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Year-Round News & Updates on the Minnesota Timberwolves
According to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune the Minnesota Timberwolves have reached a deal in principal with former NBA champ & 27-year-old point guard J.J. Barea. The deal is a 4-year $19M contract, which means the Wolves will be playing this quick, ball-handling guard until he's 31. He also joins a backcourt of Ricky Rubio, Luke Ridnour, Malcolm Lee, Wesley Johnson & Wayne Ellington. Zgoda does note, that the Wolves--at this time--don't intend to cut or trade Luke Ridnour. However with the Barea signing the Timberwolves have 16 players on the roster, which means someone has to go. The Timberwolves could try and work out a 2-for-1 or, more likely, they'll have to cut one of their fringe players: Wayne Ellington or Lazar Hayward. Barea will be making roughly $5M a year for the next four years. This was the best offer he received--the Knicks were also looking to sign the flashy, slashing guard, but could only offer 2-years for roughly $2.5M a year. Barea is a great ball-handler, who can penetrate and dish to the mass collection of shooters the TWolves have amassed (ie: Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, Derrick Williams, Wesley Johnson, Wayne Ellington, Anthony Tolliver etc.). Barea is an unrestricted free agent, so we don't have to worry about the Mavericks matching any offer we make, however, the Mavericks basically announced earlier in the week, he wouldn't be back with their team. I still haven't really decided how I feel about this signing. The pros? He's the ball-handler the TWolves wanted. He could play with Rubio, with Ricky's length he could defend two-guards on occasion. He's 27, so he's not exactly a seasoned veteran, however, he could be a big leader on a much younger team (reversing his role from last year). He's a champion, hopefully he can bring some of that to the table for Minnesota (not like Darko--won with Detroit in 2004). At 5-11 he can't really play shooting guard. Is he still going to be the quick, slashing guard when he's 31? Did the TWolves need another point guard?--No! In regards to Ridnour. Zgoda notes, he doesn't believe they Wolves have plans to trade the veteran point guard immediately, however that could change quickly. Also, there's no way that Barea will be starting over Ricky Rubio, basically guaranteed. For Ricky, Barea's presence will add a Spanish-speaking teammate to the locker room? Could that be a small part of the signing. Maybe a small part....a very small part. As noted before, I would've been much more comfortable with this signing had the Wolves offered him $3Mish a year, I just don't know if he's worthy of $5M a year, however, my opinion on that could easily change the first time he suits up and plays for the Wolves against the Bucks in their first preseason game on December 17th. Hopefully he gets his contract finalized by today so he can practice with the team either today or tomorrow as he's already missed the first three days of training camp and the Wolves have just five days (including today) until they play their first preseason game. OTHER NOTES: The Timberwolves officially announced the signing of the #2 overall pick: Derrick Williams today. The sides reached an agreement and the papers were filed with the League two days ago. That's all for now, thanks for reading and remember to check back daily for all your TWolves news, information & updates all year round. Stay tuned tonight for a training camp Day 4 update as well as more news on the Barea signing! Thanks for reading & GO WOLVES!
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The Minnesota Timberwolves have had three days of training camp thus far and have just five days remaining until they play their first preseason game against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 17th. Afterwards, they have three more days until the second preseason game on the 21st and then four more days of practice until the 2011-12 season kicks off for them--December 26th.
Needless to say, the Minnesota Timberwolves are working hard and they need to, if a new team with a new coach are going to be ready to compete in 2011-12. The media have been all over Ricky Rubio since he arrived in Minnesota last week. After three days of learning Adelman's system, Rubio says: "I love it. You have freedom to see which is the best option for us, not like robots." Rubio is also very grateful of having former TWolves guard: Terry Porter on the coaching staff: "I'm so excited to learn from him. So happy he's on the staff. He'll show me how to handle the hard situations. I'm excited for it," says Rubio. There is one thing that has become pretty clear--when Ricky has the ball, everyone better be ready for a pass. Another rookie guard at training camp--Malcolm Lee is also working hard these first three days. Technically the Wolves 2nd round pick doesn't have a contract (his agent is still negotiating with Minnesota), but Lee is participating because he wants "to show what I can do!" And on his first training camp, Rubio says: "I think I'm adjusting real well. Coaches are putting us in good positions." More on Bonzi Wells. As reported in yesterday's post, we talked about Wells as a training camp invitee for the Timberwolves as he looks to bring his NBA career back from the dead. The Wolves are hoping Wells gets his FIBA clearance, which will allow the 35-year-old shooting guard to start participating in training camp--hopefully by tomorrow. Bonzi says, "I really didn't like the way I left the game. You want to go out and say you're retired. You don't want to go out because someone tells you they don't want you anymore." As noted previously--Bonzi was always a gifted player, however his stubbornness and immaturity eventually--pushed him out of a job. One ideal is that Wells is here to show how an NBA career isn't supposed to go--possibly to a young, immature Michael Beasley--who's always getting to problems off the court......just a thought. Other notes from today: The Timberwolves have stayed healthy these first three days with no major injuries. Kevin Love did take a knee to his thigh in practice yesterday, but today wasn't hindered whatsoever. Lastly, you may want to keep an eye on Houston's Kevin Martin. The Timberwolves--especially Rick Adelman are very "high" on K-Mart and new Rockets head coach Kevin McHale, reportedly isn't. Nothing's imminent, but you could possibly see a trade for the 29-year-old shooting guard, who played under Adelman in both Sacramento & Houston. A trade that features Wesley Johnson or Michael Beasley as well as some others would likely be featured! Also, one last thing--with the J.J. Barea news yesterday (that Minnesota is interested in signing him), there has been no further news today, however, it's looking unlikely the Knicks can afford him as he's wanting more than just the $2.5M mid-level exception the Knicks are offering. That's all for now, thanks for reading and remember to check back daily for all you TWolves news, information and updates all year round. Thanks for reading and GO WOLVES! The Minnesota Timberwolves had their second day of training camp today. For the past two days the official Twitter page of the TWolves has reported live from the practices, you can follow them on Twitter @MNTimberwolves. Some interesting tweets outta the TWolves training camp.
A report from the Wolves' twitter page says that NBA veteran Bonzi Wells had recently showed up to training camp as an invitee! However, he wasn't able to participate in any contact drills as he's awaiting FIBA clearance. Wells last played in the NBA during the 2007-08 season with the Houston Rockets. Coincidentally, he played for Adelman during his first year as the Houston Rockets head coach. During his 10-year career, Bonzi has played for five different NBA teams: Portland Trailblazers, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Hornets and the Houston Rockets. Wells last played for Capitanes de Arecibo of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional--the main Puerto Rican basketball league. He initially left the NBA, after the '07-'08 season, because he refused to accept the veteran's minimum salary. The Timberwolves are in dire need of a veteran presence as well as a solid 2-guard. That could also be why the Timberwolves may look to make a blind bid to Chauncey Billups, who was recently amnestied by the New York Knicks. I wouldn't count on it however, as Billups has been very vocal that he doesn't want to get claimed on waivers and won't be happy if he does, he's "tired of being the glue guy!" Another option could be Richard Hamilton, who was recently bought out by the Detroit Pistons. There is a chance, but, most have Rip going to Chicago. There's no guarantee that Bonzi will actually make the team, but it's certainly something interesting to keep an eye on!! Furthermore, the Timberwolves are reportedly looking to sign free agent....J.J. Barea! The former Dallas Maverick is a free agent and indications are the Mavs won't offer him a deal. The New York Knicks are the only other reported team looking to bid for his services, so it seems as though J.J. could potentially be a TWolves guard sometime soon...AND, to be clear, I'm not happy about it. If we overspend on this flashy, quick guard who had a couple of good playoff games, David Kahn will be making yet another big mistake--let New York have him! More from Adelman following today's practice: "They worked really hard. I thought they did a lot better today." The TWovles are in good shape and Rick has said that they don't intend to have any two-a-days at this point, however they're gonna go hard, "I think for the most part, we're going to scrimmage a lot, so they're going to get a lot of up and down." That's all for now, thanks for reading and remember to check back daily for all your TWolves news, information & updates all year round. GO WOLVES! The day is finally upon us--December 9th, the beginning of training camps league-wide as well as the day NBA teams could begin signing free agents to contracts.
Today the media got a chance to talk with Timberwolves players and the new coach. The only player not in attendance today was Martell Webster. Unfortunately Martell is out with an injury indefinitely. He reportedly had offseason back surgery on September 28th--the same kind of surgery he had last season. Last year he missed 36 games! The Wolves got started early in the day with media day. They spoke with the new head coach Rick Adelman. He was asked a number of different questions. When asked if he felt the Wolves needed to add some veterans to the roster, he replied "I hope so. We're looking all the time to see who's out there, who's available." The Wolves' biggest need--some wing playmakers. There are some veteran additions the Wolves were looking at earlier this week, you can now cross off the list--Shane Battier (signed with Miami), Chuck Hayes (signed with Sacramento) and Von Wafer (sign-and-trade to Orlando). We'll get to more free agency talk later though... More on Adelman, he feels there are two things the Timberwolves need to do better: decision making & ball handling. Obviously defense is the main thing they need to do better. Adelman says teaching starts at the defensive end. Rick called last season's team "horrendous", says Houston got pretty much whatever they wanted. Following media day the Wolves got their first practice together. "First time we've seen 'em play. I like their attitude. I like the way that they competed. We have to keep going each practice. The scrimmage was really ragged, which is typical. We kind of let it go to see how they'd react," Adelman says. A big concern with any team, is the conditioning. After an extended offseason and the uncertainty that there would even be a season, out of shape players wouldn't seem too unlikely. "I don't think their conditioning is bad, but that's maybe something we'll have to scrimmage more," Adelman said following the first day of practice. Ricky Rubio arrived at the practice facility today and the first thing he did before going to media day, was walk into the locker room and see his brand new Minnesota Timberwolves jersey. He immediately took a picture of it on his phone and texted the photo to some of his friends. Wanted to let them know, HE'S MADE IT TO THE NBA! This was also the first day he got to meet his new coach Rick Adelman. Five minutes after meeting him, Rubio says: "I really don't know him as a person, but I've seen him on all those teams." The one consistent opinion his new teammates had on him was that he was an incredible passer, who's going to be a lot of fun to play with. Ricky's take: "I can pass ball wherever and they catch it. It makes me look like an amazing passer." When asked if he was ready for the disappointment of losing this season, Ricky replied: "I hope we don't get disappointed." I know I feel 100%, the same way. Following the team's first practice (over 4 hours) "Great. Tired, but it went great." Rick Adelman had his own opinion on how he felt Ricky's first day went: "I like the way he handles the ball. I like the way he defends. I think he has to be careful with his hands defensively." Some tidbits from some of the other Timberwolves' main guys... Kevin Love talked with the media this past weekend and you can find that information in a previous post on this page or by clicking on Kevin Love under the roster section of this site! However, while talking with the media today, he did have this to add on Ricky Rubio's superb passing ability: "He can pass the shit out of the ball!" Haha, cameras & mics rolling all the while! Love also talked briefly about an hour long conversation him & Rick Adelman had, where they talked about the team and about Love possibly playing some center this season. He also noted that the Wolves will have a very defensive-heavy focus in training camp. The media also spoke with Michael Beasley for a while. As always, he was quite a character. He did comment on Kevin Love's weight loss..."See that guy? He's sexy, huh?" Of course the conversation quickly went to his summer troubles--speeding, marijuana possession etc. "I'm not here to talk about past issues." He did however, have a message for the fans: "Hi fans!" Like I said and we all know--he's a character! As noted in a previous post; Beasley, Kevin Love & Anthony Randolph are all up for extensions this season, if not, they'll be come restricted free agents this summer. Beasley says he'd "love" to sign an extension with Minnesota, but said he isn't thinking--or talking more--about it. Some other notes from some of the other players at media day. Darko Milicic was asked about his training and what kind of shape he's currently in, he says he worked a lot in the offseason with some of the American players that had come overseas, he did a lot of the same things, just a lot more of everything! Wayne Ellington says he spent the lockout working out, getting better, becoming a better ball handler and working on his jump shots. Lazar Hayward also put in work with some pilates & yoga beyond the usual weight training and shooting. Some miscellaneous notes for you: draft-day acquired center--Brad Miller is currently out recovering from knee surgery, however he hopes to get clearance from his doctor within the next two weeks to return to the court--pegging a mid-to-late January return......With Martell Webster out, he could potentially be waived or amnestied to open up a roster spot, for a possible veteran guard......Luke Ridnour spent four months during the lockout in the hospital with one of his twin sons that was born last year and calls having his whole family back together, "a huge blessing"........Wayne Ellington & Anthony Tolliver who are both good friends with Rockets point guard Kyle Lowry, spoke with him about his former coach/their new coach Rick Adelman and Lowry replied, "You're going to love him!"........All 66 regular season games as well as the two preseason games will all be on WCCO Radio........in regards to the practice, word was, all the new assistants were very "hands on" & active with the players..... That's all I've got for now, within the next hour or so, we'll have a bunch of pictures up on our site under the media--pictures section from today's practice & media day! Thanks for reading and remember to check back daily for all you Timberwolves news, information & updates all year round. GO WOLVES! Tomorrow afternoon at around 1pmCT, training camps & free agency will start League-wide. As noted in the previous post, Timberwolves players have been filing in, to the Target Center, for the past few days and tomorrow they'll finally get to work. That work needs to be done fast, because in just eight days the TWolves will be playing their first preseason game versus the Milwaukee Bucks.
Minnesota comes into training camp with 15 players under contract which include: Ricky Rubio, Luke Ridnour, Malcolm Lee, Wesley Johnson, Wayne Ellington, Michael Beasley, Derrick Williams, Martell Webster, Lazar Hayward, Kevin Love, Anthony Randolph, Anthony Tolliver, Darko Milicic, Nikola Pekovic & Brad Miller (technically--rookies: Derrick Williams & Malcolm Lee have yet to sign contracts, but they will soon enough--just a formality). David Kahn has been adamant, that the Wolves won't be making any insane roster overhauls at this time, but that doesn't mean the Wolves won't sign a free agent or make a trade. If the Wolves were to sign a free agent, they'd have to trade, waive or amnesty one/some of their players. As far as free agents go, we noted in a previous post about some of the targets, Kahn had shown interest in. They included: Arron Afflalo, Shane Battier, Chuck Hayes & Von Wafer. It's not surprising those last three: Battier, Hayes & Wafer are all former players under Rick Adelman in Houston. Since that post, Shane Battier has decided to take his talents to South Beach, joining the Big Three and Sacramento has offered Hayes a 4yr. $20M deal. Afflalo is still an almost definite lock to resign with Denver and Von Wafer is still weighing a few options. Chuck Hayes' agent has said that he's narrowed down his potential teams to Sacramento, Minnesota & Houston. Other free agents you can now add to the list include: Jamal Crawford & DeAndre Jordan. Crawford seems like a far-fetched signing for the Wolves, however, Jamal's agent has said that his client is seriously considering signing with the Wolves--as he sees them as a young team with a lot of talent. Other teams interested in Crawford include: Trailblazers, Bulls, Knicks, Nets, Pacers, Suns, Hornets & Magic. As far as DeAndre Jordan--he's a restricted free agent and the Clippers have already tendered him an offer worth over $40M over 4-5 years. It'll take a lot of money for Jordan to land elsewhere, I'd count on DJ being a Clipper in '11-'12 (unless of course he's a part of a trade for Chris Paul). Taking a look at some potential trade targets for the Timberwolves. According to Darren Wolfson via Twitter, Houston Rocket Kevin Martin could very well be a trade target for Minny. Apparently Rick Adelman is very high on the veteran shooter and new Rockets head coach Kevin McHale, feels 'lukewarm' on K-Mart. Martin was nearly a part of that vetoed Chris Paul trade. The Wolves could offer a package that includes Wesley Johnson and/or Michael Beasley. Other trade targets could include (not reported) Clippers Chris Kaman or Sixers Andre Iguodala--basically looking for a seasoned veteran shooting guard, or a young athletic center. All in all, I've had fun with the trade rumors, free agency rumors, but I'll be happy when everyone has a team and the Wolves are going head-to-head against the Thunder--the day after Christmas! Am I ready for some basketball? WITHOUT NO DOUBT! OTHER NOTES: A good number of TWolves players played a scrimmage of 5-on-5 at the Target Center earlier today....There are a number of players that could potentially be cut via amnesty, list includes Knicks' Chauncey Billups (could potentially move to shooting guard--start for the Wolves and be the exact veteran presence they need--see tweet on Twitter via Jerry Zgoda on this)....Anthony Randolph has reportedly gained some muscle to possibly play some center, though most reporters said it really didn't look like it.....Martell Webster supposedly has a brand new hairdo, some sort of crazy mohawk-esque spikes, don't really know if that's news-worthy, but stay tuned via Twitter for a picture sometime within the next week.... Thanks for reading and remember to check back daily for all your TWolves news, info & updates all year round. GO WOLVES! Practice Facilities around the NBA opened on Thursday and since then, Timberwolves players have been filing in, but maybe not as quickly as we hoped.
On the first day--Thursday, the only player at the Target Center was forward Anthony Randolph. He just lifted weights that day and he didn't go back until today (Wed. 12/7). Then, on Saturday, Kevin Love came to town, got in a workout and talked with the media, stating that he hoped the rest of the Wolves would follow his lead. Unfortunately the only player who came the next day (Sunday) was rookie Malcolm Lee (who isn't even under contract)--Devean George, a potential free agent signing or a possible player development "coach" was also at the Target Center. On Monday, the only two players at the Target Center were again: Kevin Love & Malcolm Lee. Now, today, with just two days until training camps open across the NBA, the majority of the Wolves finally showed up. At the Target Center today are: Darko Milicic, Nikola Pekovic, Wesley Johnson, Michael Beasley, Anthony Tolliver, Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love & Anthony Randolph. That means Malcolm Lee isn't at the facility today, though he has been there the past two days. Apparently Wayne Ellington showed up in the late-afternoon, according to his Twitter account he met Rubio for the first time and seems pretty stoked. We still haven't seen rookie Derrick Williams, though according to his Twitter account, he left Los Angeles this afternoon and should be in the Twin Cities sometime this evening. There's hasn't been any news on Luke Ridnour, Martell Webster, Lazar Hayward or Brad Miller are coming to town--but obviously before Friday and hopefully sometime Friday! It would've been better had these young Timberwolves gotten together as soon as possible to build chemistry, relationships & camaraderie. Michael Beasley is reportedly looking to take an early leadership role and he's told David Kahn that he's organizing some 5-on-5 scrimmages for the Timberwolves tomorrow. Ricky Rubio, is finally in Minnesota to stay and he's apparently extremely excited about getting his NBA career started. When asked about the Timberwolves' 2011-12 schedule, Rubio said he was putting the schedule into his iPad and saw "16, 17, 18. Three games in a row--what the hell?!" He was also the Timberwolves won't visit some of the big teams like: Boston, Miami, Chicago or New York. Also, Rubio, recently visited Ottawa Canada to get his work visa, so he could play basketball in the NBA, however it doesn't sound like he was a big fan of Canada, "I went there for two days, take my visa and get out!" SOME OTHER WOLVES NEWS: According to Chuck Hayes' agent, MN head coach Rick Adelman personally called Hayes to come play in Minnesota.......The schedule came out yesterday and you can take a look by clicking on our schedule box up top for all 66-games+ the preseason.......The Wolves have six nationally televised games this season (last season with 82 games they had two), it's the most since the 2005-2006 season........As expected the TWolves finally reported there coaching staff for the season and as noted before, the list includes: Terry Porter, Jack Sikma, TR Dunn & Bill Bayno. Rick Adelman's son RJ will be working in the front office as well as game prep, David Adelman is a player development 'coach'...... Hopefully the remaining players show up for some of those scrimmages tomorrow. Until then, thanks for reading and remember to check back daily for all your TWolves news, info & updates all year round! GO WOLVES! Yesterday evening the NBA released the schedules for all 30 teams, it was much anticipated by fans, reporters, analysts & of course the players and coaches and now the Timberwolves "know where they stand".
Looking over the Timberwolves schedule there are a few different elements to examine. The first of which is the back-to-back-to-back games, that each team has to play at least once. It was reported before the schedules were released that each team would have one b-t-b-t-b games and some teams would have up to three b-t-b-t-b games. That however, is not true. There are actually no teams that have to play three sets of back-to-back-to-back games, but of course, the TWolves are one of the teams that gets to play two different sets. All in all there are 66 games in this shortened NBA season. Let's take a look at, division and conference games. Obviously, being a Western Conference team, the majority of the Timberwolves' games will be versus conference teams. In the Eastern Conference, there are only three teams that the Timberwolves face twice: the Bobcats (home in Feb. & away in Mar.), the Pistons (home in Jan. & away in Apr.) and the Pacers (home in Feb. & away in Apr.). Against the Eastern powerhouses: Hawks, Celtics, Bulls, Heat, Knicks & Orlando (assuming they retain DH)--the TWolves will only play them (all home except; away vs. ATL & ORL). There are six teams from the Western Conference that the Minnesota Timberwolves face four times: the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies & Sacramento Kings. All other teams in the Western Conference, the Wolves will play three times. Ricky Rubio will get his first taste of the NBA against point guards: Russell Westbrook (OKC), Brandon Jennings (MIL), Mario Chalmers (MIA), Jason Kidd (DAL) & Tony Parker (SAS). The Timberwolves' first back-to-back-to-back games come January 8th, 9th & 10th (@WAS, @TOR, vs. CHI) and the second comes February 28th, 29th & March 1st (@LAC, @LAL, @PHO). At least, for the second set, the games are all very close together--geographically. The Wolves also have sixteen back-to-back games scattered throughout each month. The TWolves may have one of the toughest schedules in the NBA, though every fan is saying that about there team right now. To make the case: the Wolves kick off the season versus six straight playoff teams, they play Chicago at the end of there first b-t-b-t-b, they have just two strings of games at home that last longer than two games and they have a grueling 7-game road trip in March featuring (in order); Phoenix, Utah, LALakers, Sacramento, Golden State, San Antonio & Oklahoma City! A little pre-training camp prediction for the first five games (not preseason). First game vs. Oklahoma City Thunder at the Target Center: Minnesota wins 103-96. Second game vs. the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center. Minnesota wins 96-84. Third game vs. the Miami Heat at the Target Center. Minnesota loses 106-87. Fourth game vs. Dallas Mavericks at the Target Center. Minnesota loses 97-93. Fifth game vs. the San Antonio Spurs at the Target Center. Minnesota wins 91-84. This is really just for fun, obviously after we get a chance to see the Wolves in action in the preseason vs. the Bucks, this is likely subject to change, but I'm keeping this for reference later, so I can hopefully say, told ya so! OTHER NOTES: Former TWolves GM/Head Coach Kevin McHale--now head coach of the Houston Rockets (current Wolves coach--Adelman's former team), will face the Wolves four times in Jan./Feb........The Wolves will play thirteen division games, four against the Nuggets and three apiece against the Thunder, Jazz & Blazers That's all for now, hopefully this wasn't too boring or dense for you. Stay tuned these next few days as we'll be updating the site with news from training camp (begins Dec. 9), free agency, trade rumors and preseason gameday previews! Thanks for reading and GO WOLVES! A new season, new players, new coach, but will we see a different result? Will we have another icy cold winter in the Twin Cities, or for the first time since Garnett departed in 2007, will we see a competitive TWolves squad? The Timberwolves started 2010-11 losing 7 of their first 8 games, 24 of there first 30 and ended the season on a 15-game losing streak. With just 17 wins last season--the NBA's worst regular season record, the TWolves have nowhere to go but up. With exciting rookies: Derrick Williams, Ricky Rubio & Malcolm Lee as well as some talented young players: Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, Wesley Johnson & Anthony Randolph, and most importantly a brand new coach: Rick Adelman--the Timberwolves are one of the most exciting teams of '11-'12. As noted, in a previous post, we examined some possible starting lineups for the Timberwolves in 2011-12. Ultimately it comes to Ridnour or Ricky at the point, Wes or Malcolm Lee at the shooting guard, Beas or D-Will at the 3, K-Love at the 4 (yeah, just Love) and Darko or Randolph at the center. The biggest position battle coming into the season will be the former #2 pick: Michael Beasley vs. the current #2 pick: Derrick Williams. A report from an unofficial source says the Rick Adelman is '50-50' on Beasley at the small forward, but apparently Adelman believes he can make him great. I've only heard this from one person, so I'm not sure we can believe this one. Ultimately, these are things that will be examined and decided during training camp. Another report, states that Beas has slimmed down a bit and also cut his braids, who knows, with a slighter frame and a clean cut, will we also see a more mature Beasley on and off the court, who will maximize his talents? I can only hope... There's been chatter ever since the Timberwolves found out they'd be drafting 2nd overall, whether or not Michael Beasley would be with the Timberwolves this season. As of right now, Michael Beasley is seen as the starting small forward, but a lot can change with the Wolves during training camp. So much so, that Beasley may not stay with the Wolves for too much longer. There's a very good chance if the TWolves were able to acquire a consistent and reliable veteran shooting guard or center, Michael Beasley would be traded. Say, something like, Beas & Wes Johnson for Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala or Beas & Nikola Pekovic for the Clippers' Chris Kaman (this would also fill a big need for the Clippers at the small forward). Those are just a few scenarios, but there's a good chance that Beasley will remain with the Wolves for the majority of the season, which would likely put rookie Derrick Williams as the team's sixth man. Keeping an eye on the Wolves' other two rookies, guards: Ricky Rubio & Malcolm Lee. The Timberwolves and their fans have been waiting two long years for the European phenom and its almost certain that by season's end, Rubio will be the starting point guard. There's also a good chance, barring and trades, that fellow rookie Malcolm Lee could be the team's starting two-guard. At 205lbs. and a great young defensive guard, who can play both the 1 & the 2, Lee is exactly the type of player Adelman loves: young athletic defenders. So potentially, by the end of the season, the Timberwolves could be starting all three of their rookies. Rubio, Lee, D-Will, Love & Darko? Taking a look at the Northwest Division as well as the Western Conference Outlook, the Timberwolves could easily be poised for a breakout season. That being said, I don't believe the Wolves will be a playoff team, as it's likely, any Western Conference team is going to need 38-40 wins minimum to make the playoffs. Can the Timberwolves rise from the bottom of the Northwest Division they've been for far too long? In the Northwest: Portland Trailblazers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets & the TWolves. Portland & Oklahoma City are a shoe-in to make the playoffs. Utah could make the playoffs, if the figure out the logjam at the forward and center positions and potentially find a good backcout player, the Jazz could also sneak in as an 7th or 8th seed. The Nuggets have Ty Lawson & Danilo Gallinari, they'll likely retain Arron Afflalo, lose Nene and of course three of their best players: J.R. Smith, Wilson Chandler & Kenyon Martin (all FAs) are stuck in China, likely until February or March. As such, my prediction for the Northwest? NORTHWEST 1.) Oklahoma City Thunder 2.) Portland Trailblazers 3.) Utah Jazz 4.) Minnesota Timberwolves 5.) Denver Nuggets The Timberwolves have a new coach: a veteran whose a proven-winner. Rick Adelman is going into his 21st year as an NBA head coach, and with Minnesota, Rick may have the biggest challenge of his polished career. Rick's staff includes: Jack Sikma, TR Dunn, Bill Bayno (who MN pried away from POR with a 4-year deal), Terry Porter (a former Wolf, who was actually a candidate for the Wolves head coaching job) and lastly Rick's son RJ will work in the front office and do game preparation.
Adelman brings a basic system, that he'll adjust (as always) to the team he has. Finally the Timberwolves won't be trying to run the triangle offense, now that Rambis is finally out the door. The Timberwolves have everything in a new coach, that they didn't have with Rambis. A proven winner, experience and a system that works. No longer, will Rambis look to 'get Darko involved' early, going down low the first six-seven possessions. Michael Beasley won't have free-range to do as he pleases on both ends of the floor, Kevin Love will actually have a part in the offensive gameplan, beyond the number of second chance points and step-out threes. Ricky Rubio is going to have at least two big influences as a new point guard in the League. Veteran Luke Ridnour--who, last season was brought on to mentor Jonny Flynn, will finally get a chance to influence a young point guard, like he did for Brandon Jennings in Milwaukee. Beyond Ridnour, Ricky has former Wolves point guard Terry Porter on staff, definitely a welcome addition. Veteran Leadership is important for the Wolves, who were ultimately without any last season--on the staff or from the players. On the squad, the Wolves have seasoned veterans: Luke Ridnour, Martell Webster, Darko Milicic & Brad Miller. And as noted in the previous post, Devean George will likely be a part of the Wolves this season, whether that means as a player on the roster, or helping out in player development. We have already taken a look at the TWolves' Free Agent Targets, at the time, the Wolves were targeting: Arron Afflalo, Chuck Hayes, Shane Battier & Von Wafer. Since that time, you can add: DeAndre Jordan & Jamal Crawford to that list. Jordan is a restricted free agent, and it's likely the Clippers will match any offer that comes his way (they've already offered him a 5-year $40M deal). With Jamal, his agent has said he has genuine interest in the Timberwolves as they are a young team, with a lot of young pieces who are in need of a ball-handling, 3-point shooting, veteran combo guard. Kahn has said that the Wolves won't be blowing up the roster anymore and the key right now, is for the Wolves to remain intact with some potential pruning here and there. But...we'll see... The Timberwolves won't be a playoff team in 2011-12, but they've suddenly become a great new team to watch. I was incredibly excited when the Wolves traded for Beasley & drafted Johnson! So, this year, with a new head coach, Ricky Rubio & Derrick Williams and the potential of even more improvement from All-Star forward Kevin Love, the TWolves are a team to watch. I know I won't miss a game. Some final notes, the regular season schedule comes out at 6pmCT today, which means by sometime tonight, the schedule on our site will be updated completely....There's a chance training camps will be moved to start on Monday instead of Friday, to facilitate time for trades and free agent signings...As of this afternoon, the only two TWolves players practicing at the Target Center are Malcolm Lee & Kevin Love--Anthony Randolph was there on Thursday, but no news on him working out since......Ricky Rubio should be coming in to Minneapolis sometime today or tomorrow as he's waiting in Ottowa Canada for a work visa.....Derrick Williams should be in Minnesota by tomorrow, he would have been today, but hasn't left yet, because it's his mother's birthday.....Anthony Tolliver is driving to Minneapolis as I write this and should arrive early this evening.....Nikola Pekovic & Darko Milcic are flying in together from Serbia and should be here sometime today (word is Darko is in 'great' shape)....no word yet on when Beasley, Ridnour, Wes, Ellington, Martell, Lazar or Miller will be showing up....Rick Adelman and his staff are already in town--they arrived this past weekend. That's all for now, thanks for reading and remember to check back daily for all your Timberwolves news, information & updates. Once the season starts, you can find all our gameday previews and recaps under the gameday section and you can also check out our new rumors sections, which features 'news before it's news'. GO WOLVES! The past few days since the Target Center opened on Thursday, various Wolves players have shown up to workout, before training camps begin on December 9th. Anthony Randolph came on Thursday, on Saturday Kevin Love showed up and today, Malcolm Lee was in the gym--along with Love and....Devean George? The former-Laker, who was a piece on that squad, during there heyday with Shaquille O'Neal & Kobe Bryant. George last played in the NBA in 2009-10 with the Golden State Warriors, which was his 11th year in the League. He hopes to stick around with the Wolves and help mentor some of the young players on the squad. He's going to attend training camp and it sounds as though, he'll stick around whether or not a roster spot opens up via trade or injuries--working in player development. George learned from some of the best: Ron Harper, John Salley, Mitch Richmond, Shaquille O'Neal, Brian Shaw, Glen Rice, Karl Malone & Kobe Bryant. Now, at 34, George hopes to do the same for the Timberwolves. Devean George is born and raised in Minnesota and played his college ball at Augsburg College. He was drafted 23rd overall in the 1999 draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. From 1999-2006 he was a Laker and over those years, because of his hustle, defense & outside shooting he was a fixture by his third season in Los Angeles and did basically whatever was asked of him, which made him a fan & organization favorite. In August 2006 he signed a one-year contract with the Dallas Mavericks and in no time he gained Avery Johnson's trust and became an integral piece in their gameplan. He re-upped with the Mavericks for the 2007-08 season. In February of 2008 he blocked a trade that would've sent him to New Jersey & Jason Kidd to Dallas. Eventually Kidd came to Dallas, but George wasn't involved in the trade. The beginning of July 2009 he was traded to the Raptors and at the end of that month was traded again to the Golden State Warriors. George didn't play at all last season, because off court issues kept him off the court. On the Timberwolves, he has played with former-Warriors: Anthony Randolph & Anthony Tolliver. George has said that the Wolves are the only he'll look to play/help this season, because Minnesota is his home, he doesn't want to go anywhere else. Because the Timberwolves currently have 13 players under contract and they still haven't signed rookies: Derrick Williams & Malcolm Lee (which should happen in the coming days). As such, George will likely be a part of player development and will be a welcome addition to a Wolves squad that really lacked veteran leadership last year--with the oldest player being 29-year-old Ridnour. That's all for now, thanks for reading and remember to check back daily for all your Timberwolves news, information & updates all year round. GO WOLVES! A visibly thinner Kevin Love sat in front of a slew of cameras and mics, following his workout at the Target Center earlier this morning. With a beat red face and sweat still dripping off his face he answered some questions for one of the first times since the Lockout began.
As noted before Kevin Love has lost 20-25 pounds (down to 240-45 from 265). When asked about the weight loss, Love replied, "I wasn't focused on losing weight, it just kind of shed off." With this, he's more nimble, he's quicker, but ultimately he says, "I'm just in better shape." When Love came out of UCLA and into the League he weighed between 270-75. In the low-240s, Love says this is the lightest he's been since his freshman/sophomore year in high school. Like most players, Love is definitely ready for the season to start. It's been a long offseason, but Love hopes his teammates get here quick, follow his lead and get back to work. For a young team with a new coach and just a couple weeks of training camp, the Wolves need to hit the ground running if they want to start the season off on the right foot. With that new coach, Love obviously hasn't been able to talk with him or any of the new assistants, because of the lockout. However, Love has kept in touch with his teammates. Especially new point guard: Ricky Rubio, because he was on the West Coast playing daily with guys like Kevin Garnett & Paul Pierce. Love is very optimistic and excited for the season to start. They definitely need/want to get off to a good start, which means getting guys to Minneapolis as quickly as possible, so they can start working together and build their chemistry. With such a young team, Love knows they need to get time on the court and start working together, but also being together off the court to get know one another. The Wolves have some new faces, the first of which are four new players: Ricky Rubio, Malcolm Lee, Derrick Williams & Brad Miller. Love feels the Wolves are very fortunate to get Ricky Rubio & Derrick Williams. With such a young group of guys, there's a lot of electricity with this unit. Love feels they can co-exist and grow together. Love's looking forward to building this team from here on out and a big step in doing that is new head coach: Rick Adelman. When asked if he's taken time to study and examine the ways he can fit into Adelman's system. Love says he's excited to have Brad Miller in Minnesota and have the opportunity to work and hear from him, seeing how he can facilitate in the offense and play that corner offense and be able to get the ball in the high post, score in the low post and play a lot of pick-and-rolls. With all that, Love feels he won't be limited at all in his offensive skillset. Nor does he feel his teammates are going to be limited on the offensive end. As always, Love feels, Adelman will be able to exploit mismatches and have success much like his heyday with the Sacramento Kings (when Miller was the starting center along with Bibby, Webber & Peja). Love also sited when Adelman coached a Houston Rockets team without Tracy McGrady or Yao Ming that took the eventual NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers to seven games. Ultimately Adelman's a very good coach and Love as well as the rest of the team is looking forward to working for him. In such an extended offseason, there's a good chance that some guys could show up next week and be completely out of shape. However, Love doesn't see that happening. "We have a young group, so we really don't have an excuse." With a shortened training camp, shortened preseason and of course a shortened season, it'll be condensed into 134 days, which means it's basically every other day. With a schedule coming out Tuesday, Love talked about the news that every team in the NBA will be playing back-to-back-to-back games at least once this season, with the possibility of playing up to three sets of b-t-b-t-b games. Love joked, assuming the Wolves will be one of the teams that play three of them! However, because they're such a young team, Love believes the Wolves can take advantage of that and hopefully catch some of these veteran teams on an off night or very fatigued. Love knows that with a short amount of time to get acclimated to his teammates and to their new head coach, the Timberwolves will definitely be making some mistakes early on in training camp. Love says, it starts with him and the point guards. The point guards are the guys who have the ball in their hands and they need to be the floor leaders/generals. "Hopefully Luke and Ricky can take the reins and start leading from the point guard up through the center. Then came a big question, whether or not Love wants to/expects to sign an extension with the Timberwolves. Love is in the final year of his rookie contract and next summer he'll become a restricted free agent, however, Kahn has said he's talked with Love's agent and is open to getting a deal done ASAP. Love, however, is certainly hesitant. "I'm not really sure, that's definitely something I'll talk with my agent about. It hasn't really been brought to my attention yet, something we'll touch on next week, but we'll see." He says, he loves Minneapolis and the Twin Cities (of course he spent his whole summer on the West Coast), however this is the only NBA city he knows, "maybe we'll keep it that way and maybe we won't." I'm sure we'll be hearing from a few more players as the begin to shuffle in to the Target Center this week. Anthony Randolph was there on Thursday to lift weights, Derrick Williams is expected on Tuesday as is Rubio, who has to first go to Canada to get a work visa before coming to Minnesota (if you live in Minnesota you know of the snowstorm we got this weekend, Ricky will finally get to see snow for the first time in his life, beyond the little bit that accumulates on the mountains in Europe). That's all for now, thanks for reading and remember to check back daily for all your Timberwolves news, information and updates all year round. GO WOLVES! Information for this post came from this video: http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/kevin_love_media_availability_2011_12_04.html |
Cody AndersonA TWolves fan, bringing you the daily updates. News Archives
August 2017
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