Minnesota Timberwolves 2012-2013

[xianvalencia]

I heard Love pushed the TWolves management to revamp the roster. Good move for a leader. TWolves is making significant trades and signs these past few days. I wish this team all the best. I hope they can compete for playoffs next season.

[KG21]

Timberwolves told Nemanja Bjelica that they would consider signing him next season

------------------------

Another future player for the rebuilding Wolves!

[KG21]

Nicolas Batum officially signed offer sheet with the Wolves
Blazers have three days to match it


The Minnesota Timberwolves have presented their offer sheet for Nic Batum to the Portland Trail Blazers, setting in motion the three-day period the Blazers will have to match the offer. A representative of the Timberwolves hand-delivered the document to Portland General Manager Neil Olshey in Las Vegas, where his Trail Blazers are preparing for their opening summer-league game tonight at 7:30.

The offer sheet is said to be for a four-year deal at $46.4 million, with bonuses that could bring it to $50 million.The Trail Blazers have said all along they will match the offer sheet for Batum and have resisted many attempts from Minnesota to do a sign-and-trade deal.

[KG21]

Report: T-wolves trade Ellington to Grizzlies for Cunningham

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.c...medium=twitter

[dudelebowski]

Batum is a no-go. Blazers decided to match our offer. Oh well, we were gonna pay him a bit too much anyway.

[deronwilliams08]

PG - Rubio/Ridnour
SG - Roy/Shved/Barea
SF - Williams/Budinger/Johnson
PF - Love/Cunningham/Tolliver
C - Pekovic/Steimsma

pretty solid rotation you got here

[jazzper]

Good lineup and can compete against solid teams.

[mykel14]

Subscribing to this thread.

Hope we make the playoffs next season. to a better, healthier year.

[dudelebowski]

We just signed Greg "Steamer" Steimsma as our backup C! (Another white player ). He's a pretty good defender so I'm happy with this signing, especially since...

...he's only getting 3million/year.

[KG21]

The Wolves have lost Michael Beasley, Darko Milicic and a couple other unproductive players, and added almost nothing. Thus, we find out if "addition by subtraction" is as powerful as we think it is.

Jul 23, 2012 - During Team USA's Olympic preparation, Kevin Love has been his candid self, answering questions about how he sees the Minnesota Timberwolves -- who were better than "abjectly awful" for the first time in three years in 2011-12 -- and the team's future. Ball Don't Lie's brilliant Kelly Dwyer pulled one particular recent quote out for inspection last week.

"There was some bad blood in that locker room we were able to get out of there and smooth things out. That should help us out going forward."

KD goes through the list of potential suspects by looking at players that the Timberwolves have said goodbye to this offeseason: Michael Beasley, Darko Milicic, Anthony Randolph and Martell Webster. I'm not seeing any surprised faces out in the audience. Weird. No matter who it was, losing anyone who gives Kevin Love and his best friend Rick Rubio the frownies is a Good Thing.

But you know what strikes me when I look at that list? All four players are at best unproductive, and at worst quite awful compared to NBA competition. And the Wolves lost them all. Forget "addition by subtraction" in the locker room. This could be our best example of "addition by subtraction" on the court.

The concept in a time-limited game like basketball makes intrinsic sense: if you replace a poor player with a completely average or even "not poor" player, you will be better. So provided you have average or "better than awful" players waiting to take the minutes that the poor players relinguish, addition by subtraction is real.

But never is it in such abundance!

Webster's case is pretty simple: the No. 6 pick in 2005, he never really developed. When he hit his high water mark of 12.5 PER in 2010 at age 23, current Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard, in one of his final acts with the Blazers, flipped Webster to Minnesota for a first-round pick. Brilliant move, David Kahn. Webster got no better and is very seriously NBA flotsam at this point. Those 1,000 or so minutes he received last season are better spent on almost anyone else.


Randolph actually isn't bad -- he puts up numbers in very limited minutes. But his minutes have been very limited now for three coaches: Don Nelson (who never met a basketball weirdo he didn't love), Mike D'Antoni (who has never been opposed to a gunner except for Nate Robinson I suppose but N8 is a special case) and Rick Adelman (who worships at the altar of versatility). The only coach who gave Randolph a chance: Kurt Rambis, possibly the most overwhelmed head coach of the past decade. That tells you something.

We have been over Mr. Milicic before. I could probably make this quick and point out that, in 2011, I won a bet with TrueHoop's Henry Abbott, who argued that despite criticisms of a dumb contract, Darko would likely be more productive than a getting-ready-to-retire Shaq, playing for the minimum with the Celtics. Shaq was unquestionably better than Darko, despite playing half the minutes. After discussing the bet with a variety of NBA quantitative analysts, Henry surmised that one minute of Shaq would have been more valuable than 2,000 of Darko.

That's exactly what we're talking about here. And that's where we're at with Beasley.

Unlike Darko and Webster, I don't believe Beasley is worse than replacement-level players. But I'm running out of hope that he's better than a random D-League call-up. He can score, man can he score. And he shoots better than 44 percent from the floor -- he's done that every season in the league. If he played small forward full-time, he'd be an average rebounder. He shot league-average from beyond the arc last season and used that area of his game judiciously.

But he is just an incredible ball-stopper and horrible defender. He's had a minuscule assist rate in three of four seasons, and in both Minnesota campaigns, he had pretty bad turnover rates given his lack of playmaking production. I mean, it's rare to see someone survive a turnover-to-assist ratio of nearly two -- he had 80 giveaways and 45 assists last year. His defense is somehow effortless and frenetically confused, all at the same time. He has strokes of offensive genius. But the droughts look so desperate so as to make the rain looks like an optical illusion.

He's often so bad that I question whether he's ever actually been good.

And he's gone, and Derrick Williams will soak up the sun. Maybe Brandon Roy will see some light, too. Roy's the team's only major addition on the wings after the team lost Nicolas Batum to cursed restricted free agency -- Minnesota made a damn fine offer, but Portland decided to match. To replace Darko, the Wolves recruited Greg Stiemsma, who happens to be the player hopeless romantics thought Darko was over the past couple years. But really, exiling Darko will mean that Nikola Pekovic is the opening day starter. No more charades for Adelman.

Given that, barring a true Roy comeback, Minnesota has added virtually no one to a team that was league average before Rick Rubio's injury and bad bad bad afterward. This is a true test of addition by subtraction, particularly with respects to Beasley, who played such a major role in the past two seasons of the Timberwolves. While Beaz tries to get back on track in Phoenix, a better indication of how much or little value he brings to an NBA team will be exhibiting in Minnesota. This is science. Thank you, Mr. Kahn!


http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/7/2...o-milicic-hook

[dudelebowski]

Kung si Bruce Wayne nakayanan pa maging Batman kahit walang cartilage sa tuhod, kaya din na Brandon

[neth_row]

I'm afraid for Brandon Roy. Dude played older than Kobe Bryant in that video.

Honestly I would love for him to succeed, but he's risking his knees. Not sure it was a wise decision for him to come back to NBA basketball. An 82-game, 6-month with practices in-between schedule is no joke for someone with no cartilage in his knees.

[KG21]

Wolves planning to offer AK47 $9m per year(two years), with this they will trade Wes Johnson to clear cap space!

[dudelebowski]

^

I don't even care if we get AK or not, I just want Wes gone. Word is that it's a 3-team trade with NOH and PHX and we'll get Dudley/Landry in return. Landry would be terrific to back up Love because Adelman knows how to use him right. Tolliver would also be out of rotation

[KG21]

Minnesota is part of a three-team deal deep in discussion that sends Robin Lopez and Hakim Warrick to New Orleans, Phoenix would get Wesley Johnson and a 1st round pick, and the Timberwolves would get the contract of Brad Miller (who is about to retire) and some filler.

[dudelebowski]

An 82-game, 6-month with practices in-between schedule is no joke for someone with no cartilage in his knees.

Neither is saving Gotham City from Bane.

[KG21]

So you were mystified by Neil Olshey’s assertions about the Minnesota Timberwolves and agent Bouna Ndaiye regarding the supposedly contrived comments by Nicolas Batum?

Rick Adelman was, too.

A refresher: Before signing a four-year, $45 million contract with the Trail Blazers, Batum had said this about his situation:

“I’m a restricted free agent. I know the situation. Anywhere I sign, the Blazers are going to match. But my first choice ... is Minnesota. That’s where I want to play and that’s where I want to put my family. ... This is a basketball decision and basketball-wise, I want to be there.”

While announcing that the Blazers were matching Minnesota’s offer sheet last week, Olshey begged to differ.

“Let’s be very clear,” Portland’s general manager said. Batum “made a couple of comments at the behest of the Minnesota Timberwolves and his agent. That was their agenda. It was never Nicolas’ agenda.”

Soon after Olshey came on board, Ndaiye requested all negotiations with the Blazers go through him and not Batum. But Olshey said that after a July 5 lunch date with Batum, “Nicolas and I have been in constant communication. He has always expressed his desire to come back to Portland.”

Said Olshey: “I can tell you Nicolas called me after those articles (appeared) and said, ‘They put me up to it. It’s not me. I want to talk to you directly, Neil. I don’t want my agent to know or another team to know. I just want you and I to be on the same page.’

“He always wanted to be back in Portland.”

Adelman, who read Olshey’s account, expressed bewilderment in an interview at Las Vegas Summer League last week. He guesses it was the result of resentment by Olshey that the Timberwolves had forced Portland’s hands with a very generous offer — and perhaps also that the Wolves have signed ex-Blazer guard Brandon Roy.

“I’m amazed at all the stuff that went out,” Adelman said. “Didn’t Portland try to get (Indiana’s) Roy Hibbert? So we’re not supposed to go after someone we want? I didn’t understand that whole thing. And I don’t think Brandon Roy is property of them anymore. They let him go.

“All that stuff surprised me. We were just trying to get a player who fit in our system. Unfortunately, it went on and on and on, and I have no control over that.”

Batum spent three days in Minneapolis, including some time with Adelman.

“I loved Nicolas when he came into Minnesota,” he said. “We had a good relationship. We had dinner and talked for a while. He’d have been a great fit.”

Adelman and the Timberwolves could have used Batum, but good health withstanding, they’ll be in position to make a strong run at the playoffs in 2012-13. And Adelman, 971-656 during his tenure as an NBA head coach, will almost surely become the eighth coach in league history to win 1,000 games.

Minnesota was right there at midseason in 2011-12 before injuries took their toll. The Timberwolves were 21-19, but a game later, rookie point guard Ricky Rubio was lost for the season with a knee injury.

That began a progression of injuries that saw the Wolves without their top five scorers at one point. They went into free-fall, losing 13 of their last 14 games to finish 26-40.

“Losing Rubio really hurt us,” Adelman says. “It changed who we were. It was one thing after another, and we didn’t have a lot of guys step up.

“We found out a lot about our team, even though it wasn’t very pleasant going through that.”

The returning nucleus is strong, led by franchise power forward Kevin Love, Rubio, emerging center Nikola Pekovic, J.J. Barea, Luke Ridnour, Wesley Johnson and Derrick Williams.

The 6-11, 290-pound Pekovic was on a tear before suffering an ankle injury in March that effectively took him out of the rest of the season.

“He had a breakout month that was every bit as good as (Jeremy) Lin’s at the same time,” Adelman says. “He’s strong, good around the basket, and he has figured out how to play without getting fouls. He has a chance to be one of the best centers in the league.”

Minnesota has bolstered the shooting guard position with a trade for Chase Budinger — who played for Adelman at Houston — and the free-agent signing of Roy, attempting a comeback after sitting out last season with his damaged knees. If platelet-rich plasma therapy can resurrect Roy’s career, he’ll be a major bonus for the Wolves.

“We hope so,” Adelman says, “but you just have to wonder how healthy Brandon is. If he’s healthy, he’ll help us a lot — especially at the end of games. He’s a terrific young man. He’ll help us in the locker room.

“And Chase is solid. He’ll give us more athleticism and shooting, and he’ll run the floor.”

Adelman isn’t committing to bringing Roy off the bench to ease pressure on his knees.

“We haven’t made that decision,” he says. “We’ll see what our team is made of and we’ll go from there.”

Rubio, who underwent surgery for a torn ACL, may not start the season on the active list.

“They say he’s ahead of schedule, but you know how that is,” Adelman says. “We’re not going to rush him. We hope he can play some in the preseason, but it’s more realistic (that he will return in) November or December. We have J.J. and Luke at the point. We can get by with those two guys pretty easily, and we’ll see how it goes.”

The Timberwolves have also signed a promising 6-5 shooting guard in Russian Alexey Shvred.

“He can handle the ball, and he gets to the basket,” Adelman says. “His biggest problem will be defending in our system.”

Adelman isn’t counting on a major move up the standings next season.

“Seems like everybody in the West has improved,” he says. “But if we’re healthy, we can compete for a playoff spot and have a good season. We have to stay healthy. We can’t go through what we went through last year.”

There’s no question Adelman, who turns 66 in August, has revived a moribund franchise.

“I didn’t enjoy the last five weeks when we couldn’t win a game, but I really enjoyed it before that,” he says. “The city got behind us. The fans were excited. And we have some good pieces. Hopefully what we have done is add to those pieces.”

Seems as if they have, with or without Nicolas Batum.

http://portlandtribune.com/pt-rss/12...-without-batum

[darknight10]

PG - Rubio/Ridnour
SG - Roy/Shved/Barea
SF - Williams/Budinger/Johnson
PF - Love/Cunningham/Tolliver
C - Pekovic/Steimsma

pretty solid rotation you got here

PG - Rubio/Barea/Ridnour
SG - Roy/Shved
SF - Budinger/Kirilenko
PF - Love/Williams
C - Pekovic/Steimsma

That's a very solid team with a very solid bench. Kulang lang siguro sa backup SG. Roy is a gamble. Don't forget about the 2 underrated center. They might be the difference.

[dubistasen]

Parang Euro-league team lang ah.

[dudelebowski]

Yeah nagiging inside jokes na within RealGM TWolves fans ang pagiging dominant White team ng Wolves. haha. Kirilenko is a great addition, especially since we don't have a perimiter defender yet. Once Ricky comes back we'd have a good defensive team. DW7 has also shown a lot of promise with post D.