Minnesota Timberwolves

Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore reportedly have taken another step toward assuming ownership of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx.

According to The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania, Rodriguez and Lore exercised their option to purchase the next 20 percent of the franchises, which is a continuation of their three-step plan.

Rodriguez and Lore reached an agreement in 2021 to buy the teams in installments. They faced a Saturday deadline to inform majority owner Glen Taylor that they exercised the option, and now they have until March 15 to secure the next 20 percent. They will then have until Dec. 31, 2023, to purchase another 40 percent of the team.

If either of the next two payments are missed, Taylor will have the right to "nullify the succession plan" while retaining Lore and Rodriguez as limited partners, per Krawczynski and Charania. The duo reportedly has been in regular contact with Taylor, who acts as a mentor to them as he prepares to relinquish control of the Timberwolves, a team he's been the majority owner of since 1994.

For their part, Lore and Rodriguez have "privately expressed confidence to people within the organization, Taylor included, that everything is on track to be completed."

Krawczynski and Charania noted that Lore and Rodriguez have already undertaken more influence than limited partners usually do since they joined the ownership group last year, pointing to their roles in recruiting Tim Connelly away from the Denver Nuggets to become Minnesota's president of basketball operations. They also reportedly were consulted on the contract extension for Lynx head coach and president Cheryl Reeve.

The Timberwolves are in 11th place in the Western Conference with a 16-19 record. Minnesota will return to action on Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks (22-12). The Lynx finished the 2022 season with a 14-22 record and fell short of the playoffs.

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert showed his holiday spirit Monday, gifting Target Center employees $50 each to thank them for their work:

More than 450 employees, including ushers, security, concessions staff and more, also each received a signed card from Gobert, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

Gobert is in his first season with the Timberwolves after an offseason trade from the Utah Jazz. The three-time All-Star has a history of helping people who work behind the scenes. In January, he gifted $50 and a card to employees at Utah's Vivint Arena. He also donated $200,000 to a relief fund for Vivint Arena employees in 2020 after the NBA season was suspended amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even in a new location, Gobert's generosity has remained.

If the Los Angeles Lakers move on from Patrick Beverley this season, the veteran has a "desire to return" to the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

Fischer outlined a scenario where Beverley could be traded to the Detroit Pistons before reaching free agency via buyout.

The 34-year-old likely wouldn't want to be part of a rebuilding situation after reaching the playoffs in each of the last four years with the Timberwolves and Los Angeles Clippers. Beverley spent the 2021-22 season with Minnesota, helping the squad return to the postseason for just the second time since 2004.

Beverley was a fan favorite in Minnesota, providing one of the more iconic moments of last season when the Timberwolves won their play-in game to make the playoffs:

Even though Minnesota traded him in July, he thought highly of the fanbase and said, "We kind of revamped the environment there."

Beverley went to the Utah Jazz in the trade that brought Rudy Gobert to Minnesota before being flipped to Los Angeles. Things haven't gone smoothly since the deal; he's averaging just 4.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game for a squad that is 11-16.

It could force the Lakers to make another trade to get back on track.

The Timberwolves also haven't had a great year at 13-15 despite lofty expectations.

When the Lakers played Minnesota in October, T-Wolves coach Chris Finch noted Beverley's impact.

"He was an outstanding professional in his habits, and his routine was one that younger players could see and mimic," Finch told reporters. "Mostly, he was a tone-setter. That's what we were looking for a little bit now; who is going to be our tone-setter? We haven't had a single guy step forward yet."

A reunion could be the best-case scenario for all parties.

Malik Beasley took exception to Rudy Gobert taking an easy layup in the final seconds of Friday's game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz.

Speaking to reporters after the Timberwolves' 118-108 win, Beasley called Gobert's decision in that moment "disrespectful."

"Unwritten rule of basketball and I told him that," Beasley added.

There was a brief scrum on the court after the buzzer sounded, with Beasley having to be separated from Gobert.

With time winding down in the game and Minnesota holding a 116-108 lead, Gobert was standing under the basket and called for the ball. Kyle Anderson passed it to him, and he took the easy points.

There was no one around Gobert and the shot clock was off.

This was his first game back in Utah since being traded to the Timberwolves in July. He had a dominant performance with 22 points and 13 rebounds in 37 minutes.

Gobert has always been a polarizing player in the NBA. He is a three-time All-Star and three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner, but there are elements to how he plays that have rubbed some people the wrong way.

There were rumors about tension between Gobert and Donovan Mitchell when they played together in Utah. He was also ejected from a game last week for tripping Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kenrich Williams.

Perhaps Gobert's desire to send a message to the Jazz front office that traded him compelled him to take the points.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns is expected to miss four-to-six weeks with a calf strain, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The forward was injured during Monday's game against the Washington Wizards, with Josh Robbins of The Athletic reporting Towns was unable to put any weight on his right leg. The team quickly ruled him out for the rest of the game.

According to Wojnarowski, Towns had scans on Tuesday to reveal the extent of the injury, although he is expected to return sometime in January.

Towns has played more power forward this season after the Timberwolves acquired three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert at center.

The result has been decreased numbers for Towns, averaging 20.8 points per game after scoring at least 24 per game in each of the last four years. His 8.2 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game would also be the worst of his career.

The 27-year-old has been productive in other ways, averaging 5.3 assists per game, and is a consistent offensive weapon with at least 20 points in 14 of 21 games this year. His only game in single digits was when he left early because of an injury on Monday.

It represents a significant loss for a squad that has struggled to gel this year, sitting 10th in the Western Conference with a 10-11 record.

Naz Reid and Kyle Anderson will see more minutes at the 4 with Towns unavailable, although the Timberwolves will need its top scorers Anthony Edwards and D'Angelo Russell to step up offensively to overcome the loss of a three-time All-Star.

Gobert will also be under more pressure to control the paint defensively without Towns alongside him.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards isn't happy with the team's effort after falling to 5-6 on the season.

"We just play soft, man," Edwards told reporters. "Like, every bump, we flying all over the place, including myself. Teams just coming in like, 'We're going to take their heart,' and that's what's going on. We're down 20 every game! We've got to figure it out."

The Timberwolves have lost four of their last five games, with the only win coming at home against the last-place Houston Rockets. The latest loss came Monday against the New York Knicks, falling behind in the first quarter while never really getting competitive the rest of the game.

It's a disappointing stretch for a team with high expectations entering the year, adding Rudy Gobert to a squad that went 46-36 last season.

Talent is clearly not the issue with a team featuring Edwards, Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and more. It seems the mentality has to change in order for Minnesota to emerge as a legitimate contender.

Expectations are high for Anthony Edwards in his third season, but the Minnesota Timberwolves guard has been inconsistent through eight games.

One thing that's been noticeably absent from Edwards' performance thus far is finishing at the rim with a dunk.

"I feel like I lost some of my powers," Edwards told Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Per Basketball-Reference.com, Edwards has attempted 156 field goals with no dunks this season. He had 128 dunks in the previous two seasons combined.

There have been questions about Edwards' conditioning during the offseason. Karl-Anthony Towns publicly criticized his teammates' eating habits after a loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 24, the second night of a back-to-back.

"Maybe I could do a better job of teaching him how to take care of his body—diet and everything," Towns told reporters. "That’ll be on me. I know y’all think it’s funny up here when he talks about Popeyes and all that s--t. That doesn’t make me happy to hear. We’re high-level athletes."

Hine noted Edwards said last week he was working on conditioning to get his "legs back."

The 21-year-old is averaging career-highs across the board, including scoring (23.1 points per game), rebounding (6.1), assists (4.0), field-goal percentage (44.9) and three-point percentage (36.9). But he's also turning the ball over 3.1 times per game, up from 2.6 last season.

Minnesota's ceiling this season and beyond will depend largely on Edwards developing into a superstar. The team paid a steep price in draft picks to acquire Rudy Gobert.

The T-Wolves are only 4-4 through eight games, but it's still early. Edwards can play himself back into prime shape as the season goes along, which will allow him to throw down those poster dunks he was known for over the previous two years.

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns called his team "special" and said it isn't concerned about any "outside noise" amid its 2-2 start after he made comments about fellow star Anthony Edwards' diet.

Edwards struggled mightily in a 115-106 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday after shooting 3-of-15 (1-of-8 from three-point range) for nine points.

After the game, Towns had this to say to reporters when asked about how he can help Edwards on the back end of back-to-backs (the Wolves also played on Sunday).

"Maybe I could do a better job of teaching him how to take care of his body, diet and everything," Towns said.

"That'll be on me. I know you all think it's funny up here when he talks about Popeye's and all that s--t. That doesn't make me happy to hear. We're high-level athletes. But also, that falls on me too, you know. The old cliché falls on you. Everyone wants to take the blame, but it's on all of us."

Those comments led to various reactions on sports media outlets and Twitter, but Towns appears focused on the task at hand.

Edwards said during the preseason that he planned on improving his diet by cutting out some fast food, including Popeyes.

It's been a slow start for Edwards, who is shooting just 25.8 percent from three thus far. But Towns hasn't fared well either, shooting just 41.0 percent from the field while averaging 20.3 points per game. He has averaged 23.2 points on 52.7 percent shooting for his career.

The Timberwolves entered this season with higher expectations after adding All-Star center Rudy Gobert to the starting lineup alongside Towns, Edwards, D'Angelo Russell and Jaden McDaniels.

The early-season schedule looked easy on paper. However, the T-Wolves lost home games to the Spurs and Utah Jazz around a pair of wins versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. Their offense has struggled, with the team notably hitting just 28.7 percent of three-pointers (second-worst mark in the NBA).

The Jazz and Spurs are off to hot starts at 3-1, so it's conceivable that preseason notions had them pegged a bit too low, but Minnesota opened its championship window now after dealing a mountain of picks to the Jazz for Gobert.

The slow start isn't ideal, although there's plenty of time to get back on track. The Timberwolves look to re-enter the win column Wednesday at home in a rematch with the Spurs.

Karl-Anthony Towns is ready for Anthony Edwards to cut out the Popeyes.

The Minnesota Timberwolves center said he plans on stepping up and helping Edwards change his diet so his co-star's conditioning improves.

"Maybe I could do a better job of teaching him how to take care of his body, diet and everything," Towns told reporters after Monday's 115-106 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. "That'll be on me. I know you all think it's funny up here when he talks about Popeye's and all that s--t. That doesn't make me happy to hear. We're high-level athletes. But also, that falls on me too, you know. The old cliché falls on you. Everyone wants to take the blame, but it's on all of us."

Playing in the second night of a back-to-back, Edwards finished with nine points on 3-of-15 shooting and was noticeably sluggish throughout the game. The third-year guard admitted his play lacked the energy necessary for the Timberwolves to win.

"This one's on me, man," Edwards said. "I came out with no energy at all. If I come out with energy, that changes the whole team. It’s all about me right now."

Edwards said he refrained from fried foods Monday-Thursday during the offseason and does not plan on partaking in any of his beloved Popeyes during the season. That said, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are still days of the week that add up. At this early juncture in the season, no one is quite at their peak performance level.

It's possible Edwards' summer diet held him back in this early-season back-to-back.