playoffs, still check back daily for your year-round TWolves updates. Until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!
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Going into next season, I think it's pretty safe to say, that the Wolves have three starting spots set. Ricky Rubio will start at point guard, Kevin Love at power forward and Nikola Pekovic at center. That leaves the wing positions open. Currently the Wolves are starting Martell Webster & Wesley Johnson at the 'two' and 'three'. I pray it's safe to say that they aren't the answer heading into the future.
The President of Basketball Operations David Kahn and Head Coach Rick Adelman are well aware the roster desperately needs to be upgraded and Rick Adelman feels that his trio of young talent (Rubio, Love, Pekovic) can help to land some of this offseason's top free agents. Kevin Love says he knows that people see something special brewing in Minnesota and there's going to be free agents that want to be a part of that. Like so many other superstars, he says he'll definitely be lobbying for the Wolves. Rick Adelman told the Star Tribune: "When you look at Kevin and at Ricky and their style that we're going to play, it's going to be good. I think people will look at it. We have some pieces people would like to play with. I mean, this team was pretty good not long ago and let's face it, guys like to get paid. So if you can pay 'em and you have some people around? There are some positives here." The Timberwolves can have a good amount of cap room this summer if: they don't make qualifying offers to Michael Beasley & Anthony Randolph, waive Martell Webster (his $5.71 million next season is a team option), Brad Miller retires and the Wolves amnesty Darko Milicic. Anthony Tolliver will be an unrestricted free agent, but there's a good chance the Wolves bring him back and it won't cost them much. If all else fails the Wolves will be looking to makes some trades. One name we've heard come up time and time again since Rick Adelman was hired? Kevin Martin. Martin has been out for the Rockets since March 11th with a shoulder injury and there is a chance that he just might've played his last game in Houston. K-Mart has one-year and $12.43 million left on his contract and it even sounds like he doesn't want to be with Houston, next year. "I think it's a gift just to play in the NBA. Let's just leave it at that. I'm really not even thinking about that right now. I'm trying to get into the summer healthy, work on my game and keep improving. We'll see what happens through the summer, what conversations will be held, what's the best thing to do for both sides. Time will tell." Clearly the Wolves got next to no production from their wing players this season (Luke Ridnour did a fairly good job when teamed with Rubio in the backcourt for 30-some games. The Timberwolves' head coach Rick Adelman has ties with Martin with his years in both Sacramento & Houston. Word is Adelman may look to land the shooting guard in a trade this summer. Time will tell, that's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves have dealt with an onslaught of injuries to, unfortunately, a lot of their key players, the two months. As the season winds down it's sounding more and more likely that we may have seen the last of guys like Kevin Love & Luke Ridnour, on the court, this season.
Luke Ridnour severely sprained his ankle back on April 2nd vs. the Sacramento Kings. Since then, he's missed the Wolves' last eight games. He's hoping to return for the Timberwolves' last two games (Sunday vs. the Warriors and Thursday vs. the Nuggets). Kevin Love was hit by an inadvertent elbow to the temple from JaVale McGee while playing the Nuggets on April 11th. He's missed the Wolves' last four games and there's a VERY good chance he won't play again this year. Love said the first five or six days after the injury he was REALLY disoriented and couldn't stand bright lights--saying he just laid in bed. He started the NBA-mandated concussion tests on Wednesday this week in hopes of playing the Wolves' last two games. Between Luke Ridnour & Kevin Love, Ridnour is more likely to play again this season. Beyond those two, Darko Milicic is out for the season, as well, with what we've deemed a phantom hamstring injury. Just an excuse to not have to play him this season. His last game was on March 18th. There's a good chance we may have seen the last of him in a Timberwolves uniform as he's a likely trade candidate this summer. It's likely Minnesota won't be able to find anyone willing to take the remaining years and money on his contract: 2 years & $10+ million. There's a good chance he'll be an amnesty candidate this summer. Minnesota has three games left this season: Thursday vs. Detroit, Sunday vs. Golden State and Thursday vs. Denver. That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves' starting center Nikola Pekovic will have offseason surgery. He's currently suffering from bone spurs in his right ankle. A few weeks ago, Nikola was uncertain if he'd have surgery, but recently decided it was necessary.
"It's something that will help me to be healthy next season. It will help me and my team and everything. I know without that trouble, I'll be more calm, not thinking about it. And hopefully, not miss any games," Pekovic told the Star Tribune, earlier this week. Pekovic has emerged as the Timberwolves' starting center for the future and with him almost definitely in that role next season, Minnesota will need him at full-strength, as he's become a core of Minnesota's "Big Three" along with Kevin Love & Ricky Rubio. That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! Luke Ridnour is one of six divisional finalists for the 2011-12 NBA Sportsmanship Award. Each team selected one teammate to be nominated for the award. With 30 nominees, a panel of five former NBA players selected 6 finalists, based on division. The former NBA players include Greg Anthony, John Crotty, Antonio Davis, Eddie Johnson and Kenny Smith. The other five finalists include: Cleveland's Antawn Jamison, Dallas' Jason Kidd, L.A. Clippers' Chris Paul, Miami's Shane Battier and New York's Jeremy Lin. The annual award was designed to award a player who best reflects the ideals of sportsmanship--ethical behavior, fair play and integrity--in amateur and professional basketball, a key focus of the League's NBA Cares program efforts. The winner will be presented with the Joe Dumars trophy after the regular season. Joe Dumars played 14 NBA seasons and was the recipient of the inaugural award in 1996. Ridnour is in his second season with the Minnesota Timberwolves and his ninth in the NBA. He's currently averaging a career-high 12.1ppg, as well as 2.7rpg and 4.8apg in 53 games (all starts). He also ranks 6th in the NBA in FT% (.891) and 26th in assists per game. That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves will have a decision to make at the end of this season. That is, whether to offer Michael Beasley and extension, pick up his $8.2million option or let him go via free agency. If it was up to Beasley, he'd like to remain in Minnesota. "I would love to come back and be a Timberwolf," said Beasley before Minnesota's 95-82 loss to the Clippers on Thursday. "I love it here. I can genuinely say that from the bottom of my heart...From my teammates, to the city, the coaches, the staff. Everybody is so welcoming here. I'm just going to let the situation play out." Beasley began the season as the team's starter. He played the first seven games as Minnesota's starting small forward, but a mid-foot sprain on January 6th shut him down for the next 11 games. Over those seven games, Beasley averaged 12.9ppg. Upon returning to the rotation, Beasley was moved to the bench, in a sixth man role. Beasley has played 34 games off the bench. Beasley is currently averaging, in 41 games, 11.2ppg in 22.3mpg as well as 44% FG, 41% 3PT, 63% FT, 4.4rpg, 0.9apg, 0.4bpg, 0.4spg, 1.8fpg and 1.5topg. That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! Ricky Rubio talked with the media for the first time since he went down on March 9th with a torn ACL & LCL vs. the Lakers. Rubio had surgery on his knee on March 21st in Vail Colorado. It was initially thought he only tore his ACL, but during surgery they found his LCL was torn as well, both were reconstructed and he's expect to have a 6-9 month timeline for a return. He returned earlier this week from Colorado on Glen Taylor's private jet and met with the media for the first time since the injury on Tuesday (April 10). He's currently on crutches and will be for at least another month. He did say that he was uncertain whether he'd be at 100% or ready by the beginning of training camp. However his exuding smile and optimism were present during the press conference on April 10th. "I was happy to see all the people helping me and just giving shout-outs," said Rubio. There's no doubt there was an out-pouring of support from people on the street, fans, friends, family and fellow NBA players (such as D-Wade & LeBron James). Ricky's importance to the Timberwolves has been well-documented this season. Rubio played 41 games for the TWolves this season (starting 31 of those) and had played every game of the season up until March 9th when he was 'bulldozed' by Lakers star Kobe Bryant. Ricky's knee buckled and just like that his season was over. What we didn't know was that it would also spell the end for the Wolves' playoff hopes. At that time the Timberwolves were the 8th seed in the Western Conference and on their way to the NBA playoffs for the first time since the 2003-04 season. The Wolves have played 17 games since Rubio went down and have won 4 games since March 9th in 17 tries (4-13)! Stats don't lie! Rubio was a big key to Minnesota's success and the 'heart and soul' of this team. For a young guy who loves basketball so much and has been playing professionally since he was a teenager, Ricky Rubio is desperate to get back on the floor. "You want to play so bad. You just have to enjoy watching basketball, because it's the only way you can do it." He'll be heading back to Colorado in a month for a follow up exam, when we'll get a rough estimate of a timetable for his return. Typical recovery time is 6-9 months and the Wolves are confident he'll be available for the beginning of the 2012-13 NBA season (roughly 7.5 months from now). "I don't know when I'm going to come back. The first thing that I want to make sure is when I come back, I'm 100 percent. I don't want to put a date on it, because it depends on how my knee feels." Ricky said he didn't believe the injury was that serious and at the most he'd miss a game or two. I honestly felt the same way, it didn't look to serious upon first look, I figured he just knocked knees with Kobe. I don't think anyone expected we'd lose him for the season or that he'd be missed as much as he has been (of course the injuries to key guys like Luke Ridnour, J.J. Barea, Michael Beasley & Nikola Pekovic didn't help, but that's another story). Adelman and Love both talked briefly about Ricky Rubio and his optimism. "Obviously, spirits are always high with him. He's not a guy who gets down. Happy to see him. Hopefully he'll have a speedy, quick recovery," said Kevin Love. "When I've had contact with him, he seems really upbeat. That's going to be the whole key, making sure his rehab goes good throughout the summer. Knowing him, he's going to do everything he can," said head coach Rick Adelman. Ricky finishes his rookie season in the NBA with averages of 10.6ppg, 8.2apg, 4.2rpg, 2.2spg, 36% FG, 34% 3PT, 80% FT, 12 double-doubles in 41 games and 34.2mpg. "You have to be strong and do your best to try and come back even harder. I love basketball. I love playing basketball and I'm going to do my best to play again." Here's hoping for a full and speedy recovery for Ricky Rubio. Next season is going to be A LOT of fun to watch. Here's also hoping that the Wolves can end this year on the 'right note' by grabbing a few more wins! Tonight the Wolves face the Nuggets, that one tips at 8pmCT from the Pepsi Center. Thanks for reading HOWL, GO WOLVES and OLE! OLE! OLE! When it rains, it pours and this past month as been 'hell' for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the injury department.
It all started, of course, with Ricky Rubio in early March. After he went down with the torn ACL & LCL, it was basically a domino effect as we've lost a number of players for stretches since. It's no secret that J.J.'s injuries have kept him out of a good chunk of the Timberwolves' game this season. The Wolves have played 55 games this season and J.J. has played in just 30. He's had everything from a sprained ankle to a hamstring strain to a deep thigh bruise. Nikola Pekovic missed 8 of the last 9 games before Monday's game vs. the Kings. He's got bone spurs in his right ankle as a result of those he overcompensated with his left ankle, hurting them both. In Monday's return vs. the Kings he played 19 minutes off the bench and scored 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting and grabbed 4 rebounds. He'll need surgery after the season, but its sounding as though he'll be available for the TWolves' final 11 games. Pek said after the game (vs. SAC) that his ankles felt fine, but his conditioning was the biggest concern. Then there's Michael Beasley, in mid-March he sprained his big toe vs. the Phoenix Suns. He's missed the past four games and 7 of the last 12 games. He also missed a stretch of games early in the year with that mid-foot sprain. Beas had played in 37 of the Wolves 55 games this year. And now, most recently we may have lost Luke Ridnour for an extended period of time. Versus the Kings on Monday he went down on a drive to the bucket and came down awkwardly on his ankle. He lay on the baseline writhing in pain and eventually had to be helped off the court. He did not return to the game. He had X-rays that came back negative, but with just 11 games left in the regular season, it's uncertain whether we'll see him back this year... Here's hoping J.J. is healthy enough to play Wednesday vs. the Warriors. If J.J. is still out with that thigh contusion, it's sounding as though rookie Malcolm Lee & shooter Wayne Ellington will be the team's point guards. Because the roster is at the maximum 15 players, no one else can be signed, so the Wolves have to play with what they have. Lastly you have the supposed injury of Darko Milicic. Darko is listed as out with a hamstring strain with no timetable for a return. I think that's just a cover, because, we all know he's fallen WAY out of favor with Rick Adelman and is buried deep in his 'doghouse' and deep on that bench. Hopefully the Wolves will at least get J.J. Barea back and hopefully Michael Beasley as well. If J.J. will play I'd expect him to be the starting point guard and with Beasley coming off the bench that's a very good scorer chipping in points off the bench. That's all for now, keep an eye on our Injury Report listed under the Team Report section on this site for all the updates. Until then, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES! |
Cody AndersonA TWolves fan, bringing you the daily updates. News Archives
August 2017
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