With the Wolves in the midst of a youth movement, forward Antoine Walker’s agent said he has talked to the team about a trade or buyout of the 12-year veteran’s contract.
“Antoine’s a heck of a player,” agent Mark Bartelstein said. “He wants to play. I wouldn’t say anything is imminent, but we’re talking to the Wolves and we’ll see if we can work something out."
Mike Trudell/Timberwolves site talks to Fred Hoiberg about the team’s draft prospects:
Q: On if Mayo fits two of the Wolves’ needs – perimeter defense and
outside shooting:
Hoiberg: Yeah, he sure does – and competitiveness and bringing in that mentality.
And that’s something we’re looking for. I think a lot of guys do. You look
at Kevin Love, fills that with his outside shooting, with his passing, with
his competitiveness and he’s won at every level he’s been at as well. You
have guys that have won everywhere they’ve been – in high school and these
guys in one year in college where they led their teams to good records.
We’ve got a tough decision to make. You throw Brook Lopez in that mix and
then a couple other guys still there as well.
outside shooting:
Hoiberg: Yeah, he sure does – and competitiveness and bringing in that mentality.
And that’s something we’re looking for. I think a lot of guys do. You look
at Kevin Love, fills that with his outside shooting, with his passing, with
his competitiveness and he’s won at every level he’s been at as well. You
have guys that have won everywhere they’ve been – in high school and these
guys in one year in college where they led their teams to good records.
We’ve got a tough decision to make. You throw Brook Lopez in that mix and
then a couple other guys still there as well.
Q: On UCLA forward Kevin Love being an intriguing prospect because of his passing ability:
Hoiberg: His passing ability just makes people so much better. You can put him at
the high post. I think he would be a great high-low feeder with Al. His
ability to take one step out of bounds, fall backwards and just Dan
Marino-like put it right on the number is phenomenal. He makes up for his
size with his basketball IQ and his smarts.
Hoiberg: His passing ability just makes people so much better. You can put him at
the high post. I think he would be a great high-low feeder with Al. His
ability to take one step out of bounds, fall backwards and just Dan
Marino-like put it right on the number is phenomenal. He makes up for his
size with his basketball IQ and his smarts.
Seattle is also reportedly trying hard to move up to #2, and is dangling Chris Wilcox as bait (in exchange for the cumbersome contract of Mark Blount). The Supersonics would also take Beasley there. This is all assuming that O.J. Mayo doesn’t go third to Minnesota, which is not something teams should take for granted just yet based off what we know so far.
Ric Bucher/ESPN has the Wolves taking Brook Lopez with the third pick:
Lopez-Jefferson sounds a lot like Parish-McHale to a GM who would know.
Ben Pherson and Jason Feldman/Rochester Post-Bulletin on the Wolves draft.