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Year-Round News & Updates on the Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves announced last week that they have signed shooting guard Anthony Brown to a two-way contract. What's a two-way contract? Two-way contracts are new in the NBA this season and will allow the NBA to employ roughly 60 more players for the upcoming season. Each team has two, two-way contracts. They act at the 16th & 17th roster spot for NBA teams. The player signed can spend up to 45 days with the NBA team that signs him. While 45 days can be spent, no time at the NBA level needs to be guaranteed by any team to sign a player. The rest of the player's contract must be spent in the G-League (formerly the D-League) either for the team's affiliate or another (if the team doesn't have an exclusive affiliate yet). The Wolves are one of 26 teams (of 30) that have a G-League affiliate -- the Iowa Wolves. While in the G-League, the player will make $75,000 (an increase from the $26,000 a typical G-League player makes per season). If a player spends time in the NBA, it is prorated to a NBA rookie minimum contract. If he spends 45 days in the NBA, he'll make roughly $204,000. Thusly, a player who spends the maximum of 45 days with an NBA team will make about $279,000. Anthony Brown was the 34th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. In his rookie season, he played 29 games (11 starts) before being released. He spent the remainder of his rookie season in the D-League. Brown did play a total of 11 games last season for the New Orleans Pelicans and the Orlando Magic. Brown may very well develop into a "three-and-D" player at some point in his career, and in today's NBA, that type of player is incredibly valuable. It's why former D-League players like Danny Green and Kent Bazemore have received big paydays and roles for their respective teams. At 6'7" with a near 7'0" wingspan, Brown has potential to be a factor in the NBA. Though, it is likely a make-or-break season for Brown as he turns 25 in just a few short months. If nothing else, Brown provides insurance for the Wolves on the wing if injuries should take Andrew Wiggins, Jimmy Butler, or Jamal Crawford out for a significant amount of time.
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The Minnesota Timberwolves are in the midst of contract negotiations with swingman Andrew Wiggins. The five-year extension is rumored to be worth roughly $148 million. When asked about the extension and whether Wiggins truly believes he's worth "max money" he replied, that he's worth "nothing less" than a max contract.
Whether that is true or not, still remains to be seen. The versatile wing has never shown the kind of consistency that you would like to see from a former number one overall pick. His lack of "killer instinct" has also been a hindrance during his tenure in the league. He's developed into somewhat of a go-to scorer in crunch time and his offense has steadily improved each season. While you'd still like to see more from him, it stands to reason that the Wolves brass is somewhat hesitant to throw max money at the young forward. The key reason being, his defense and his effort on that end of the floor. With the versatile Jimmy Butler now in the mix, the hope is that some of his tendencies on the defensive end wear off on Andrew, he's got plenty of improvements to make. The craziest thing about this contract extension is that Andrew Wiggins is already one of the better players in Timberwolves franchise history. A year or two ago, max money for a player like Andrew wouldn't have even really been a question. Now with Jimmy Butler in the mix and an improved roster around him with the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns (who still has improvements to make on the defensive end himself), Jeff Teague, Butler, and Taj Gibson -- Andrew's flaws are being brought more to the forefront in these kind of negotiations. I recall the year Michael Beasley was Minnesota's starting small forward, this was when K-Love was still in the fold and just on the cusp of becoming a bonafide star in the League. If you transported that offseason to this offseason, with the skyrocket in cap, I probably would have advocated for Beasley to get a max extension from the Wolves (despite his many -- and more glaring -- deficiencies on the defensive side of the ball). Because at that time, Beas was coming off a really good season in Minnesota where Rambis had given him the green light to fire at will. He was a high-volume shooter and he scored a lot of points. For the first time in about five years, at that point, the Wolves seemed to have a potent duo in Love & Beasley that could grow together. I would have seriously considered giving Beasley a lot of money to stick around Minny. It just goes to show how this franchise has changed since Tom Thibodeau has taken over lead in the Wolves front office -- and also how drastically the League has changed in the past few years. Assuming Andrew Wiggins isn't shipped out of town, back to Cleveland, in a deal that nets the Wolves Kyrie Irving -- Andrew will remain in Minnesota, and get a nice bump in salary to boot (starting at roughly $25 million per year). Stay tuned to HOWL for all the updates! If it's up to Kyrie Irving, he's played his last game for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Reports surfaced this afternoon that the star point guard who has been to three-consecutive NBA finals no longer wants to play with LeBron James (he may be the only player in the League). In all honesty, it makes sense in two different scenarios. Number one: he is tired of playing second fiddle to LBJ and wants a chance to lead a team -- like he was promised when he signed that five-year extension back in 2014 just weeks before LeBron returned to Cleveland. Number two: Kyrie knows that the Cavaliers are on the brink of implosion. GM David Griffin is no longer there and LeBron won't be hanging around much longer. Considering the lack of moves the Cavaliers have made this summer, it makes sense that Kyrie sees the writing on the wall and knows that if there was ever a time to get out of town, this summer may be his only option until 2019. The Cavaliers have handcuffed themselves. They have a lot of high-quality players, however since Kevin Durant took his talents to the Bay -- they simply can't match up with the NBA's elite. To clarify, the NBA's elite is Golden State and only Golden State. So, with all that said, how does this pertain to Minnesota? Well, the Timberwolves were listed as one of four preferred landing spots for the all-star point guard. The others include Miami, New York, and San Antonio. It was reported late Friday afternoon, however that New York is not on the list of preferred landing spots. While it's incredible to see one of the NBA's premier players interested in suiting up for the Minnesota Timberwolves, it is highly unlikely to happen. First of all, the Cleveland Cavaliers have no ultimatum to trade Irving. He's under contract for the next two years. Ultimately, the Cavaliers could hold on to Kyrie, when LeBron may walk. Then, the Cavs can fulfill that promise they made to Irving when he signed his extension. I highly doubt that the Cavaliers are going to be able to find a deal that makes financial sense, while also netting them quality in return. What could the Timberwolves realistically offer? They can't trade any of the free agents that they have signed until December 15th (Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, and Jamal Crawford). A deal centered around Andrew Wiggins would likely be a starting point to get the two sides talking. Jimmy Butler isn't going anywhere and Karl-Anthony Towns is absolutely untouchable. Add to the fact that Jeff Teague can't be traded until mid-December, which means that if a deal was reached, the two would likely have to share a backcourt with one another. Not exactly ideal. That being said, Kyrie Irving is one of the most talented players in the NBA and netting him would undoubtedly make the Timberwolves contenders, a near-guarantee that they would make the Western Conference Finals. Stay tuned for HOWL for all the updates! |
Cody AndersonA TWolves fan, bringing you the daily updates. News Archives
August 2017
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