Minnesota Timberwolves Daily News
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Written by SG
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
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The Wolves plan to bring in four big men today: UCLA
power forward Kevin Love, and centers DeAndre Johnson (Jordan) (Texas AM), Kosta
Koufus (Ohio State) and Alexis Ajinca (France).
Nevada center JaVale McGee was scratched for unexplained reasons.
Trade talk: The Wolves keep coming up in
trade rumors, and vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale
said the team is keeping all of its options open.
"We've talked to just about everybody," he said.
"Those decisions are all going to be made later on, but I could see us
sliding around the draft a little bit."
Now nine days away from the NBA draft, the Timberwolves will go to the
top prospects if they won't come to Target Center: The team's scouts
and coaches are scheduled to watch Italian forward Danilo Gallinari
work on Friday in Los Angeles and then will catch USC freshman guard
O.J. Mayo in a workout for several teams Saturday in Chicago.
UCLA freshman forward Kevin Love is due at Target Center this morning.
Stanford sophomore center Brook Lopez worked out there for two days two
weeks ago; the Wolves also are expected to watch Lopez again when they
are in Los Angeles to see Gallinari.
So far, Michael Beasley will work out only for Chicago and Miami, but
that could change for the Wolves as draft night approaches. One Wolves
decision maker said its a long shot for the team to get Beasley and
thinks Pat Riley’s posturing that he might take O.J. Mayo second
overall is a bunch of hooey.
The Timberwolves rated 7-foot Brook Lopez from Stanford as a
nice kid when he worked out for them recently, but nowhere near worth
their No. 3 pick in the June 26 NBA draft.
Best bet if the Wolves decide to draft a center is UCLA's 6-10
Kevin Love, who is scheduled to work out for them at Target Center
today. Love, who is a nephew of singer Mike Love of the Beach Boys, put
on a show when he came to Target Center as a member of the Lake Oswego
(Ore.) team that played in a high school game against Osseo. Love
scored 41 points and had 17 rebounds and seven assists.
Many of the league's best teams have filled out their starting lineups
with Europeans over the past decade, but Minnesota has not kept up with
that trend. Though McHale denied any increased interest in overseas
prospects, Hoiberg - who has held his post for the past two years -
said the Wolves have been studying the Euro leagues "very hard" lately.
One rising star, Nicolas Batum from France, was in a group of four the
team worked out on Monday. Another Frenchman, the 7-foot-1 Alexis
Ajinca, was due at Target Center Tuesday.
So, let's revisit the question at hand. Why are the Wolves working out
players who are expected to be mid-to-late 1st round draft picks?
I can think of two scenarios.
First, the Wolves have picks 31 and 34, both in the second round.
Perhaps the idea is to package these to picks to get into the late
first round in hopes that Batum or Douglas-Roberts are still around.
Secondly, as I mentioned earlier, there is a talent drop-off after Rose
and Beasley. It wouldn't shock me if the Wolves traded out of the
3-spot to accumulate more picks, in which Batum or Douglas-Roberts
could both be selected.
Although it was his foundation's inaugural event,
Peterson was able to draw plenty of A-list talent, including Chicago
Bears Pro Bowl defensive tackle Tommie Harris, Arizona Cardinals Pro
Bowl receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Timberwolves guard Rashad McCants and
several Vikings teammates, coaches and alums.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 17 June 2008 )
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Written by SG
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Monday, 16 June 2008 |
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This coming weekend, a number of teams will make the trip Chicago for
another one-on-none workout. According to sources, Mayo has invited
representatives from the top seven teams in the draft -- Chicago,
Miami, Minnesota, Seattle, Memphis, New York and the L.A.
Clippers...
Despite Mayo's attempt to snub the Wolves, Sonics and Grizzlies by not
visiting them, sources say that the Wolves will likely take Mayo at
No. 3 if they don't trade down in the draft. We've had Mayo projected
at the No. 3 spot since our first mock draft but haven't been sure
that the Wolves would be the team selecting him. It now appears,
either way, that he's going to be a Top 3 pick.
Grizz Blogs posed some questions to Twolves Blog about the upcoming draft.
Raptors HQ plays host to the latest Carnival of the NBA.
Mike Trudell/Timberwolves site chats with KFAN's Henry Lake about the draft. Trudell also posts some of Kevin McHale's comments about the draft following Monday's workouts:
"There will be a few teams behind us that will say, 'We've absolutely
fallen in love with player A, we have to have him,'" said McHale. "We
have options right now of moving around ... I still like our position
of being able to pick the guy that we like (at No. 3), but we'll see."
And the second-round picks?
"We can move into the first round if we want to, but it has to be a guy
that is worthwhile," said McHale. "At a certain point, if we get to 15
and there are still 20 guys we really like, then you're saying, 'We're
going to get two of those guys.' So it wouldn't really make sense (to
trade up)."
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Last Updated ( Monday, 16 June 2008 )
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Written by SG
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Monday, 16 June 2008 |
Monday afternoon's workout at Target Center featured All-American guard
Chris Douglas-Roberts out of Memphis, who was joined by Oregon's Bryce
Taylor, Virginia Tech's Deron Washington and Frenchman Nicolas Batum.
Golden Gopher Spencer Tollackson and Minnesota State University-Mankato
center Atila Santos participated as well...
Q: On what he liked about seeing Chris Douglas-Roberts in person:
Hoiberg: He's such a great competitor. He's a guy that scores in a
variety of ways. He's kind of unorthodox in the way he scores: going
off his right leg; coming off the curl; shooting floaters; he just has
a way of putting the ball in the basket. He had such a great year for
Memphis and last season as well. He's a guy that has been there, he
comes from a winning program and his team always seems to win. So, he's
a guy that's very interesting.
Kare 11 has some video of today's workout:
Douglas-Roberts said after the practice that he's being told his name will be called somewhere between picks 15 to 25.
Batum, the raw 19-year-old French forward is slightly unknown because
of his lack of experience. Hoiberg said this guy may be the fastest
prospect in this draft and hasn't used weight training in his life.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 16 June 2008 )
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Written by SG
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Monday, 16 June 2008 |
Q: On who else the team will be seeing on Friday in Los Angeles:
Hoiberg: We'll try to see both Lopez's (Brook and Robin). Depending on
what is going on with (Russell) Westbrook ...We'll see him. We probably
won't know until the day before we leave who exactly we'll see but
we'll see Brook Lopez again for sure and we'll see (Danilo) Gallinari
out there as well ...That's Friday and then there is a chance we are
going to go see (USC guard) O.J. Mayo in Chicago on Saturday.
Q: On plans to see O.J. Mayo:
Hoiberg: He's training out there with Tim Grover and he'll put on a
workout out there (on Saturday)...There's a good chance, but we don't
want to say it's a 100 percent because it never is.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 16 June 2008 )
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Written by SG
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Monday, 16 June 2008 |
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In other workout news, Nevada center JaVale McGee has been scratched from Tuesday's list for unknown reasons.
Arizona guard Chase Budinger will be among the players to visit Wednesday.
Update:
Arizona sophomore forward Chase Budinger has withdrawn from the NBA Draft.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 16 June 2008 )
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Written by SG
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Monday, 16 June 2008 |
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According to Danilo Gallinari's official website:
"After some workouts and having carefully evalued any opportunity for his career, Danilo Gallinari decided to attend the 2008 NBA Draft. In this very moment Danilo and his father are in Los Angeles, waiting to be joined by the rest of the family."
Gallinari will work out for the Minnesota Timberwolves later this week, according to sources close to the situation.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 16 June 2008 )
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Written by SG
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Monday, 16 June 2008 |
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According to sources from two teams, Gallinari's American agent, Arn Tellem, is telling teams that if he doesn't have a guarantee by Monday from a team drafting in the top 10, he'll withdraw.
Tellem denied the rumors on Sunday evening, telling ESPN.com via text message that Gallinari is "staying in the draft."
Does this mean Gallinari has received a promise from a team?
...There are rumblings that the Timberwolves got a look, too. But I think
the No. 3 pick is too high for Gallinari to get a guarantee. Plus,
Minnesota is talking with a number of teams about trades right now.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 16 June 2008 )
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Written by SG
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Monday, 16 June 2008 |
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There
has been ample talk the Bucks would like to package their No. 1 pick
and a player — perhaps Charlie Villanueva – for an established player –
or to move up in the draft — possibly with Minnesota at No. 3 — to
possibly select Southern California guard O.J. Mayo.
It’s
no secret the Timberwolves are receptive to moving back and acquiring
another player, especially considering they have so many holes to plug.
An NBA GM says Memphis's Derrick Rose and Kansas State's Michael Beasley will go 1-2 in the draft, no matter who makes the picks. The GM also said Southern Cal's O.J. Mayo won't get past Minnesota with the third pick. Why? "Too much talent. He's just solid. He's not super. But he's really a good basketball player, shooter, ball-handler, defender. He's not explosive, but a good athlete. Good basketball player. I think he could start."
So far, Giddens' agent from Priority Sports, Aaron Mintz, said
Giddens impressed the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Houston Rockets,
who saw him compete in his lone workout.
Len Elmore, the former college All-American and NBA player, previewed the June 26 NBA Draft for sportswriter Gregory Clay. Among Elmore's observations:
-“The third guy should be Brook Lopez (of Stanford). You have a 7-footer who has some talent. The Timberwolves have the third pick. If I were them, I would take Lopez. He's a guy who can complement the team's strengths. ... Lopez is the most polished offensively of the big guys in the draft. He knows how to score.”
Timberwolves forward Mark Madsen, one of the NBA's premier bloggers,
wrote on MarkMadsen.com: "I cannot believe that Flip Saunders was
fired. I cannot believe it. This man can flat out coach and while I
hope that the Pistons have success in the future, let's not forget that
Flip's tenure as head coach of Detroit took the Pistons deep into the
playoffs every year. Coaching is not an exact science and it's not easy
at the NBA level with mature and grown men, all of whom have strong
competitive natures. I wish Detroit well, but they lost a gem with
Flip."
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Last Updated ( Monday, 16 June 2008 )
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Written by SG
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Saturday, 14 June 2008 |
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Small forward Danilo Gallinari belongs on the short
list of players the Wolves could be looking at with the third
selection, but it does not appear he will be coming in for a workout.
Gallinari indicated after a Thursday workout in New
Jersey that he wants to play for the Nets (who pick 10th) or New York
Knicks (sixth) and might not make any other visits.
"I like New Jersey and New York," he said. "I like those two places."
Even at their apex, the Hawks of old had to fight perception. During
their titanic 1988 playoff series against Boston, assistant coach
Brendan Suhr told Jack McCallum of Sports Illustrated: “We all know
what people think of when they think of the Hawks. They think of a
jivin’, high-fivin’, low-IQ team.”
Twenty years later, one of those Hawks (Doc Rivers) is a coach on the
cusp of a championship. Randy Wittman, Rivers’ backcourt partner from
1983 through 1988, coaches the Minnesota Timberwolves...
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Columnists
Sonia Grover started her Wolves site, "I Heart KG", in 2006. In the wake of the big trade, she moved over to TWolves Blog and brought her column,
"Wolves Daily News"Email:
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Derek Hanson, the founder of TWolves Blog, delivers his optimistic and often inspiring take on the Wolves in his column,
"DeROK's One Shot"Email:
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Dave Kelsey, life-long Wolves fan, season ticket holder, and forum post champion gives his humorous take on the Wolves and life in general in
"Club Seating with College Wolf"
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As one of the 78 owners of Troy Hudson's "Undrafted", its clear that Anthony Hall isn't afraid to go against the grain. He offers up his one-of-a-kind take on the Timberwolves in his column,
"In the Paint"
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Jeremy Knutson packed up his stuff from the Old Wolves Logo, drove over to the TWolves Blog, unloaded the car, and now invites you to come along for a ride through the NBA in his
"Hoop De Ville"
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Rob Brewer and Neil Olstad launched the first-ever Minnesota Timberwolves podcast back in 2007. After acheiving critical acclaim with "The Kissing Marney Gellner Show", the duo decided bring their act to TWolves Blog. "Timberwolves Today"
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