<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/timberwolves-news-donte-divincenzo-fire-back-outside-noise-trade-rumors');   ga('set', 'title', 'Donte DiVincenzo fires back at ‘outside’ noise amid trade rumors');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Donte-DiVincenzo-fires-back-at-outside-noise-amid-trade-rumors.jpg"></figure><h1>Donte DiVincenzo fires back at ‘outside’ noise amid trade rumors</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-04T14:43:57-08:00">December 4th, 2:43pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-04T14:43:57-08:00">December 4th, 2:43pm</time><address><a>Nathan Yasis</a>Nathan Yasis is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints, specializing in the NBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Minnesota Timberwolves</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Whatever one’s thoughts may be about the Minnesota Timberwolves and their high-stakes, franchise-shifting trade just before training camp, there’s no denying the profound impact it had on their team’s direction. The Timberwolves are now gradually rediscovering their rhythm. Adjusting to the dynamics brought by <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-timberwolves-reason-for-acquiring-julius-randle-donte-divincenzo-in-blockbuster-trade">Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo</a> hasn’t been without challenges, but progress is becoming evident.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Timberwolves have found themselves at the center of widespread scrutiny. From fans to analysts, Minnesota has become a regular topic in NBA debates and a popular target for strong opinions.</p><h2><b>Donte DiVincenzo blocking off the noise outside the Timberwolves</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Timberwolves-Donte-Divincenzo-against-the-Lakers.jpg"><figcaption>Brad Rempel-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>“There’s a lot of outside noise,” remarked Donte DiVincenzo, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5964997/2024/12/04/donte-divincenzo-breakout-timberwolves-optimism/" rel="noopener">recently addressing the ongoing discourse</a> via Jon Krawczynski of the New York Times, sharing his perspective on the current narratives surrounding his team. “A lot of people want to dissect everything that’s going on over here. Like I said, we win games, everybody shuts up … We lose, everybody keeps talking.”</p><p>The Wolves have secured two consecutive wins, and it’s no surprise that DiVincenzo has played a key role in both victories.</p><p>“Let you guys decide how we fit in with the numbers. That’s not for us to talk about. What’s for us to talk about is staying together. Keeping everything in our circle and win games,” he continued.</p><p>DiVincenzo contributed 11 points (4-of-8 shooting, 3-of-6 from beyond the arc), five rebounds, nine assists, and two steals in 28 minutes during Monday’s 109-80 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.</p><p>The Timberwolves guard fell just one assist short of a double-double in what was one of his standout performances of the season. This strong showing could give his confidence a much-needed lift, especially after a challenging campaign. Through 20 regular-season games, he’s shooting 36.0 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three-point range.</p><p>DiVincenzo is approaching the situation with the right mindset, even if fans might not agree. After playing in major markets like New York and Golden State, he recognizes that winning solves most problems.</p><h2><b>The new look Timberwolves finally getting things together?</b></h2><p>Winning will quiet the intense scrutiny over every move this roster makes. The team is already showing progress, securing back-to-back wins after <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-anthony-edwards-goes-off-collapse-kings">Anthony Edwards called them out for their struggles</a>.</p><p>The 27-year-old is spot-on about keeping things in-house. Building trust among teammates is essential, and the team has started to show signs of that growth as the season progresses.</p><p>The players don’t need to concern themselves with opinions from people who will never set foot in their locker room or even in Target Center.</p><p>Minnesota had established a solid foundation after reaching the Western Conference Finals, but everything shifted when the front office opted for a full reset. While the decision raised some eyebrows, it wasn’t entirely without merit.</p><p>The logic behind the trade may have been debatable, but it carried a certain level of rationale. Minnesota faced a tough predicament under the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement, which rendered Karl-Anthony Towns’ June 2022 contract unsustainable.</p><p>The revised CBA rules significantly complicated roster construction, leaving the Timberwolves with no choice but to dismantle a championship-level team in the Twin Cities.</p><p>As the Timberwolves work through their new look, their primary focus is on building chemistry and cohesion. While integrating new players into a restructured roster remains a challenge, the back-to-back wins and the growing sense of unity show that Minnesota is heading in the right direction.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Donte DiVincenzo fires back at ‘outside’ noise amid trade rumors

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-donte-divincenzo-trade-shut-down');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Donte DiVincenzo trade ‘chatter’ shut down');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/0Donte-DiVincenzo-trade-chatter-shut-down0.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Donte DiVincenzo trade ‘chatter’ shut down</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-24T13:06:25-08:00">November 24th, 1:06pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-25T14:50:16-08:00">November 25th, 2:50pm</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University senior from Atlanta on track to graduate with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Minnesota Timberwolves</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-anthony-edwards-rudy-gobert-julius-randle-mishap">Minnesota Timberwolves have had a rough start</a> to the 2024-25 NBA season, currently sitting at 8-7 heading into Sunday afternoon’s road <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-vs-celtics-prediction-odds-pick-11-24-2024">matchup with the Boston Celtics</a>. Newly acquired pieces Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo have put up some stats but still don’t seem quite comfortable in their new threads after being traded from the New York Knicks to Minnesota this past offseason.</p><p>Recently, there were some rumblings that DiVincenzo could be a candidate to be on the move once again if things don’t turn around quickly, but now, NBA insider Marc Stein is hitting those rumors with <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/sunday-best-all-my-latest-from-the-c5f?utm_source=post-email-title&amp;publication_id=392205&amp;post_id=152086116&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=false&amp;r=39f60&amp;triedRedirect=true&amp;utm_medium=email" rel="noopener">a reality check</a>, per his account on Substack.</p><p>“I saw all kinds of Twitter chatter Friday about the supposed status of Minnesota’s Donte DiVincenzo as a trade target for contending teams,” reported Stein. “That runs counter to everything I’ve heard about the Wolves, who wanted DiVincenzo for more than a year before they actually acquired him and are said to have zero interest in fielding inquiries for him not yet three full months into his Wolves tenure.”</p><p>DiVincenzo was brought in along with Randle in a trade centered around Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, who has gotten off to an excellent start to his tenure with his new team.</p><h2><b>Can the Timberwolves turn things around?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/DiVincenzo-vs-the-Suns.jpg"><figcaption>Nick Wosika-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Of course, there is plenty of time for the Timberwolves’ new weapons to get acclimated to their new team and start to turn things around. However, the early returns haven’t been particularly encouraging, as the team currently sits just a game over .500 following a frustrating recent loss to the Toronto Raptors on the road.</p><p>In that game, there appeared to be some potential chemistry issues out on the court, as center Rudy Gobert sealed his defender on a late possession but didn’t receive a pass from Randle, then got called for a three second violation, prompting a brief scolding from star player Anthony Edwards. It was the Timberwolves 20th (!) straight loss on the road vs the Raptors, dating back to the 2004 season.</p><p>DiVincenzo has had a bit of a cold start to the season beyond the three point line, where he was one of the league’s best last year, but there is still plenty of time for those percentages to go up, particularly as he gets more comfortable with the offense that head coach Chris Finch is trying to run.</p><p>In any case, after the game vs the Celtics, the Timberwolves will next take the field on Tuesday at home vs the Houston Rockets.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Donte DiVincenzo trade ‘chatter’ shut down

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-timberwolves-seeking-trade-help-keep-tim-connelly-favorite');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Timberwolves seeking trade to help keep Tim Connelly ‘favorite’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/0Timberwolves-seeking-trade-to-help-keep-Tim-Connelly-favorite0.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Timberwolves seeking trade to help keep Tim Connelly ‘favorite’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-20T13:36:48-07:00">October 20th, 1:36pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-20T13:36:48-07:00">October 20th, 1:36pm</time><address><a href="https://medium.com/bingeable">Sonny Giuliano</a>Sonny Giuliano is an experienced sports writer for ClutchPoints who has been covering the NFL, NCAA Football, NBA, and NCAA Basketball for well over a decade. Originally from the small town of Elba, New York, Sonny received his degree from Florida Gulf Coast University and currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The start of the 2024-25 NBA season is just about 48 hours away, and the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/major-offseason-timberwolves-win-2025-nba-finals" rel="noopener">Minnesota Timberwolves enter the year with championship expectations</a> after making the Western Conference Finals for just the second-time in franchise history last season. The Wolves have already made their one big move, trading franchise cornerstone <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-how-long-knicks-were-working-massive-karl-anthony-towns-trade" rel="noopener">Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo</a>.</p><p>But the Timberwolves are still working around the margins to get their final opening night roster in place, and that includes working on potentially finding a new home for Keita Bates-Diop.</p><p>According to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski, Keita Bates-Diop <a href="https://x.com/JonKrawczynski/status/1847711568244695210" rel="noopener">wasn’t at Timberwolves practice</a> on Sunday afternoon. “Appears he’s the odd man out in the final roster moves before the season begins,” Krawczynski speculated on X, formerly Twitter.</p><p>Keita Bates-Diop was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2nd Round of the 2018 NBA Draft, traded to Denver just over a year later, and has since bounced around the league, playing for the Nuggets, Spurs, Suns and Nets. Last season, splitting time between Phoenix and Brooklyn, the Ohio State product averaged 3.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.</p><p>On Threads on Saturday, longtime NBA writer Jake Fischer noted that Keita Bates-Diop <a href="https://www.threads.net/@thepeoplesinsidershow/post/DBS6DC1RtxJ?xmt=AQGzTW3WOkYHOXxxxyZ7pqDN2LVDaWWkCXxm5VlgMLpScw" rel="noopener">was being shopped by the Timberwolves</a> for one specific reason.</p><p>“The Timberwolves have looked to find a trade for veteran Keita Bates-Diop, sources said, to allow Minnesota to keep a personal favorite of president Tim Connelly on the roster: PJ Dozier.”</p><p>Dozier spent two and a half seasons in Denver while Tim Connelly was still with the Nuggets, initially signing in the Mile High City on a two-way contract before it was eventually converted to a multi-year NBA contract. Dozier signed a one-year, partially guaranteed $2.6 million deal with Minnesota in July.</p><p>In three seasons under Connelly’s watch in Denver, PJ Dozier averaged 6.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Last year, Dozier for Partizan Belgrade in Serbia. Assuming the Timberwolves find a way to make space for Dozier, he’ll likely just be a depth piece deep on Minnesota’s bench.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Timberwolves seeking trade to help keep Tim Connelly ‘favorite’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-timberwolves-facing-100-million-loss');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Timberwolves facing $100 million loss this year');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/NBA-rumors-Timberwolves-facing-100-million-loss-this-year.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Timberwolves facing $100 million loss this year</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-01T10:02:44-07:00">October 1st, 10:02am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-01T10:02:44-07:00">October 1st, 10:02am</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University while covering events like the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four, the 2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and the Arizona State men's swim and dive team. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Minnesota Timberwolves have been the talk of the NBA for the wrong reasons. After <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-finalizing-shocking-karl-anthony-towns-trade-with-knicks">they shockingly traded away Karl Anthony-Towns</a>, reports have circulated about the Timberwolves <a href="https://hoopshype.com/rumor/timberwolves-facing-100-million-dollar-financial-loss-season-this-year/" rel="noopener">facing a $100 million loss</a>. On ESPN, NBA Insider Brian Windhorst dropped a truth bomb for the NBA world to see.<br><br>“ESPN understands that the Wolves are facing a 100-million dollar financial loss season this year, in the bottom line that they were going to be in the red nine figures,” Windhorst said. “Now like I said, a team accountant could come on here and hold up a bunch of spreadsheets and say that’s not true. I’m not like slamming my name on that and saying it’s assured but from what I understand, they’re facing a hundred million loss season. This is a team that has operated relatively frugally for decades.”<br><br>Windhorst makes a solid point about Minnesota being frugal. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-alex-rodriguez-marc-lores-majority-ownership-bid-expires">Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor made the team no longer for sale</a> after Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore’s attempt at buying the team. Despite the ongoing battle between Taylor and the potential new ownership group, it’s much more than two billionaires going at each other.</p><h2><b>Why do the Timberwolves have a $100 million loss?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Timberwolves-face-100-million-loss.jpg"><figcaption>© Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Minnesota has one of the most expensive rosters in the entire NBA. They have the <a href="https://hoopshype.com/salaries/" rel="noopener">second-highest team salary across the league</a>, only trailing the Phoenix Suns. The $218 million roster doesn’t factor in Anthony-Towns, who was traded on Friday. In return, the Timberwolves acquired Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. Regardless, part of the trade could be due to Minnesota not having enough money to pay Anthony-Towns.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/players/abec099d/karl-anthony-towns/contract">Anthony-Towns has four years and roughly $200 million</a> left on his contract. Nearly $60 million of that is a player option that he’ll likely accept. His former running mate, center Rudy Gobert has nearly $100 million left on his two-year contract. $46 million of it is a player option for the 2025-26 season that he’ll likely take.</p><p>However, the Timberwolves haven’t committed to Gobert or Mike Conley Jr. who is on a two-year, $21 million contract. Not to mention, franchise guard Anthony Edwards is under contract until the 2028-29 season. Mismanagement was why Timberwolves legend Kevin Garnett requested a trade in the 2007 offseason.</p><p>The instability is proving to be worrisome for a franchise that had its first taste of legitimate success in nearly two decades. When the public finds out specifically why they are down $100 million, fans could call for a new ownership group leading Minnesota.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Timberwolves facing $100 million loss this year

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-1-behind-the-scenes-reason-knicks-karl-anthony-towns-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: 1 behind-the-scenes reason for Knicks making Karl-Anthony Towns trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NBA-rumors-1-behind-the-scenes-reason-for-Knicks-making-Karl-Anthony-Towns-trade.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: 1 behind-the-scenes reason for Knicks making Karl-Anthony Towns trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-30T16:14:07-07:00">September 30th, 4:14pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-30T16:14:07-07:00">September 30th, 4:14pm</time><address><a>Matt De Lima</a>Matt De Lima is an Associate Editor for NFL and college football at ClutchPoints. He has been covering sports for over 12 years at sites like Sports Illustrated, The Game Day, and countless others. Born and raised in California, he is a graduate of Virginia Tech and a diehard Hokies fan who now resides in southern Maryland.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-finalizing-shocking-karl-anthony-towns-trade-with-knicks">New York Knicks trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves to acquire Karl-Anthony Towns</a> had <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/this-week-in-can-only-marvel-at-the" rel="noopener">one major proponent behind the scenes</a>, as highlighted by NBA insider Marc Stein.</p><p>Gersson Rosas, the Knicks senior VP of basketball operations, was formerly with the Timberwolves from 2019 to 2021 as their president of basketball operations.</p><p>Stein noted that Rosas is to “have been pushing for a Towns trade even before this summer’s free agent departure of Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson’s subsequent slow recovery from an ankle injury heightened the Knicks’ need for immediate help at center.”</p><p>The Knicks traded Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick from Detroit in exchange for KAT. New York’s projected starting-five are Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Towns.</p><h2>Projecting into the Knicks’ future with this roster</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Knicks-Jalen-Brunson-speaking-at-NBAs-media-day.jpg"><figcaption>© Brad Penner-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>ESPN’s Bobby Marks, while on The Hoop Collective, explained how he’s <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-nba-insider-foresees-one-major-concern-after-knicks-karl-anthony-towns-trade">worried about the team’s depth</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1004&amp;v=2ls0Grlba3o&amp;feature=youtu.be">limited cap</a> to add any other pieces.</p><p>“You look at their depth, and it’s Deuce McBride. You’ve got Tyler Kolek, Cameron Payne. You know, we’ll see what happens in front of the Court. Robinson’s out. You still have Achiuwa. It’s a mixed bag, and you’re so restrictive,” Marks said. “You know, when this trade gets finalized, you know they’re going to be a couple hundred thousand, maybe even $100,000 below the second apron.”</p><p>In trading for Bridges, the Knicks sent Bojan Bogdanovic, Shake Milton, Mamadi Diakite, and five first-round draft picks to the Nets. New York gains a three-point shooter in Towns but also loses a great spot shooter in DiVincenzo.</p><p>It remains unclear when Mitchell Robinson will return or if the Knicks are <a href="https://x.com/krispursiainen/status/1840189610275594710?s=61&amp;t=ESTTaN6TmqKssUw0qXSmYw" rel="noopener">possibly shopping him</a>, according to Knicks Film School’s Kris Pursiainen.</p><p>After the KAT trade, Robinson took to Instagram to share several posts about his loyalty to the Knicks and his impact on defense.</p><p>ClutchPoints’ Drew Maresca may have <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-mitchell-robinson-posts-cryptic-messages-karl-anthony-towns-trade">said it best about a possible Robinson trade</a>.</p><p>“The “receiving and taking calls” news is a surprising development for two reasons: Robinson’s trade value is lower than the Knicks would like given his string of ankle injuries between December 2023 and May 2024; and more importantly, who would replace Robinson in the team’s rotation? Sure, Towns is a seven-footer, but he’s far from an ideal defensive center. Conversely, Robinson is a defensive menace, even slowing down former MVP Joel Embiid in last year’s playoffs. So, the idea of parting ways with Robinson seems tenuous at best.”</p><p>The Knicks’ regular season begins on the road against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, October 22 at 7:30 p.m. EST.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: 1 behind-the-scenes reason for Knicks making Karl-Anthony Towns trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/timberwolves-traded-karl-anthony-towns-stayed');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: 2 Timberwolves who would’ve been traded if Karl-Anthony Towns stayed');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2-Timberwolves-who-wouldve-been-traded-if-Karl-Anthony-Towns-stayed.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: 2 Timberwolves who would’ve been traded if Karl-Anthony Towns stayed</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-29T09:48:19-07:00">September 29th, 9:48am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-29T09:48:19-07:00">September 29th, 9:48am</time><address><a href="https://www.downeuclid.com">Evan Dammarell</a>Evan Dammarell is an award-winning sports journalist covering all things Cleveland, including the Cavs, right off the shores of Lake Erie. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The dust is still settling after the Minnesota Timberwolves chose to trade Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks. As it settles, it has left two different outcomes for either fanbase. New York fans are still celebrating since the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-karl-anthony-towns-stunned-timberwolves-knicks-trade">Knicks have obtained a bonafide star</a>. However, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/anthony-edwards-wont-love-the-karl-anthony-towns-trade-per-social-media">it’s shocked Minnesota fans</a>, considering Towns spent nearly a decade with the Timberwolves. Sadly for Minnesota fans, while the memories with Towns are priceless, keeping him on the roster was costing ownership. It <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryantoporek/2024/09/28/money-fueled-the-timberwolves-decision-to-trade-karl-anthony-towns/" rel="noopener">got even more expensive</a> when factoring in Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert. So, unfortunately, someone from Minnesota’s big three had to go.</p><p>Mind you, this wasn’t a case of ownership being cheap. Instead, much blame should go toward the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Edwards is beginning a five-year max contract this season, Gobert has two years remaining on his max, and Towns was starting a four-year, $220 million max extension this season. Add the raises for Jaden McDaniels this season and Naz Reid last season, and the Timberwolves had entered the dreaded second apron that brings with it luxury tax penalties and obstacles for team-building meant to strongly discourage teams from crossing that threshold for more than a couple of seasons.</p><p>However, hypothetically speaking, Minnesota could’ve not traded Towns to New York. But if they chose to keep their Big Three together, the Timberwolves would’ve had to say goodbye to some other essential pieces instead.</p><h2><b>Who would the Timberwolves have to have given up to keep Karl-Anthony Towns?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Naz-Reid-and-Karl-Anthony-Towns-Chat-Timberwolves-Timeout.jpg"><figcaption>Jerome Miron-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Keeping Towns would’ve meant Minnesota <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5800924/2024/09/28/why-timberwolves-trade-karl-anthony-towns/" rel="noopener">saying goodbye to</a> Reid instead. Reid, a crucial player off the bench, won NBA Sixth Man of the Year last season and is wildly popular in Minnesota. The backup big man is only making $15 million this upcoming season and is bound to get a mammoth long-term extension with the Timberwolves. So, while Reid is making less right now than Towns, Minnesota had future financials in mind with this trade.</p><p>According to the same report, the Timberwolves would’ve had to let go of Nickeil Alexander-Walker. While Alexander-Walker is only making $4.3 million this season, he’s blossomed into a bonafide three-and-d roleplayer for Minnesota. Like Reid, Alexander-Walker is set for a significant extension as well. The Timberwolves had to be frugal elsewhere because of how tight things are financially for Minnesota.</p><p>The question ultimately boiled down to whether or not the Timberwolves wanted to remain top-heavy or be flush with depth. As well-run organizations should do, Minnesota wants to build a sustainable contender rather than one with a limited financial shelf life. It’s still a tough pill for Minnesota fans to swallow. Towns has been a major part of the organization and the community. But as they say, the NBA is a business. The Timberwolves are in the business of winning.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: 2 Timberwolves who would’ve been traded if Karl-Anthony Towns stayed

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-knicks-real-reason-for-karl-anthony-towns-blockbuster-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Knicks’ real reason for Karl-Anthony Towns blockbuster trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Knicks-real-reason-for-Karl-Anthony-Towns-blockbuster-trade.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Knicks’ real reason for Karl-Anthony Towns blockbuster trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-27T22:49:51-07:00">September 27th, 10:49pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-27T22:52:26-07:00">September 27th, 10:52pm</time><address><a>Troy Finnegan</a>Troy Finnegan is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023 with a degree in journalism and minors in communications and sports media, as well as a critical sports studies certificate. He has had a passion for sports his entire life, and enjoys covering and writing about all sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-finalizing-shocking-karl-anthony-towns-trade-with-knicks">New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves caused a major shakeup</a> in the NBA on Friday when Minnesota flipped Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick.</p><p>Shortly after the deal was done, reports began to leak out around the motivations for each team doing the deal. The Knicks were after Towns in the trade in order to <a href="https://x.com/IanBegley/status/1839863976332513770" rel="noopener">address the center position</a> and add some star power at a position of need, according to Ian Begley of SNY.</p><p>“Knicks, per league sources in touch with team, feel they had a great opportunity to address their biggest need at C in trading for a 4 time All Star &amp; 2-time All NBA player in Karl Anthony Towns,” Begley reported on X, formerly Twitter. “They see Towns, 28, as a great fit with their other high-end talent and someone who complements the rest of the core well, those league sources say.”</p><p>Towns’ combination of size and shooting will certainly <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grading-karl-anthony-towns-julius-randle-knicks-timberwolves-trade">bolster a Knicks offense</a> that lacked some punch from beyond the arc last season. The Knicks will be sad to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-timberwolves-trade-ends-villanova-knicks-run">break up their core “Villanova Knicks”</a>, but this is a move they had to make to take another leap forward in the Eastern Conference.</p><h2><b>How will Julius Randle fit in with the Timberwolves?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Julius-Randle_cfa4ad.jpg"><figcaption>Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Timberwolves clearly wanted to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-karl-anthony-towns-instant-reaction-shocking-knicks-trade">shake things up with the Karl-Anthony Towns trade</a>, and they did a good job to add shooting and depth with the addition of Donte DiVincenzo.</p><p>The Julius Randle addition is a curious one, only because of the fit with the rest of the team. It’s hard to envision Randle playing next to Rudy Gobert without killing the spacing for Minnesota’s offense. Where will the driving lanes be for Anthony Edwards if Gobert and Randle are both clogging the paint, or if defenders are willing to sag off of Randle? Randle’s iso-heavy style may not blend with Edwards either.</p><p>You could play Randle with Naz Reid, but both of them are undersized for a center and the unit would suffer defensively unless the perimeter defenders were absolutely hounding ball handlers.</p><p>Randle’s contract is also an important factor here, and one that may drive him to perform well. Randle will play out this season and then has a player option on his deal for 2025-26 that is worth about $31 million. However, if he plays some of his best basketball this year, he can opt out and try to get more money either from the Timberwolves or someone else.</p><p>Randle has shown the ability to be an All-NBA player in the past. If he can bring that level of play to Minnesota, he can earn himself a new deal and help the Timberwolves compete for a championship.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Knicks’ real reason for Karl-Anthony Towns blockbuster trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-timberwolves-reason-for-acquiring-julius-randle-donte-divincenzo-in-blockbuster-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ reason for acquiring Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo in blockbuster trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NBA-news-Karl-Anthony-Towns-Julius-Randle-trade-between-Timberwolves-Knicks-sends-shockwaves.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ reason for acquiring Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo in blockbuster trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-27T22:30:25-07:00">September 27th, 10:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-27T22:30:25-07:00">September 27th, 10:30pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>After nine seasons with the team, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-finalizing-shocking-karl-anthony-towns-trade-with-knicks">Minnesota Timberwolves finally decided to trade away</a> Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and a heavily-protected first-round pick from the Detroit Pistons. This move is bittersweet in many ways; Towns was the face of the franchise for nearly a decade, and the team has been through plenty of ups and downs with him at the center of it all. And just like that, his stint with the franchise is over.</p><p>There is no question that Randle and DiVincenzo, in a vacuum, are downgrades from Towns in terms of individual player caliber. Towns is one of the greatest big-man shooters the league has ever seen, and the Timberwolves have managed to make a partnership between him and Rudy Gobert work — nearly resulting in a trip to the NBA Finals in the process.</p><p>But it’s clear why the Timberwolves felt as though they needed to make this trade; per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, Minnesota saw the Towns trade as an <a href="https://x.com/JonKrawczynski/status/1839863534932394224" rel="noopener">opportunity to add depth</a> and lengthen their “window of competitiveness” in the process. They are confident that they can “lean on” Anthony Edwards, Naz Reid, and Jaden McDaniels to lead the team moving forward, while adding two quality pieces in Randle and DiVincenzo.</p><p>In particular, DiVincenzo <a href="https://x.com/TimBontemps/status/1839863918967304677" rel="noopener">has long been a target</a> for the Timberwolves, as per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. They reportedly had interest in signing DiVincenzo last year in free agency, but were eventually priced out. Now, they view his three-point shooting as an indispensable addition to the roster especially after losing one of the best shooters in the league in Towns.</p><p>However, the Timberwolves fanbase is rife with cynicism. They believe that this trade is nothing more than a cost-cutting maneuver, and perhaps there is strong merit to this belief.</p><h2><b>Did the Timberwolves trade Karl-Anthony Towns just to save a few bucks?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Karl-Anthony-Towns_29a8ac.jpg"></figure><p>There should be no question that this is a financially-motivated move for the Timberwolves. Karl-Anthony Towns’ four-year, $224 million extension is set to kick in this upcoming season, and it would have been difficult for Minnesota to hang on to its core moving forward due to the punitive restrictions imposed upon teams over the second luxury tax apron under the new CBA.</p><p>Fans are enraged, and perhaps rightfully so. But this is merely a consequence of the new rules in place that would have necessitated a trade down the line anyway. (Rudy Gobert will be due for a new contract soon, and given how much the team gave up for him, it’s likely that they keep him for the long haul.) This is just the Timberwolves’ way of ripping the band-aid off.</p><p>But given this <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grading-karl-anthony-towns-julius-randle-knicks-timberwolves-trade">impending financial crunch</a>, the Timberwolves did as well as they could. Randle and DiVincenzo are making less money combined than Towns does; the latter’s contract might be the biggest bargain in the association (he’ll be making an average of $11.9 million for the next three years — a pittance for one of the best three-point shooters in today’s NBA).</p><p>Randle does not come close to being the floor-spacer Towns is, that’s for sure. But he can create shots for himself and make plays for others as well. As a stop-gap option, Randle isn’t too bad, as long as he recovers fully from the shoulder injury that ended his 2023-24 season prematurely.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ reason for acquiring Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo in blockbuster trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-anthony-edwards-timberwolves-could-get-opening-night-christmas-games');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Anthony Edwards’ Timberwolves could get Opening Night, Christmas games');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/NBA-rumors-Anthony-Edwards-Timberwolves-could-get-Opening-Night-Christmas-games.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Anthony Edwards’ Timberwolves could get Opening Night, Christmas games</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-21T22:58:56-07:00">July 21st, 10:58pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-21T22:58:56-07:00">July 21st, 10:58pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Everyone can learn a lot from how the NBA and its media partners view certain players and teams based on how the scheduling shakes up. The marquee matchups between the most marketable teams and players are usually reserved for special occasions, such as Opening Night and Christmas Day, and the Minnesota Timberwolves, after an <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/major-offseason-timberwolves-win-2025-nba-finals">incredible 2023-24 campaign</a>, appears to be drawing the respect of the schedule-makers.</p><p>With a marketable and entertaining player in Anthony Edwards leading the way for the Timberwolves, there are “rumblings” around the league that “the Timberwolves are <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/the-latest-nba-free-agency-extensions?utm_source=post-email-title&amp;publication_id=392205&amp;post_id=146852628&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=false&amp;r=39f60&amp;triedRedirect=true&amp;utm_medium=email" rel="noopener">under strong consideration</a> to play both on Opening Night — in the Western Conference game that follows Boston’s TBA ring-night season opener on TNT on Oct. 22 — as well as on Christmas Day”, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.</p><p>It’s not too big of a surprise to see Edwards transform the Timberwolves franchise to this degree. Stein pointed out that the last time the Timberwolves were included in a Christmas Day slate was back in 2017, when Minnesota assembled one of its best teams in franchise history led by Jimmy Butler.</p><p>In fact, the Timberwolves have only played on Christmas Day just twice in their 35-year history to this point. The only other time came in 2016, when the Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins-led team suffered a 112-100 defeat to Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder.</p><p>The Timberwolves have certainly struck gold with Anthony Edwards, and with him being under contract for five more seasons, Minnesota should have plenty of national TV attention for the next half-decade or so.</p><h2><b>Dissecting the Timberwolves’ best potential Opening Night/Christmas Day matchups</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Anthony-Edwards-is-hyped-up-in-Game-4-of-Western-Conference-Finals.jpg"></figure><p>The matchups on opening night are typically reserved for the big-market teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Golden State Warriors, just to name a few. With the other Opening Night game on TNT being an Eastern Conference matchup involving the reigning champion Celtics, it makes sense that either the Lakers or Warriors will be the Timberwolves’ matchup to tip off the season. After all, over the past five seasons, one of the Lakers and Warriors have always played on the first night of the regular season.</p><p>There is always a possibility that the schedule-makers pit the Celtics against the Lakers amid <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-what-magic-johnson-hates-celtics-championship">Boston’s raising of banner 18</a> to rekindle the NBA’s oldest rivalry. Thus, the Warriors may be the Timberwolves’ most likely matchup, provided that Minnesota actually gets chosen for the opening night doubleheader.</p><p>On Christmas Day, however, there should only be one matchup for the Timberwolves: the Denver Nuggets. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-minnesota-nba-playoffs-feat-crazy-game-7-win-nuggets">Timberwolves and Nuggets went to war</a> against each other in last year’s playoffs, and that battle should be an entertaining one in a slate full of enthralling matchups.</p><p>There is always a chance that the league pits the Timberwolves against the Dallas Mavericks in a Western Conference Finals rematch, or against the Celtics in a matchup that delivered two neck-and-neck games during the 2023-24 season. The Mavs, however, may be matched up against the Warriors for the narrative factor, while the Celtics may be pitted against the Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, or Milwaukee Bucks in a battle of Eastern Conference heavyweights.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Anthony Edwards’ Timberwolves could get Opening Night, Christmas games

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-timberwolves-kings-emerge-as-potential-lauri-markkanen-suitors');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Timberwolves, Kings emerge as potential Lauri Markkanen suitors');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/NBA-rumors-Timberwolves-Kings-emerge-as-potential-Lauri-Markkanen-suitors.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Timberwolves, Kings emerge as potential Lauri Markkanen suitors</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-01T19:53:16-07:00">July 1st, 7:53pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-01T19:53:16-07:00">July 1st, 7:53pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Utah Jazz haven’t yet committed to a hard and fast roster-building decision; earlier in the offseason, they were linked to blockbuster moves for two-way wings Mikal Bridges and even Paul George, the two who have since moved to the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers, respectively. With the Jazz unable to acquire pieces that will help them make the jump to playoff contention in the Western Conference, everyone’s attention has now <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-lauri-markkanen-trade-buzz-grows-with-warriors-spurs-links">turned to Lauri Markkanen</a>, who doesn’t appear to be long for Salt Lake City.</p><p>Markkanen, being one of the best pure three-level scorers in the game as well as a hand-and-glove fit on most contending outfits, is sure to draw a ton of interest on the trade market. While he is in the final year of his contract, he’ll only be making around $18 million — making a deal that much more palatable for teams with contending aspirations. And on cue, the likes of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings are <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-free-agency-2024-the-market-impact-of-klay-thompsons-move-to-dallas-211356528.html" rel="noopener">among the teams</a> vying for Markkanen’s services, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.</p><p>In addition to the Timberwolves and Kings, the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs have also reportedly thrown their hat into the Lauri Markkanen trade ring. But the question is, will the Jazz finally budge?</p><p>At present, the Jazz don’t have that foundational star yet that will lead them back to greatness. Markkanen profiles as a high-level second option on a winning team due to his shortcomings on the playmaking side of the ball. With the Finnisher being <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/player/_/id/23602/lauri-markkanen" rel="noopener">due for a huge contract</a> extension, will the Jazz decide to cash in on him as a trade asset to further stockpile on some draft capital? Or will he be a part of the next great Jazz team? Those are the questions that Utah must answer this offseason.</p><h2>A Lauri Markkanen homecoming on the Timberwolves?</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Lauri-Markkanen-Arizona-is-interviewed-after-being-introduced-as-the-number-seven-overall-pick-to-the-Minnesota-Timberwolves.jpg"></figure><p>No, Lauri Markkanen has not played a single minute for the Timberwolves franchise for his career. But one must recall that Markkanen donned a Timberwolves cap on draft night back in 2017, with Minnesota trading away that selection, along with a few other goodies that included Zach LaVine, in exchange for Jimmy Butler.</p><p>It is certainly interesting to see the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-timberwolves-trade-targets-in-2024-nba-offseason">Timberwolves pop up</a> as a potential Markkanen suitor, especially given the financial constraints imposed upon them by the second luxury tax apron. The huge contracts of Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, and Jaden McDaniels have already kicked in, while Rudy Gobert will be due for a huge extension soon.</p><p>Trading for Lauri Markkanen would also mean that the Timberwolves will be giving up one of their core players, and that simply may not be in the cards for a team that’s looking to run it back following an impressive run to the Western Conference Finals.</p><p>As enticing as the prospect of adding a player of Markkanen’s offensive skill and size, further adding to the Timberwolves’ arsenal of talented tall players, a trade with the Jazz simply may not be doable. There could be a workable trade centered around Naz Reid, but Reid is a fan favorite, and it’s not quite clear just how appealing the prospect of trading Reid away is for the Timberwolves brass.</p><h2>Will the Kings shoot for the stars in the form of a trade with the Jazz?</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Malik-Monk-DeAaron-Fox-Domantas-Sabonis-and-Keegan-Murray-observe-the-action.jpg"></figure><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-early-kings-trade-targets-2024-nba-offseason">Kings are facing the reality</a> of how difficult it is to build a sustainable contending team year-in, year-out in the NBA. Following an inspired 2022-23 season, the Kings missed the playoffs in 2024. But can Sacramento get it together and up their contending prowess with the addition of Lauri Markkanen?</p><p>The team certainly has the salary to pull off a trade with the Jazz; they should have all of their first-round picks except for next year (due to the Kevin Huerter trade), and they have a blue-chip youngster in Keegan Murray who could be a worthwhile centerpiece of a Markkanen blockbuster trade.</p><p>Lauri Markkanen would represent a huge scoring upgrade on the wing and someone who could flourish in an off-ball role alongside Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox in the Kings’ motion-based, handoff-driven offense. Markkanen has the size to punish mismatches as well, giving the Kings another scorer to run their offense around.</p><p>Murray, for as good of a 23-year old sniper as he is, hasn’t shown as much offensive versatility as Markkanen has. Markkanen is only four years older than Murray as well, so it’s not like the Kings are going to empty the farm for an aging player. This could be a worthwhile trade to pursue for a Kings team that’s looking to return to the top of the Pacific Division.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Timberwolves, Kings emerge as potential Lauri Markkanen suitors

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-timberwolves-karl-anthony-towns-plan-amid-trade-speculation');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns plan amid trade speculation');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Timberwolves-Karl-Anthony-Towns-plan-amid-trade-speculation.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns plan amid trade speculation</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-26T10:03:32-07:00">June 26th, 10:03am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-26T10:03:32-07:00">June 26th, 10:03am</time><address><a>Ryan Bologna</a>Ryan Bologna is an author at ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York Knicks completed a blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets to acquire Mikal Bridges late on Tuesday night, and that has implications for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Karl-Anthony Towns, as the Knicks gave up the assets they could have potentially used to acquire the star player down the line eventually. We <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/40436398/lowe-how-many-draft-picks-make-monster-new-york-knicks-brooklyn-nets-mega-trade-mikal-bridges" rel="noopener">have an idea</a> of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-timberwolves-trade-targets-in-2024-nba-offseason">what the Timberwolves are</a> planning with some tax concerns coloring the future of the team.</p><p>“New York has now foregone its cleanest paths toward acquiring higher-wattage superstars who might one day become available,” Zach Lowe of ESPN wrote. “This front-office has tentacles everywhere. You have to defer to their intel. They might have reason to believe Giannis Antetokounmpo will not become available via trade in the medium-term future. The same might be true of Joel Embiid, a long-rumored Knicks dream target who is 30 with an increasingly scary injury history. (Bridges never misses games.) The Wolves hope to hang onto Karl-Anthony Towns despite tax concerns, sources said, and he might not be the best fit in New York anyway given his massive contract and so-so defense. Jaylen Brown? Yeah, I think Boston is good, thanks.”</p><p>There is a lot related to the Knicks’ pursuit of star players there, and the easiest takeaway is that they felt trading for Mikal Bridges was a good fit for a player who was actually attainable in comparison to the other star players listed. The Knicks have been connected to Towns in the past, but <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-minnesota-makes-final-decision-chris-finchs-contract-extension">after the Timberwolves made</a> it to the Western Conference Finals last season, they seem set on keeping this group together, which makes a lot of sense.</p><h2><b>Timberwolves look to break through with established core</b></h2><p>Towns has been a divisive player throughout his career, but watching the playoff run for the Timberwolves, there is no doubt that he is a very important player for a team that has legitimate championship hopes. The goal will be to build and add supplemental pieces to a core that made a deep run.</p><p>Minnesota has made some moves that have garnered criticism over the past few years. Some believed it might have been smart to move on from Towns, but they appear committed to him.</p><p>Then, some questioned Anthony Edwards’ dedication to basketball before he was selected with the No. 1 pick. Now, Anthony Edwards is an unquestioned superstar who is a huge reason why the Timberwolves have championship hopes.</p><p>The trade for Rudy Gobert was huge as well, and the Timberwolves were heavily critiqued for giving up so many draft picks to add him. Now, the Rudy Gobert trade does not look too bad, as it helped Minnesota emerge as a legitimate contender in the Western Conference.</p><p>It will be interesting to see how the Timberwolves fare next season, and if they can come out on top next postseason by keeping their core intact.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns plan amid trade speculation

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-reported-nuggets-draft-promise-cold-water-dumped-on-it');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Reported Nuggets draft promise gets cold water dumped on it');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/NBA-rumors-Reported-Nuggets-draft-promise-gets-cold-water-dumped-on-it.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Reported Nuggets draft promise gets cold water dumped on it</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-24T18:19:47-07:00">June 24th, 6:19pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-24T18:19:47-07:00">June 24th, 6:19pm</time><address><a href="https://nextmanupblog.medium.com/">Jay Postrado</a>Jay Postrado is a sports writer for ClutchPoints, with expertise in covering the NBA, NFL, MLB, Tennis, and Formula 1. He is a lifelong motorsports and tennis fan. Jay's need for speed may no longer be on the grid or courts but has stayed with him through writing.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The NBA Draft is fast approaching and with no clear-cut top-end talent in it, there are some steady risers on front-office boards. One of them just so happens to be an NBA Draft target of the Denver Nuggets. He goes by the name of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-nuggets-linked-2024-draft-promise">DaRon Holmes II and he has been phenomenal</a> with the Dayton basketball squad. The Minnesota Timberwolves are also in the running to acquire him as well due to their situation with Kyle Anderson.</p><p>DaRon Holmes II is <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/aggregate-2024-nba-mock-draft-paul-george-tyrese-maxey-free-agency-zach-lavine-trade-talks/" rel="noopener">projected to go higher</a> than 28th in the NBA Draft, per HoopsHype. This is bad news for the Nuggets fans. They have no other picks in the first round and will have to give up a lot of assets to notch the Dayton basketball star.</p><p>Holmes was reportedly promised by the Nuggets front office that they would pick him up in the NBA Draft. As a result, he did not go back to Dayton during the withdrawal deadline. Moreover, he also allegedly canceled six workouts with other squads due to that assumption. Apparently, there is not much truth to these reports which ran rampant throughout the media world prior to the NBA Draft.</p><p>The Nuggets can still pick him up if he does fall down that low. However, a looming competitor presented itself with the Timberwolves. Chris Finch and their front office have a significant interest in acquiring him. They have the 27th overall pick and have good reason to acquire the prospect out of Dayton.</p><p>The Timberwolves are concerned with the luxury tax that they will incur with Kyle Anderson on their squad. If he does decide to walk and test free agency, Holmes would be the solution to their gaping hole at forward. He is nimble and also able to produce the same way that Anderson has for the Timberwolves. There might be some growing pains at the start of his stint but that could be a risk that they are willing to stomach if it means that the front office gets more financial flexibility.</p><h2><b>How good is this NBA Draft prospect that the Nuggets and Timberwolves want to acquire?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Dayton-Flyers-forward-DaRon-Holmes-II-15-reacts.jpg"><figcaption>© Gabriel Mayberry-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Holmes is not at all a slouch and is one of the better forwards in this draft class. His accolades actually speak for himself because he notched consensus All-American honors, a three-time All-A10 team selection, an A-10 tournament Most Valuable Player, and an A-10 Defensive Player of the Year.</p><p>If that is not enough to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/2024-nba-mock-draft-4-0-hawks-donovan-clingan-zaccharie-risacher">convince front offices in the NBA Draft</a>, he averaged 20.1 points on a 54.4% clip from all three levels of scoring in his junior year. Not to mention, his shot from outside also saw the bottom of the net 38.6% of the time. Scoring is not his only strong suit. He was able to grab an insane 8.5 rebounds in his last year with Dayton.</p><p>Another staple of his game is the rim protection that he brings. Holmes averaged a massive 2.1 blocks in the recently concluded college basketball season. The 6-foot-10 forward can surely chase an opponent down or learn the intricacies of their shot mechanics such that he meets them at the apex.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Reported Nuggets draft promise gets cold water dumped on it

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-timberwolves-tim-connelly-new-contract');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ Tim Connelly to get massive new contract amid drama');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Timberwolves-Tim-Connelly-to-get-massive-new-contract-amid-drama.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ Tim Connelly to get massive new contract amid drama</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-04T14:43:52-07:00">June 4th, 2:43pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-04T14:45:23-07:00">June 4th, 2:45pm</time><address><a>Fabian Diego Miguel de la Paz</a>Diego de la Paz has lived and breathed sports throughout most of his life. A former track and field varsity athlete, he has had the rare opportunity of covering the NBA, UFC, boxing, and professional tennis on the ground throughout his journalism career. He is also working as a play-by-play commentator for recreational sports leagues in his spare time.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Minnesota Timberwolves have a lot of backroom drama brewing with the ownership dispute between the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-alex-rodriguez-rude-awakening-glen-taylor-ownership-battle">camps of Glen Taylor</a> and the duo of Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore. But if there’s one thing that both sides are understanding is how important it is to keep the <a href="https://x.com/runitbackfdtv/status/1797641941032796552" rel="noopener">key personnel in place</a>, particularly their President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly.</p><p>Connelly worked his way up the NBA ladder, spending back office stints with the Washington Wizards and New Orleans Hornets before getting his big break with the Denver Nuggets. He spent nine years with the Colorado franchise, building the core that won the 2023 NBA Championship, before becoming the President of Basketball Operations for the Timberwolves in 2022.</p><h2><b>Tim Connelly to get pay raise to keep in pace with rising executive salaries</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Minnesota-Timberwolves-Press-Conference.jpg"><figcaption>Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Tim Connelly is expected to get a pay raise to keep within pace of other higher-paying jobs, with Timberwolves ownership aware of their executive’s stock rising around the league, according to NBA insider Shams Charania, via FanDuel TV’s Run It Back.</p><p>“Tim Connelly has an opt-out in his contract, he has days to make a decision on his option. The expectation around this league, I’m told, is that Tim Connelly will end up in a restructured…renegotiated deal,” said Charania.</p><p>“Whether its Glen Tayor or Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, they understand his [Connelly’s] market value has gone up. He helped architect the team that won it in Denver, then this team in Minnesota becomes a championship contender,” added Charania. “His deal is at $8 million per season. You look around the league and all the top-tier general managers and executives that are leading franchises, that’s now between $10 million to $15 million per season for those lead executives. Just like coaching contracts, GM contracts are going up as well.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“The Timberwolves want to keep their core… Unless they’re trading one of those guys, they’re going into next season for the first time under Glen Taylor’s ownership paying the luxury tax”<a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ShamsCharania</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Timberwolves?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Timberwolves</a> offseason plans <a href="https://t.co/3c6hkUNMq7">pic.twitter.com/3c6hkUNMq7</a></p><p>— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/RunItBackFDTV/status/1797641941032796552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Timberwolves must fix off-court issues to match rising on-court product</b></h2><p>In the same interview, Shams Charania noted the team’s exciting on-court product has already paid dividends with higher ticket sales and TV ratings. However, a legal battle for the team’s ownership has taken as much attention as the vastly improved on-court performance.</p><p>“They sold out all 41 regular season games this season, a first in Target Center history since 1990. They go from 3,000 season tickets to 11,000 season ticket sales, and their local TV ratings up 150% over the last two years,” Charania said. “This Timberwolves team…[is] clearly on the rise. I don’t think they have roster decisions left, but there’s a lot behind the scenes they got to figure out.”</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-alex-rodriguez-ownership-takeover-karl-anthony-towns-exit">Timberwolves will stand to pay</a> Anthony Edwards his approximately $204.5 million deal up to the 2028-29 season, Karl Anthony-Towns his $221.1 million up to the 2027-28 season, and Rudy Gobert up to $205.0 million through his player option in 2025-26. Jaden McDaniels is also on the books for $131.0 million through 2029.</p><p>Should the Timberwolves stand pat with their current roster, it will be the first time under the Glen Taylor ownership that the team will go past the salary cap.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ Tim Connelly to get massive new contract amid drama

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Timberwolves willing to pay luxury tax amid ownership dispute');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <p>The Minnesota Timberwolves may have exited the playoffs in disappointing fashion after losing to the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the 2024 Western Conference Finals, but it&#8217;s clear that they are here to stay as one of the league&#8217;s best teams. However, contending for a championship <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-timberwolves-ownership-turmoil-eye-opening-contract-situation">comes with a price</a>. The Timberwolves will be above the second luxury tax apron entering next season without even making any moves as the huge contracts of Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jaden McDaniels will be kicking in.</p><p>Nonetheless, the Timberwolves&#8217; ownership led by longtime governor Glen Taylor is reportedly willing to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5531453/2024/05/31/timberwolves-tim-connelly-karl-anthony-town-offseason/?source=emp_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pay the luxury tax</a> to keep the team&#8217;s core intact, as reported by Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania of The Athletic. And to further add music to Timberwolves fans&#8217; ears, the group of Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, who are in the middle of disputing their purchase of the franchise, are also willing to dig deep into their pockets to keep the team in title contention.</p><p>While the Timberwolves&#8217; ownership situation is as messy as it can get, it&#8217;s a good sign that the team&#8217;s current owner and the prospective duo that would take over the team in the event of a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-alex-rodriguez-marc-lore-ownership-bid-gets-hit-with-big-mediation-update">dispute settlement</a> are not afraid to spend what it takes to keep together what is clearly a talented core.</p><h2><strong>Timberwolves&#8217; ownership situation, abridged</strong></h2><p><img decoding="async" src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Former-baseball-player-Alex-Rodriguez-left-talks-to-Minnesota-Timberwolves-guard-Mike-Conley-10.jpg" /></p><p>Glen Taylor isn&#8217;t exactly a popular figure in Minnesota. In fact, since taking over the team in 1994, the Timberwolves have made a slew of bad decisions under Taylor&#8217;s watch. The best player in franchise history, Kevin Garnett, went as far as to say that Taylor <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/the-complete-history-of-kevin-garnetts-beef-with-timberwolves-owner-glen-taylor">did not know &#8220;s**t&#8221;</a> about basketball.</p><p>The Timberwolves failed to build a proper contending team around Garnett, and after the 2004 NBA playoffs, the team proceeded to miss the playoffs for 13 consecutive seasons. Thus, when Taylor announced that he had agreed to sell 80 percent of team shares to a group led by Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, there was celebration among Timberwolves fans.</p><p>Taylor sold the team at a valuation of $1.5 billion, but the purchase structure meant that the payment of around $1.2 billion will arrive over the course of three payments. The first payment for 20 percent was scheduled in 2021, the next one was for 20 percent to be paid in 2023, and the final payment, which was worth 40 percent of the franchise, was to be paid in 2024.</p><p>Glen Taylor&#8217;s group, however, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-real-reason-glen-taylor-trying-nuke-alex-rodriguez-marc-lore-ownership-sale">used a clause</a> that prevented Rodriguez and Lore from finalizing their purchase of the Timberwolves franchise. Taylor said that the deal had expired and that the Timberwolves and its affiliate WNBA franchise (Minnesota Lynx) were no longer for sale after the 90-day closing period following an exercise notice passed.</p><p>Moreover, Taylor was concerned that the prospective owners coming in <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-the-massive-salary-cut-alex-rodriguez-marc-lore-planned-explains-glen-taylors-flip-flop">would slash costs</a>, greatly affecting the quality of the product the Timberwolves can put out on the floor.</p><p>However, Rodriguez and Lore contended that they fulfilled their end of the bargain; they even called Taylor out for having &#8220;seller&#8217;s remorse&#8221; after the Timberwolves&#8217; franchise valuation skyrocketed by around $1.3 billion as of December 2023.</p><p>It&#8217;s unclear what truly happened behind the scenes and why Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore aren&#8217;t the majority stakeholders of the Timberwolves franchise at the moment after things appeared to be going smoothly for the past three years. Nevertheless, Rodriguez still showed his support for the Timberwolves in the 2024 NBA playoffs, watching games live while engaging with the likes of Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns.</p><h2><strong>Splashing the cash down in the Twin Cities</strong></h2><p><img decoding="async" src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Anthony-Edwards-and-Karl-Anthony-Towns.jpg" /></p><p>The Timberwolves&#8217; active roster payroll for the 2024-25 season currently ranks fourth in the association, only behind the Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, and Boston Celtics. At a projected $192 million, the Timberwolves will already be $3 million over the second luxury tax apron before making any moves.</p><p>They currently have five open roster spots, although two of those will be filled with the two draft picks they will have come June, barring a trade on draft night. Kyle Anderson, a major rotation piece, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-kyle-anderson-murky-update-future-before-free-agency">will be a free agent</a>, while backup guards Monte Morris and Jordan McLaughlin are also headed for free agency.</p><p>Given the restrictions imposed by being in the second luxury tax apron, the Timberwolves will be very limited in the moves they can make this offseason. Basically, they are locked into the roster they have, unless they find <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/why-timberwolves-karl-anthony-towns-struggles-put-his-timberwolves-future-in-doubt-per-bill-simmons">a blockbuster trade</a> for Karl-Anthony Towns and his monster contract.</p><p>Nonetheless, this was a team that won 56 games last season and dethroned the reigning champion Denver Nuggets. They are not too far away from competing for a title, which is why splashing the cash on this roster appears to be worth the risk.</p>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Timberwolves willing to pay luxury tax amid ownership dispute

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-timberwolves-ownership-turmoil-eye-opening-contract-situation');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ ownership turmoil brings eye-opening contract situation to light');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Timberwolves-ownership-turmoil-brings-eye-opening-contract-situation-to-light.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ ownership turmoil brings eye-opening contract situation to light</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-04-11T13:29:42-07:00">April 11th, 1:29pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-04-11T13:29:42-07:00">April 11th, 1:29pm</time><address><a>Peter Sampson</a>Peter Sampson is ClutchPoints' Portland Trail Blazers reporter and also serves as an Associate Editor. He has been covering all things sports (with a focus on the Blazers) for more than a decade, most recently hosting "The Pulse with Peter Sampson" in Afternoon Drive for 750 The Game. Prior to that, he hosted an NBA wrap-up show that aired immediately at the conclusion of every Trail Blazers game. Peter had previous stops at Blazer's Edge and XRAY.FM - where his show "Blazer's Edge Radio" was named "Portland's Best Sports Radio" in the 2017 Willamette Week reader's poll. When he's not telling the stories of your favorite sports team, Peter can be found recording the next garage rock classic in his basement studio, whipping up an authentic Italian meal in the kitchen, or trying to figure out the appeal of Minecraft with his 9-year-old son in the living room.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As the Minnesota Timberwolves ownership sage between current owner Glen Taylor and once seemingly future owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore continues, reports now suggest that the ramifications <a href="https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/1778441658104770684" rel="noopener">could extend</a> into the front office, per Shams Charania of The Athletic:</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Two top seeds in West have Minnesota President Tim Connelly’s fingerprints: He helped build Nuggets into champions and has revived the Timberwolves. </p><p>Amid ownership turmoil in Minnesota, sources say Connelly has an opt-out in his contract after the season. On <a href="https://twitter.com/RunItBackFDTV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RunItBackFDTV</a>: <a href="https://t.co/SjXFVPyq2u">pic.twitter.com/SjXFVPyq2u</a></p><p>— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1778441658104770684?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Says Shams on the Timberwolves situation, “Two top seeds in West have Minnesota President Tim Connelly’s fingerprints: He helped build Nuggets into champions and has revived the Timberwolves. Amid ownership turmoil in Minnesota, sources say Connelly has an opt-out in his contract after the season.”</p><p>As the trio continues a contentious legal battle over future stewardship of the franchise, reports say that Taylor backed out of the sides’ previously agreed-upon deal in part due to Rodriguez and Lore <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-the-massive-salary-cut-alex-rodriguez-marc-lore-planned-explains-glen-taylors-flip-flop">submitting financial projections</a> that would require the team to shed a sizable amount of salary in 2024-25.</p><p>The Timberwolves are currently committed to paying approximately <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/minnesota-timberwolves/yearly/cap/" rel="noopener">$186 million in salary</a> to just nine players in 2024-25, according to Spotrac, not only blowing them past the initial luxury tax threshold, but also the onerous second apron once the roster is filled out in full. Teams that exceed the rough $189 million second apron are subject to higher payouts to non-taxpaying teams as well as additional restrictions on roster-building.</p><p>After years of futility, The Timberwolves brought Connelly in to oversee basketball operations in 2022 after he built the Denver Nuggets into the championship team that they are today.</p><p>With his resume, Connelly would surely be a hot commodity in the front office market if he were to opt out this summer.</p><h2><b>Timberwolves hoping for a deep postseason run</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Edwards-and-Gobert-celebrate.jpg"><figcaption>© Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>The Timberwolves are currently 55-25, just one game behind the Nuggets for first place in the NBA Western Conference standings.</p><p>Anthony Edwards has been fantastic this season, and he will look to match the career night he recently had against the Wizards. Edwards dropped a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-anthony-edwards-career-high-51-points-sparks-strong-reaction-following-win-over-wizards">career-high 51 points</a> against Washington on Tuesday.</p><p>If the Timberwolves hope to make noise in the playoffs, they’ll be counting on the return of star big man Karl-Anthony Towns. Despite a strong 14-5 record this season without KAT coming into Wednesday night, his absence against the Nuggets was felt at Ball Arena, as the Nuggets made a statement with their 116-107 win over Minnesota.</p><p>When asked postgame about the value Towns will provide for this team once he’s back on the floor, both Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert got real about the All-Star’s importance. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-feel-karl-anthony-towns-absence-nuggets-flex-championship-muscle">Gobert emphasized</a> clearing the glass as a huge area in which Towns can contribute.</p><p>“I think he helps a lot. They really hurt us on the glass, and it’s a team effort. Even if I’m doing my best boxing out, sometimes the cutting in the back or they’re getting some of those boards that really hurt us today. And also on the free-throw line too. I think having KAT, who is a really good rebounder and has a lot of size would’ve really helped.”</p><p>Towns has been recovering from a meniscus tear that he underwent surgery for in March. The TImberwolves are hopeful that he will be able to play in at least one of the team’s final games before the playoffs.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ ownership turmoil brings eye-opening contract situation to light

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/timberwolves-news-bill-simmons-dishes-how-nba-expansion-rumors-impacted-alex-rodriguez-failed-ownership-bid');   ga('set', 'title', 'Timberwolves news: Bill Simmons dishes on how NBA expansion rumors impacted Alex Rodriguez’s failed ownership bid');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/timberwolves-news-bill-simmons-dishes-on-how-nba-expansion-rumors-impacted-alex-rodriguezs-failed-ownership-bid.jpeg"></figure><h1>Timberwolves news: Bill Simmons dishes on how NBA expansion rumors impacted Alex Rodriguez’s failed ownership bid</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-03-29T09:04:50-07:00">March 29th, 9:04am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-03-29T09:06:15-07:00">March 29th, 9:06am</time><address><a>Tim Crean</a>Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined ClutchPoints in 2022. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL, NBA, soccer, sports media, and more. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie, it is a dream to write about sports professionally. He’s a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York and when he’s not enjoying a round of golf he's probably coaching youth soccer or flag football. You can catch all of his sports-related musings on Twitter at @twcrean.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Ringer’s Bill Simmons may not have his fastball anymore these days, especially when it comes to his out-of-touch NFL predictions or his homer-rific NBA takes. However, you can’t deny that he is still plugged-in to the NBA world and loves the gossip around the business side of pro basketball. That’s why when Simmons offers some nuggets about why <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-two-glen-taylor-protesters-hijack-minnesota-playoff-game-again">Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor</a> squashed <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-alex-rodriguez-marc-lores-majority-ownership-bid-expires">the sale of the franchise</a> to Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, it’s worth listening to.</p><h2><b>Glen Taylor killed the Timberwolves sale because he wants the NBA expansion check</b></h2><p>To make a long, complicated story short for now, the Timberwolves sale between current owner Glen Taylor and a group led by MLB legend Alex Rodriguez and businessman Marc Lore fell through — according to Taylor’s side — because the buyers had to have the money in by a certain date, and they missed the date.</p><p>However, there seems to be other factors in play as well.</p><p>For one, Taylor, A-Rod, and Lore agree to a price of $1.5 billion in 2021 for the T’Wolves and Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. The agreement was set to culminate in 2024, giving Taylor more time as owner and Rodriguez and Lore time to come up with the cash.</p><p>In those three years, the value of NBA franchises has continued to grow, and now the team is likely worth double that price.</p><p>Additionally, as Bill Simmons and others have floated repeatedly, the NBA is on the verge of expansion, and that would mean a huge payday for all the owners of teams. Simmons <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-timberwolves-mess-plus-the-evolution-of/id1043699613?i=1000650775289" rel="noopener">suggests that this check</a> could be the reason Taylor wants to hang on for a while longer.</p><p>“Recently I was thinking (expansion team fees) might get to nine (billion dollars) and that’s kind of where I settled in my head, especially after talking to people,” Simmons told listeners of The Bill Simmons Podcast. “It would be $9 billion between the two teams, so 4.5 billion each. Higher than the Suns’ valuation, and every owner would get a check of 300 million dollars — cash. Just wire it to my account.”</p><p>And what makes this check different than the media rights check or the ticket sales check or even the NBA title check is that it all goes straight into the pocket of the team’s ownership.</p><p>“What’s interesting about the expansion fees, they don’t have to share that money with the players. So, this is just a straight check,” Simmons explained. “So, if you’re selling a team — that’s why the Jordan thing was a little curious to me, that’s why even Cuban, even though I know it’d been going on for a year, why would you sell the team before you got that giant expansion check?”</p><h2><b>Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore may have dropped the ball</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Minnesota_Timberwolves_co-minority_owners_Alex_Rodriguez_and_Marc_Lore.jpeg"><figcaption>Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>While Taylor’s seller’s remorse may be the reason the Timberwolves sale fell through, there are also rumors that it was Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore who fumbled this deal because they couldn’t come up with the cash.</p><p>“About a year ago, definitely started hearing things about, “Hey man, keep an eye on that Minnesota thing. I’m not sure those guys have the money to make the payments.’ And there was always stuff about, ‘Oh, they barely made the last one.’ So, people were kind of watching what would happen with this last payment.”</p><p>Simmons also shared that he heard a rumor that Rodriguez and Lore were talking to “multiple heavy-hitters” about coming in with “real money” to help them close this deal.</p><p>Yes, A-Rod and Lore had additional investors, but the Wall Street Journal puts Lore’s <a href="https://www.wsj.com/sports/basketball/timberwolves-sale-alex-rodriguez-marc-lore-nba-35d68a30" rel="noopener">net worth</a> at $3.3 billion and Rodriguez’s at $500 million after making $344.9 million in his MLB career. Coming up with $1.5 billion in cash is not an easy feat, even for billionaires, and while Lore is rich beyond nearly any imagination, he is not even to half the level of new Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia, who is worth around $8 billion.</p><p>The fallout from all this, no matter what the reason, is that the Timberwolves are no longer for sale, as Taylor says he will hold on to the team for the foreseeable future.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Timberwolves news: Bill Simmons dishes on how NBA expansion rumors impacted Alex Rodriguez’s failed ownership bid

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-timberwolves-aggressive-search-ball-handler-scorer-trade-market');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Timberwolves ‘aggressive’ in search for ball-handler, scorer in trade market');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/nba-rumors-timberwolves-aggressive-in-search-for-ball-handler-scorer-in-trade-market.webp"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Timberwolves ‘aggressive’ in search for ball-handler, scorer in trade market</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-02-06T22:37:11-08:00">February 6th, 10:37pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-02-06T22:37:11-08:00">February 6th, 10:37pm</time><address><a>Brian Buyawe</a>Brian Buyawe is a sports aficionado with a passion for basketball, football and Formula One. His hobbies include running, reading and playing in recreational leagues. Back when he was a kid, Brian stumbled upon an old Larry Bird documentary among his family's collection of movies, which made him a lifelong Celtics fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Minnesota Timberwolves have proven that they’re one of the Western Conference’s top contenders this year. Sitting in third place with a 35-16 record, the team continues its fight for the number one seed with a little over two months remaining in the regular season.</p><p>Still, their overall performance hasn’t stopped them from exploring available options on the trade market. Right now, the Timberwolves <a href="https://theathletic.com/5254070/2024/02/06/timberwolves-nba-trade-deadline-2/" rel="noopener">are reportedly looking for</a> either a ball handler or another scorer to strengthen the team’s second-unit offense, via The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-defense-fuels-win-vs-rockets-propels-chris-finch-to-all-star-weekend" rel="noopener">Minnesota currently holds</a> the league’s number-one defensive rating at 108.5. They rank fourth in fewest fastbreak points allowed per game (12.9) and second in points in the paint allowed (45.8).</p><h2>The Timberwolves’ quiet bench production</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Chris-Finch_s-net-worth-in-2023-2.jpg"></figure><p>However, offensively, the team lacks bench prowess. As it stands, the Timberwolves only tally 31.3 bench points per game — 23rd in the entire league. Big man Naz Reid has been showing consistency but still, more is needed to back up <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/karl-anthony-towns-paying-off-timberwolves-massive-bet-on-rudy-gobert" rel="noopener">the Timberwolves’ stars</a>.</p><p>Additionally, the search for another key bench player may stem from the team’s performance in transition. The Wolves tend to slow the pace down, ranking just 28th overall in fastbreak points per game (12.2). While it won’t be advisable to change the pace at which the starters play, a faster bench mob could possibly improve the second unit’s overall output.</p><p>Regardless, the February 8 trade deadline is almost upon the league, and if the Timberwolves want to secure what they’re looking for, they have to act fast. It won’t be too much of a big issue though. Whether a last-minute deal is executed or not, the Timberwolves have shown that their current roster capable of going up against the best.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Timberwolves ‘aggressive’ in search for ball-handler, scorer in trade market

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-clippers-asking-price-for-potential-bones-hyland-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Clippers’ asking price for potential Bones Hyland trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/nba-rumors-clippers-asking-price-for-potential-bones-hyland-trade.webp"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Clippers’ asking price for potential Bones Hyland trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-02-06T16:10:33-08:00">February 6th, 4:10pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-02-06T16:12:50-08:00">February 6th, 4:12pm</time><address><a>Jack Winter</a>Jack Winter is a veteran NBA writer and editor based on the West Coast. He currently lives in Oakland, covering the last legs of the Golden State Warriors' dynasty.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Bones Hyland has been an afterthought with the Los Angeles Clippers even since <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/james-harden-sixers-clippers-blockbuster-trade-grades" rel="noopener">James Harden arrived in Southern California</a>. As Ty Lue’s rebuilt team surges up the standings, proving its bonafides as a top-tier title contender, there’s only been further indication Hyland won’t be a part of Los Angeles’ plans come the postseason. Why not move the third-year guard before the trade deadline, then?</p><p>As February 8th dawns, the Clippers have <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-trade-deadline-intel-lakers-celtics-bulls-cavs-mavs-nets-pistons-wizards-grizzlies-wolves/" rel="noopener">set an asking price</a> of two second-round picks in exchange for Hyland, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, while the Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets are among teams who have shown interest in the third-year guard.</p><p>“Heading into Thursday’s trade deadline, there’s a growing belief the Clippers would consider trading guard Bones Hyland for two second-round picks, league sources told HoopsHype. The Timberwolves and Hornets are among the notable teams who’ve expressed trade interest in Hyland, league sources said.”</p><h2><b>Where would Bones Hyland fit best at trade deadline?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Clippers-news-LA-gets-good-news-on-Bones-Hyland-after-preseason-injury-scare.jpg"></figure><p>Hyland has made just 11 appearances for Los Angeles since losing his regular spot in the rotation after Harden’s third game with the Clippers. He’s averaged 2.2 points in 5.8 minutes per game over that timeframe, shooting a ghastly 22.5% from the field while getting on the floor exclusively in garbage time. Needless to say, he won’t be playing anything more than a bench-warming role with the Clippers as their quest for the first championship in franchise history continues.</p><p>Hyland’s shoot-first tendencies and imminently exploitable status on the other end as an undersized combo guard make him a tough fit in the playoffs. He’s played in just 10 postseason games over the last two years—five with the Denver Nuggets as a rookie and five more last season as the injury bug once again bit Los Angeles. Even before accounting for Hyland’s debilitating size issues on defense, there’s just not much use under the playoff microscope for a microwave scorer who’s at his best with the ball in his hands and isn’t a deadeye three-point shooter.</p><p>Maybe Minnesota could find a situational role for Hyland when the team needs extra scoring punch. Hyland will never be anything close to a positive defensively, but is at least less damaging on that side of the ball in a scheme built around traditional pick-and-roll coverage—with an elite rim-protector like Rudy Gobert behind him—rather than switching. The Wolves need all the offensive dynamism off the bench they can get, too, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-pistons-monte-morris-trade-interest-timberwolves" rel="noopener">especially from the perimeter</a>.</p><p>It’s hardly outlandish to think Hyland could make more of a difference at backup ball-handler for Minny against certain opponents, in specific circumstances of time and score than Jordan McLaughlin. As the Wolves vie for their first ever Larry O’Brien Trophy before a potentially transformational summer, all it would take for him to be worth the price of two future second-round picks is one game-changing sequence that has the potential to swing a seven-game series.</p><p>Hyland isn’t the only available player at the trade deadline who fits that bill, though, and is eligible for a contract extension come summer before hitting restricted free agency in the 2025 offseason. The cash-strapped Wolves could be more inclined to hold onto all their draft capital at the deadline instead of adding a bit player like Hyland who’s soon due a raise.</p><p>On the other hand, Hyland could make sense for a rebuilding team like Charlotte as a buy-low option, his scoring and playmaking talent best put to use over the 82-game grind. You’d assume the Hornets would be more invested in fostering the development of rookie Nick Smith Jr. than Hyland, though, further complicating his path to a trade at the deadline.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Clippers’ asking price for potential Bones Hyland trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-pistons-monte-morris-trade-interest-timberwolves');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Pistons’ Monte Morris drawing serious trade interest from Timberwolves');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/NBA_rumors_Pistons__Monte_Morris_drawing_serious_trade_interest_from_Timberwolves.webp"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Pistons’ Monte Morris drawing serious trade interest from Timberwolves</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-02-05T07:42:41-08:00">February 5th, 7:42am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-02-05T15:46:02-08:00">February 5th, 3:46pm</time><address><a>Matt Wadleigh</a>Matthew Wadleigh was born and raised in Oceanside and resides in Fresno. He lives with his wife and two dogs. He is a huge Southern California sports fan and a retired member of the Fresno State drumline.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The NBA Trade Deadline is a few days away and rumors are starting to circulate more than before. The Detroit Pistons, who had a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/where-pistons-sit-on-nbas-longest-losing-streak-list" rel="noopener">record losing streak earlier</a> in the season, are viewed as a team willing to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pistons-trade-targets-early-in-2023-24-nba-season" rel="noopener">sell multiple pieces</a>. One player whose name has come up is Monte Morris, and he is reportedly <a href="https://theathletic.com/5248955/2024/02/05/pistons-trade-deadline-nba-zach-lavine-tobias-harris/" rel="noopener">drawing serious interest</a> from the Minnesota Timberwolves ahead of the deadline, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.</p><p>“On a smaller scale, rival teams continue to be interested in Pistons guard Monté Morris, per league sources. The Timberwolves are one of the teams with the most interest. Minnesota, per league sources, tried to trade for Morris when he was in Washington prior to Detroit. The Pistons, though, also value what Morris brings to the table as a veteran guard who takes care of the ball and can shoot. Morris just returned from injuries that forced him to miss the first 43 games of the season.”</p><p>Morris has played a minimal role with the Pistons this season after spending last year with the Washington Wizards. He has played in just six games this season and is averaging just 4.5 points per game. With the Pistons having the worst record in the NBA, it makes sense for them to explore the market and see if they can get an asset of some sort in return.</p><p>The Timberwolves reportedly kicked the tires on a Morris trade previously, and adding a veteran guard would be a big boost to the team. However, as Edwards mentions, the Pistons could decide to hold, especially with Morris just now returning after missing more than 40 games due to an injury.</p><p>Nonetheless, Monte Morris is one name to keep an eye on ahead of the deadline.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Pistons’ Monte Morris drawing serious trade interest from Timberwolves

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-bucks-suns-among-royce-oneale-suitors-ahead-of-trade-deadline');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Bucks, Suns among Royce O’Neale suitors ahead of trade deadline');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Bucks-Suns-among-Royce-ONeale-suitors-ahead-of-trade-deadline_50.webp"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Bucks, Suns among Royce O’Neale suitors ahead of trade deadline</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-01-30T14:37:19-08:00">January 30th, 2:37pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-01-30T14:37:19-08:00">January 30th, 2:37pm</time><address><a>Mike Cruz</a>Mike Cruz is an editorial writer at ClutchPoints, primarily covering the NBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>trade Royce O’Neale is reportedly on the trade block for the Brooklyn Nets and a number of contenders are reportedly interested in acquiring the veteran forward ahead of the 2024 NBA trade deadline. According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-dream-scenario-2024-nba-trade-deadline">the Milwaukee Bucks</a> and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-devin-booker-bradley-beal-kevin-durant-heat-finals-odds-championship">Phoenix Suns are among</a> the two teams looking to trade for the 3-and-D wing.</p><p>“It looks likely that Royce O’Neale’s time with the Brooklyn Nets is coming to an end,” Siegel <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/sources-dejounte-murray-bruce-brown-warriors-trade-deadline-rumors-intel">reported</a>. “The Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves, Milwaukee Bucks, and Sacramento Kings are among those interested in the veteran forward.”</p><p>Royce O’Neale is in the final year of his current deal and is earning <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/brooklyn-nets/royce-oneale-24240/#:~:text=Current%20Contract,dead%20cap%20value%20of%20%249%2C500%2C000.">$9.5 million</a> this season, which makes him an attainable trade target for capped teams like the Bucks and Suns. Both Milwaukee and Phoenix don’t have much draft capital either, but they could get away with trading a second-rounder or two to acquire O’Neale, who is on an expiring deal.</p><p>O’Neale has established himself as one of the better floor-spacing defenders in the league. The vet would be a terrific target for any playoff contender in need of wing depth.</p><p>O’Neale spent most of his career on a Utah Jazz team that peaked as the No. 1 seed in the West back in the 2020-21 NBA season. The 6-foot-4 forward played a huge role on those Jazz squads as their primary point-of-attack defender. In the 2022 offseason, the Jazz traded him to the Nets during the summer firesale that also saw them trade Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.</p><p>O’Neale has started in six of 45 appearances for the Nets this season. On the year, he is averaging <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/onealro01.html">7.1 points</a>, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.9 assists, while shooting 38.6 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from the field.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Minnesota
Timberwolves RUMORS

MINNESOTA

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MinnesotaTimberwolves RUMORS

MINNESOTA

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Minnesota
Timberwolves RUMORS