The Minnesota Timberwolves Thread: Timberwolves, Anthony Bennett part ways

From the article OKB helped us out with on the last page:


Pelton: What have you been working on this summer?

LaVine: Pretty much everything. I've been getting stronger. Shot consistency. Working off the ball a little bit more than point guard, but still knowing that you have to play the point guard position as well. Mental game a little bit as well.

2. Played 79 percent of his minutes as a rookie at point guard, via NBA.com/Stats lineup data.

Pelton: What do you think about playing more shooting guard this season?

LaVine: It's cool. It makes me feel a little more comfortable, more leaning on what I can do. But I like having the ball in my hands as well at the point guard position. It's good to have the best of both worlds. I'm doing the best I can with it.

Pelton: What's the difference between the two positions for you?

LaVine: Off the ball, that's Zach LaVine time. That's embedded in me. You just go react -- score, create. It was my first time playing point guard since high school, pretty much. I can handle the ball and everything, but the different reads -- the NBA pick-and-roll is different -- mean you've got to think more. That's the main thing I was working on.

Pelton: The transition to the NBA is always difficult as a rookie. Did playing point guard add to that challenge?

LaVine: Yeah, but you just get it with experience. Learning on the fly and game experience helps you more than anything. I felt like the more I did it, the better I got at it. Toward the end of the year I felt a lot more comfortable.

3. Averaged 21.1 points, 6.6 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game in eight April games while posting a .567 true shooting percentage, all his best marks in any month.

Pelton: Was that why you were so effective late in the season?

LaVine: Definitely. The more you play, the better you get.Anybody that's in the NBA, you get on a hot streak and you just go from there. I'll look to carry that into the next year. The year is over and now you start from new. You try to repeat the same thing.


Hmm.
 
@APkrawczynski: Talked briefly with Flip about Wolves rumored interest in Kendall Marshall. He says they have had no conversations with Marshall at all.

@DWolfsonKSTP: Also refuted the talk of the KG 2-yr deal talk in March. How that turn out? That being said, KM isn't landing here.
 
I don't mind KM as a player, but I'd prefer not. I'd rather extra reps go to young Tyus and even LaVine at PG.
 
Krawczynski made it a point to notify us that the big reason Andre Miller signed here was because of his past history with Ryan Saunders in Washington :rofl:
 
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Updates!

First and foremost, nothing but the best wishes for Flip Saunders and his cancer battle.

Next:

The Wolves open up the season on Wednesday, October 28 when they head to face the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center for an ESPN game. Their first home game of the season is Nov. 2 against the Blazers. They will also have four total games on ABC/ESPN (at Lakers, Cleveland, at OKC, at Clippers) and one game on TNT (Warriors).

#Twolves will play the fewest amount of back-to-backs in the NBA at 14 (compared to 19 sets last season).

According to TNT's David Aldridge, Arnie Kander is joining the Wolves in a new capacity next month. Kander is regarded as one of the top guys around the league when it comes to body mechanics and an innovator in the NBA with physical training.

Tayshaun Prince is joining the #Twolves. 1-year veteran minimum. Him and Arnie Kander are super close.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have completed a one-year contract with veteran point guard Andre Miller. The 39-year-old Miller gives the Wolves an experienced player at a position with oft-injured starter Ricky Rubio and 19-year-old rookie Tyus Jones.

Robbie Hummel has signed with Italian team EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. The Timberwolves initially made Hummel a qualifying contract offer in June, but reportedly withdrew it after signing Nemanja Bjelica.

Anthony Bennett is entering his third year in the league and the Minnesota Timberwolves have a decision to make on whether they want to pick up Bennett's fourth year option at $7.31 million for 2016-17. As of right now Flip Saunders is unsure what they will do. Saunders said they are going to use training camp and the entire summer to evaluate Bennett to see if he is worthy of having his option picked up. "There is no question about his talent. It's about getting in shape. He's in shape now," said Saunders.
 
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Really interested in the Arnie Kander storyline. Read the Kevin Arnovitz article a month ago or so about how most NBA execs are really diving into sport science innovation rather than outdated techniques/fewer and fewer stubborn attitudes about that as we move forward.

Under SVG, Kander's title went from 'strength & conditioning; to 'physical therapist.' SVG likely wanted people he's familiar with so I guess it should have been something foreseen by most.
 
Anthony Bennett tidbits from Zach Lowe. Amazing what has transpired with this kid - Lowe thinks teams should take a flyer on him for the minimum (I agree) but at some point he does have to show something.

The Wolves are in the process of cutting bait on Bennett1 with a $3.6 million buyout

The Wolves will shave off some of Bennett’s $5.8 million salary for this season, and they clearly couldn’t give Bennett away. They peddled him everywhere, including to teams with cap space to absorb him in exchange for a token top-55-protected second-round pick Minnesota would never see, per several league sources. No one bit.

Bennett has only one even semi-proven NBA skill: rolling to the basket hard, catching the ball, and doing something productive close to the rim. That’s not always an easy skill when a guy is too short to play center or protect the rim on defense. Any team playing Bennett will need another big to do those things alongside him, and if that big can’t space the floor, Bennett will just run right into him on his cuts to the hoop. A (Toronto) pairing of Bennett and Jonas Valanciunas would cramp spacing.

Two interior-oriented bigs can thrive in tight spacing if they are smart and skilled enough to work the ball through tiny corridors. Bennett has shown no such skill. He has 65 assists in two seasons, and though he improved his passing in Minnesota, he’s a hog when he catches the ball in the paint. He’s an explosive hog, but still a hog. He’ll catch in a crowd, take one dribble, pump fake, pivot, fake again, and toss up something even as shooters stand open around him. Sometimes that something is a lefty dunk that makes you say, “Holy ****, now that looked like a no. 1 pick!” but sometimes it’s a hopeless fling.


AWolfAmongWolves.com:

Everyone believes they have the potential to be something greater than they are, Bennett included. Sports are strange because there are quantifiable statistics that help make or break your case. It isn’t necessarily about what you believe, and your sense of personal self-worth can only buoy your spirits for so long, because it’s all about what you show on the court. So far, Bennett hasn’t shown much of anything other than fleeting moments of athleticism, thunderous putback dunks on “grown man” rebounds, or picture-perfect jump shot form that never yielded consistent results. Of course, it’s okay to be a bit of a late-bloomer in the real world as well as in professional sports, though in the latter you’re likely to change your address (or perhaps even your continent) a few times before you stick where you think you belong.

And where does Bennett belong? On a lottery team, where he could get some playing time, with a coaching staff devoted to developing young players and a few veterans who could try to coax the best out of him. The Wolves are all of those things, and they decided to be rid of him
 
I'd love to see AB get one more chance here, but the roster doesn't really allow for so many chances anymore. That's a great thing overall for the Wolves -- because it shows the use-able talent they can confidently employ on the tail end of this rebuild -- but you always hate to get rid of a guy who still has a good ceiling like Bennett. As alluded to though, he didn't show enough here and at some point he has to. It's just gonna have to be experimented with more on another roster. The Wolves aint got time for that no more. They coming up! So, oh well.
 
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Yep. For sure....:nthat:

Where you been?

Moved out to NY a few years ago. Don't worry, still a Minnesota fan :tongue:

Looking forward to this upcoming season...still predicting a losing record, but the T-Wolves are getting there.

Holding out fading hope for the Twins to grab the last wild card spot too.
 
From Jerry Zgoda's live chat yesterday:

There’s no question things have changed dramatically since the team announced (Saunders') diagnosis in August, back when it quoted his doctors saying the cancer was very treatable and curable. Since then there have been changes to the way his body handled the chemotherapy (and maybe how much cancer they’ve found) that have made it life threatening. Everyone involved has gone radio silent because of the family’s request for privacy and federal patient-privacy laws, etc., but between the complete silence, the lack of people visiting as far as I can tell apart from his immediate family and very inner circle while he remains hospitalized here in Minneapolis and the things I’m hearing second-hand, well, none of it is good. I’ll just say this, and this is just my own opinion, if he pulls through this: I doubt very much he’s back this year, it’s probably unlikely he coaches again just because of the stress inherent doing both those jobs and I think there’s a pretty good chance he doesn’t return full time to either job. As far as the franchise goes, that will put them in a holding pattern for some time. I can’t see Glen Taylor allowing Milt Newton and Sam to make a major decision until they know more about Flip’s future and Glen decides who will run his team for the long term. I wouldn’t assume it’ll be Milt and Sam going forward, that’s just for the short term until things become clearer.
 
Great win last night for the Wolves. Towns looked pretty good out there. Nice presence on the glass.

Ricky's scoring was obviously the highlight, but he also had 14 dimes to go with the points - good sign.

Also a fan of K-Mart coming off the bench, he can be an impact bench guy.
 
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