Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves had a partisan reaction after a report on the outcome of the 2020-21 NBA Rookie of the Year race.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball topped the voting ahead of the Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards and the Sacramento Kings' Tyrese Haliburton.

The Wolves' social media account wasn't exactly subtle with its reaction to the news:

https://twitter.com/Timberwolves/status/1405234418755723273

lol

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) June 16, 2021

Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns chimed in as well:

😂😂😂

— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) June 16, 2021

Edwards is already turning his ROY snub into a source of motivation:

💯💯 https://t.co/xz2HNeCAmA

— Anthony Edwards (@theantedwards_) June 16, 2021

Ball missed 21 games but arguably outperformed Edwards over the course of their rookie campaigns. He averaged 15.7 points, 6.1 assists and 5.9 rebounds. He also helped the Hornets qualify for the play-in tournament, where they lost to the Indiana Pacers in their first game.

Edwards put up 19.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game and provided some impressive highlights. His dunk on Toronto Raptors forward Yuta Watanabe was probably the best of the year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyNodFiofS8

The 2020 No. 1 overall pick didn't miss a single game, either.

The advanced metrics weren't all that kind to him, though. He had a minus-5.0 net rating, per NBA.com, and he was 52nd among small forwards (minus-1.14) in ESPN.com's real-plus minus.

A 23-win season wasn't what Minnesota had in mind for its first full season of the partnership between Towns and D'Angelo Russell, though injuries limited how much they shared the court together.

In order to snap a three-year playoff drought in 2022, the Wolves will need Edwards to take his game to another level. In the end, they might be happy with the ROY voting if it does in fact put a big chip on his shoulder.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Malik Beasley said he's "working hard everyday on and off the court to be the best version" of himself while serving a 120-day jail sentence for pointing a gun toward a family who mistakenly pulled up to his house during a community tour in September.

In February, Beasley pleaded guilty to a felony charge of threats of violence. He began the jail sentence at Wright County Jail in Minnesota on June 1.

The 24-year-old Atlanta native wrote a letter addressed to his family, friends and fans that was posted on the Beasley Enterprises Instagram page on Friday, and said he's using the situation to work on himself.

"I want people to learn from me, because it's going to be one helluva story," Beasley said. "This last year is just a chapter, and I hoped you stayed tuned to the end."

He also joked his story will eventually become a 30 for 30 documentary.

"I'm not looking for sympathy or anything like that, just to understand I could easily fold and I won't," Beasley wrote. "For those who care, I love y'all and will return the favor I promise.'

The 2016 first-round pick out of Florida State was allowed to finish the 2020-21 season with the Wolves but suffered a hamstring injury in early April that forced him to miss the final six weeks of the campaign. He averaged 19.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists across 37 games.

Beasley was also suspended for 12 games without pay by the NBA in February. 

He's under contract with Minnesota through 2022-23 with a team option for the following season as part of a four-year, $60 million deal.

His jail sentence is scheduled to end before the next NBA season gets underway in October.

Longtime NBA assistant coach David Vanterpool could be on the "short list for several head coach jobs," according to Jordan Schultz of ESPN on Saturday.

Schultz noted Vanterpool is "very well respected among league circles" and could be an option for the New Orleans Pelicans if the team moves on from Stan Van Gundy.

The 48-year-old spent the past two years as an associate head coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves after he was an assistant coach for seven years with the Portland Trail Blazers. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported in May that Vanterpool will not return to the Timberwolves next season.

There was widespread criticism when Vanterpool was passed over for the Timberwolves head coaching job after Ryan Saunders was fired. The team hired Chris Finch from the Toronto Raptors instead.

Other Black assistant coaches voiced their concerns to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, while Blazers stars Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum were also disappointed:

Make it make sense. Respectfully. https://t.co/4crtNzWV0W

— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) February 22, 2021

The Trail Blazers currently have an opening as well after parting ways with Terry Stotts on Friday, although Lillard told Yahoo's Chris Haynes that Lakers assistant Jason Kidd is his top choice for the job.

The Minnesota Timberwolves reportedly had guards D'Angelo Russell and Jaylen Nowell attend Game 1 of the first-round playoff series between the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers.

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, the Timberwolves' line of thinking was that it would "show them what it’s like to play among a hectic playoff domain."

The T-Wolves reportedly plan to continue sending players to big playoff games throughout the postseason in order for them to "gain perspective on what it takes to play at this high of a level."

Since reaching the playoffs in 2018, the Timberwolves have been among the NBA's worst teams. They have posted three consecutive losing seasons, including a 19-45 mark in 2019-20.

Minnesota did show some improvement this season, but it went just 23-49, the third-worst record in the Western Conference ahead of only the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets.

Russell and Nowell had the opportunity to watch two of the best teams in the NBA in the form of the second-seeded Suns and a Lakers team that won the NBA championship last season.

While Russell spent his first two NBA seasons with the Lakers as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 draft, he never made the playoffs as a member of the team. He did appear in five games as a member of the Brooklyn Nets in 2019.

Meanwhile, Nowell has no playoff experience over his two NBA seasons with the T-Wolves. He was the team's second-round pick out of Washington.

The Wolves have only one playoff appearance as a franchise over the past 17 seasons, so having their players take in the playoff atmosphere is a unique and potentially effective tool.

Although the Timberwolves players ultimately have to grow and improve as a unit on the court, making them hungrier for playoff basketball can't be considered anything other than a good thing.

Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore haven't discussed relocating the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx as they work toward their purchase of the franchises, according to The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski.

Krawczynski reported they are "are committed to the Twin Cities market":

Lore and Rodriguez have not yet spoken publicly about their intentions with the Timberwolves, but Lore has been posting on social media about investing in a community that has struggled with racial tension since George Floyd was murdered by police last summer. He has already teamed up with Wolves guard Josh Okogie on community initiatives surrounding the shooting death of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center as well.

The threat of relocation always looms to some extent when ownership of a sports team changes hands, especially when the new owner or owners don't have any preexisting ties to the region.

For fans in Minneapolis, those concerns became more acute when a report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski brought more information about the agreement between Glen Taylor and the pair of Rodriguez and Lore.

Timberwolves shareholder Meyer Orbach filed a complaint alleging the agreement doesn't have any formal provision to keep the Wolves in Minnesota. Relocation is one topic the owners would have to bring before the Advisory Board, but the board's approval isn't required for a move.

Taylor issued a statement addressing the story: "I am aware of the story published by ESPN and the litigation that has been filed. As a policy, we do not comment on pending legal matters. I stand by my prior statements and commitment to keeping the Timberwolves and Lynx in Minnesota."

Still, the report seemingly contradicts what Taylor told the Star Tribune's Chris Hine in April.

"They will keep the team here, yes," he said. "We will put it in the agreement. At this point we have a letter of intent, but when we make up the contract we'll put that in there. That's no problem. That won't be a problem."

Krawczynski wrote Orbach’s lawsuit is alleging Rodriguez and Lore signed a letter of intent that included language about the Timberwolves remaining in Minnesota. However, the document isn't legally binding, and the details aren't included in the final sale agreement.

Leaving Minneapolis may not be all that costly, either. 

While the Timberwolves' current lease ties them down to Target Center through the 2034-35 season, the owners would only be on the hook for $50 million to break the lease and leave. 

For those who recall the saga of the Seattle SuperSonics, their plight remains fresh in the memories of fans.

Upon purchasing the SuperSonics and Seattle Storm in July 2006, Clay Bennett said on behalf of himself and the ownership group that "it's not our intention to move or relocate the teams," while tying the sentiment to getting a new arena in Seattle.

By the start of the 2008-09 season, the Sonics were the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Rodriguez and Lore can say the right things early on, but it might do little to quell the disquiet from some fans.

The ownership saga of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx took another turn.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Meyer Orbach has filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis about the sale of the Timberwolves from Glen Taylor to a group led by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez. Orbach is alleging the pending sale violates the franchise's partnership agreement.

Most notably, the complaint said the deal doesn't include any provision that requires Lore and Rodriguez to keep the Timberwolves in Minnesota, per Wojnarowski.

According to the complaint, the sale agreement requires the owners to take a possible relocation decision to the Advisory Board, however, the board's approval wouldn't be required for any such move.

Taylor signed a lease with the city of Minneapolis in 2016 to keep the Timberwolves at Target Center through the 2034-35 season. However, the team's ownership group would need to pay only $50 million in order to bolt Minneapolis before then.

That presumably wouldn't be an issue for Lore and Rodriguez after they struck an agreement to purchase the Timberwolves and Lynx for $1.5 billion. The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski initially reported they had entered into a 30-day negotiating window to get things done. The plan tentatively calls on Taylor to remain part of the ownership group for two and a half years, after which he'd relinquish his control.

The complaint also alleges that Taylor did not honor minority shareholders' "tag along rights" which would allow them to sell their stakes in the franchise before the majority owner's sale is completed.

Any time ownership in a sports franchise changes hands, relocation is often one of the biggest concerns for the fanbase, especially when the team plays in a smaller market.

For example, the writing seemed to be on the wall for the Seattle Supersonics from the moment they were bought by a group of businessmen from Oklahoma City in 2006. The Oklahoma City Thunder were born in time for the 2008-09 season.

Neither Lore nor Rodriguez has deep ties to the Twin Cities, so Wolves fans would inevitably worry about the team's future.

Taylor attempted to allay those fears when he said in April that "the NBA will not approve of the Timberwolves moving from here to Seattle." He added the league would prefer to expand rather than have a team relocate to the Pacific Northwest.

The 80-year-old was more definitive in April with Chris Hine of the Star Tribune.

"They will keep the team here, yes," he said. "We will put it in the agreement. At this point we have a letter of intent, but when we make up the contract we'll put that in there. That's no problem. That won't be a problem."

Orbach's complaint may reveal whether Taylor was true to his word.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Malik Beasley apologized to his estranged wife, Montana Yao, and two-year-old son in an Instagram post on Sunday.  

He wrote:

I wanna say sorry for putting you in the situation you were put in the last few months.. my head wasn’t were it was supposed to be.. I was looking for more when it was right here that whole time.. I’m telling the world and you that there’s no body like you for me.. for the record I was the one who ended my last relationship off the fact that there is no one like you .. also for the record i wanted to do my own ish cuz I just left u guys and I def ain’t the type to set up pictures at the mall n ish .. as that’s some childish ish and I’m trying to grow individually and grow a family .. a real family .. I ain’t looking to be judged I’m looking for forgiveness.. To forgive me for hurting my family the way I did. At the end of the day I’m a lover boy and I miss holding y’all and loving y’all.. I love you mu shi .. I love you kai Kai ❤️ my family over thing...

Beasley was seen publicly holding hands with Scottie Pippen's ex-wife, Larsa Pippen, in November. Two weeks later, Yao filed for divorce. 

According to TMZ Sports, Yao posted on social media at the time that she was "told to leave our family home 10 days ago and just like you all I'm pretty confused."

"There have been no public or private addressing of the situation nor any type of apology," she added at the time.

After Beasley's apology, Yao responded, saying "it's hard to own up to bad decisions and apologize especially publicly so it is really appreciated."

She also called the apology a "step forward in healing."

Beasley and Yao had been married for nine months when she filed for divorce in December. They have a two-year-old son, Makai.

Former MLB star Alex Rodriguez and tech entrepreneur Marc Lore have a deal in place to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves from Glen Taylor.

Official statement on Minnesota Timberwolves sale to Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore: pic.twitter.com/cpoZPFHFFr

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 14, 2021

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Taylor agreed to sell the Timberwolves to the ownership group led by Rodriguez and Lore for $1.5 billion.

Taylor announced on April 10 that Rodriguez and Lore had signed a letter of intent to buy the NBA franchise. It was also reported at the time that the sale was expected to include the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx.

Per Charania, Rodriguez and Lore will be equal partners in the purchase.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported Tuesday that the 30-day exclusive negotiating window between Taylor and the Rodriguez-led group had come and gone without an official deal.

Despite that, Windhorst noted that the two sides continued to negotiate in good faith and were potentially working on an extension of the window.

Windhorst also reported that Rodriguez and Lore wanted to buy the team in phases over the next two years, resulting in them taking full control from Taylor by the 2023-24 season. One aspect of the recent negotiations reportedly focused on Rodriguez and Lore desiring to take control by a certain date.

Taylor is a Springfield, Minnesota, native who purchased the Timberwolves in 1994 and prevented them from potentially relocating. He has put the franchise on the market multiple times in recent years but has made it clear he would not sell without a commitment from the buyers to keep the team in Minnesota.

The T-Wolves reached the playoffs in eight straight seasons from 1997-2004, and they made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals in 2004.

Since then, Minnesota has just one playoff appearance in 17 seasons, however.

The Timberwolves, who missed the playoffs again this season, will look to turn things around under Rodriguez and Lore with Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards and D'Angelo Russell leading the way.

T-Wolves fans will undoubtedly be hopeful that Rodriguez can translate his baseball success to the NBA.

In 22 MLB seasons with the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and New York Yankees, A-Rod was a 14-time All-Star, three-time American League MVP and one-time World Series champion, who recorded 3,115 hits and 696 home runs.

Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore are still in pursuit of purchasing the Minnesota Timberwolves from owner Glen Taylor, and they believe they are close.

Lore told Matthew Boyle of Bloomberg that talks were "ongoing, and going well."

"We’re getting close to the finish line," the tech entrepreneur added.

The confidence comes despite the duo's 30-day exclusive negotiating window with Taylor coming to an end without a deal, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN. The two sides reportedly continue to "negotiate in good faith" and could reach an extension on the exclusive window.

The purchase price for the Timberwolves is expected to be about $1.5 billion, although Taylor has entered exclusive negotiating windows with other prospective buyers in the past without selling the team.

Rodriguez was also part of a failed attempt to purchase the New York Mets alongside former fiancee Jennifer Lopez, but the team was eventually sold to Steve Cohen.

There will also be competition for the Timberwolves with the exclusive window closed. Former NBA player Arron Afflalo is part of an ownership group that plans to relaunch its bid for the basketball team, per Marc Stein of the New York Times.

In the meantime, Lore and Rodriguez launched a new venture capital firm Wednesday called Vision/Capital/People with $50 million of their own money.

When it comes to Anthony Edwards, the only thing most folks want to talk about regarding his play this season is The Dunk.

Yes, that dunk.

It's the one in which Edwards dribbled along the baseline and rose up to deliver the dunk of the year, as Toronto's Yuta Watanabe, clearly in the wrong air space at the wrong time, soon found himself sprawled down on the Target Center floor.

Edwards, with a not-so-sly grin, soon looked up to the jumbotron for the replay, seemingly wondering the same thing most of us who saw the dunk were thinking.

Did that really happen?

It became on many levels a reminder of how dynamic Edwards was as a player, and why the Minnesota Timberwolves made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft ahead of James Wiseman and LaMelo Ball, who were taken with the No. 2 and 3 picks by Golden State and Charlotte, respectively.

This season, Edwards is averaging 18.9 points—tops among all rookies—along with 4.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He has done this while appearing in 68 games, which also leads all rookies.  

Edwards began the season as a reserve, but he soon played his way into a starting job, which he has shown no signs of relinquishing. But as several NBA scouts pointed out, viewing Edwards as merely an above-the-rim dunker doesn't do nearly enough justice to the upside and potential he has shown in his rookie season.

"He can jump out of the gym; we all know that," said an Eastern Conference scout. "But what really separates him from a lot of athletic young guys is his physicality. He really does come at you like a linebacker, unafraid to deliver a hit which is not the norm when you're talking about an NBA guard."

Four scouts were asked to rate Edwards' ceiling in one of four categories: 

• Full-time starter

• Occasional All-Star

• Perennial All-Star

• Future Hall of Famer

One scout deemed the 6'5" Edwards a full-time starter, which is what he is now, while the other three felt he would be an occasional All-Star.

"He has shown the potential we all saw in him being able to score at a high level here," said the scout who rated him as a full-time starter. "But he's out West, which is loaded with guys who can score and can win games. That's going to hurt him more than anything else when it comes to being seen as one of the best. He can get numbers, but can he win? I don't think it'll happen for him there."

Meanwhile, the other three scouts each gave a different take on why they felt Edwards would be named to multiple All-Star teams during his career.

"As much as that stuff is about your play, personality comes into the equation, too," said the first scout who rated him as an occasional All-Star. "He has a great personality that comes across as really likable. That, plus his talent, will take him far."  

The second scout who categorized him as an occasional All-Star believes Edwards' play will be what gets him on the All-Star team multiple times.

"I think sometimes we forget that the kid is just that, a kid," the second scout said. "He's going to get better the more he plays, the more he understands what he can do and what he can't get away with in the NBA. There's a reason why he was taken with the No. 1 pick."

The third scout who likened him to being an occasional All-Star pointed to Edward's defensive potential being higher than most give him credit for.

"Look at his strength, length, and leaping ability; he can be really great if he wants to, at that end of the floor," said the third scout. "But it can't just be the highlight stuff, which he's good at. He has to want to do it every possession which if you watch him now, isn't the case."

Indeed, Edwards has shown he can be an impact defender even when he's playing defense from behind.

But consistency, as is the case with most young players, is what scouts believe will ultimately determine Edwards' ceiling for growth into being known more as a top-tier player in the NBA, or just another highlight-reel dunker.