Minnesota T-Wolves Blog – Page 19 – NBA Blog

Timberwolves sign James Nunnally

The Minnesota Timberwolves signed forward James Nunnally today.

Nunnally, 6-7, has spent the last two years playing in Turkey with Fenerbahçe, making back-to-back EuroLeague Final Four appearances, including winning a championship in 2017. Over 29 EuroLeague games in 2017-18, he averaged 9.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, while shooting 54.0% overall from the field, including a 55.4% mark from beyond the arc.

Undrafted in 2012 out of UC Santa Barbara, Nunnally spent parts of the 2013-14 NBA season with Atlanta and Philadelphia, totaling averages of 3.4 points and 1.5 rebounds in 12.7 minutes per game in 13 contests. He has also played in the G League with Bakersfield and Texas, as well as overseas in Greece, Puerto Rico, Spain, Israel and Italy. Nunnally earned Italian League MVP honors in 2016 after averaging 18.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 40 games.

Timberwolves sign C.J. Williams to two-way contract

The Minnesota Timberwolves have signed guard C.J. Williams to a two-way contract.

Williams appeared in 38 games (17 starts) as a rookie with the Los Angeles Clippers last season, averaging 5.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.8 steals in 18.6 minutes per game. He appeared in 16 games with the Agua Caliente Clippers of the NBA G League, averaging 16.5 points in 29.5 minutes per game. He was named the recipient of the 2017-18 NBA G League Jason Collier Sportsmanship Award on Apr. 11, which is given to the player who best represents the ideals of character and conduct on and off the court.

The Fayetteville, N.C. native played four years at North Carolina State, leading the Wolfpack to the NCAA Sweet 16 as a senior in 2012. Since turning pro, he has spent parts of three seasons in the NBA G League, averaging 14.0 points on 46.3% shooting (40.2% from three-point range) over 115 G League games.

According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, “The 6-foot-5 guard can spend up to 45 days with the Timberwolves next season, and will spend the rest of his time with the Iowa Wolves. Rookie guard Jared Terrell is the Timberwolves’ other two-way signing.”

Two-way contracts allow teams to sign two players to two-way contracts in addition to the 15-man regular-season roster. Players signed to a two-way contract can accrue no more than 45 days of service with their respective NBA club during the regular season and will spend the remainder of their time with the team’s NBA G League affiliate.

Jimmy Butler undergoes procedure on hand

Minnesota Timberwolves guard/forward Jimmy Butler underwent an elective right hand procedure on Tuesday, July 24.

The team says that Butler has already returned to offseason activities.

It’s unknown if those offseason activities include playing basketball at regular intensity right away, but the team is clearly suggesting that it was a minor procedure.

Timberwolves sign Anthony Tolliver

The Timberwolves have signed forward Anthony Tolliver.

Looking at the roster as it stands now, Tolliver will likely back up Taj Gibson at power forward, and could see some backup small forward.

The 6-foot-8 forward spent the 2017-18 season on the Pistons, where he averaged 8.9 points per game, his highest single-season scoring average since the 2009-10 season. Tolliver shot an NBA career-best 43.6 percent from three-point range, hitting a career-high 2.0 threes per outing, on 4.6 attempts on average. The 43.6 percent ranked seventh in the NBA and third among players 6-8 or taller. Tolliver’s 46.4 percent from the floor also was a single-season career-best mark.

During his career, Tolliver has played in 599 regular season games, averaging 6.5 points on 42.1 percent shooting, and 36.7 percent three-point shooting.

Tolliver played for the Timberwolves during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.

He has also played with San Antonio, Portland, Golden State, Atlanta, Charlotte, Phoenix, Detroit and Sacramento.

Timberwolves sign rookie Keita Bates-Diop

The Timberwolves yesterday signed rookie forward Keita Bates-Diop, who the team selected with the 48th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft on June 21.

Bates-Diop was named the 2017-18 Big Ten Player of the Year after averaging 19.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks over his redshirt junior season at Ohio State. A 2017-18 consensus Second Team All-American, Bates-Diop raised his scoring average 10.1 points per game from his redshirt sophomore (9.7 ppg) to his redshirt junior year (19.8 ppg). This season, Bates-Diop paced the Big 10 in scoring, finished second in rebounds (8.7 per contest) and fifth in blocked shots (1.6 blocks per game). He shot 47.2 percent from the floor, including a 35.9 percent mark (66-for-184) from deep.

The Bloomington, Ill. native was a top-five finalist for the 2017-18 Julius Erving Award, honoring the top small forward in the nation. He was also a finalist for the Wooden Award and a semifinalist for the Naismith Player of the Year.

Timberwolves sign Jared Terrell to two-way contract

The Minnesota Timberwolves yesterday signed guard Jared Terrell to a two-way contract.

The 23-year-old Terrell averaged 16.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game this past college season at Rhode Island. He hit 42.7% FG from the floor, including 41.4% three-pointers and 82.1% free throws. He was rewarded with Atlantic 10 First Team All-Conference Team honors, an was named the U.S. Basketball Writer’s Association District I Player of the Year.

Over the course of his four-year college career, Terrell finished seventh on Rhode Island’s all-time scoring list with 1,754 career points, fourth in three-pointers (192) and fifth in steals (170). He helped lead Rhode Island to the NCAA Tournament in both of last two seasons.

Two-way contracts allow NBA teams to sign two players to two-way contracts. This is in addition to the up-to-15-man regular-season roster that each team can have. Players signed to a two-way contract can accrue no more than 45 days of service with their respective NBA club during the regular season and will spend the remainder of their time with the team’s NBA G League affiliate.

Timberwolves part ways with Nemanja Bjelica

Here’s the Minneapolis Star Tribune with an update on the Timberwolves, who recently made a key decision on Nemanja Bjelica:

Nemanja Bjelica, the intriguing forward with three-point range and a habit of missing 15-20 games per season, is done in Minnesota after three seasons.

That was pretty much settled when the Wolves withdrew their qualifying offer and let him become an unrestricted free agent, then signed Anthony Tolliver to essentially take his role. But it’s confirmed as of this morning, with Woj tweeting that Bjelica is signing a one-year deal with the 76ers.

Bjelica might have had more upside than Tolliver, having been in the league just three seasons, but he’s already 30 and probably is what he is to a certain degree. Tolliver, 33, definitely is what he is, but in terms of short-term production — two guys on one-year deals — I’m going to go ahead and say Tolliver is a slight upgrade.

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Timberwolves sign rookie Josh Okogie

The Minnesota Timberwolves signed rookie guard Josh Okogie today.

The Wolves selected Okogie with the 20th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

All players selected in the first round are guaranteed to receive a contract, assuming they wish to begin their NBA careers right away. So, this signing is standard and was expected.

Okogie averaged 18.2 points and 6.3 rebounds in 36.4 minutes per game as a sophomore last season, ranking fourth in the ACC in scoring, the highest by any Georgia Tech player since 1997-98. The 19-year-old shot 38.2 percent from three (66-of-173) in his two years as a Yellow Jacket, including a 38.0 percent clip last season. He averaged 6.7 rebounds in ACC play, third-best for an ACC guard, and only one player ahead of him was shorter than his 6-4 height (Ky Bowman of Boston College). He grabbed a career-best 16 rebounds at Florida State on Jan. 24, the most ever by a Tech guard in an ACC game. Okogie led the ACC in free throw attempts as a sophomore, getting to the line 6.8 times per contest.

Over two seasons with the Yellow Jackets, Okogie amassed 1,033 career points, one of six Tech players to ever accomplish the feat by the end of their sophomore season and the most since Matt Harpring’s 1,021 points (1995-96). As a sophomore this past season, he was named to the 2017-18 All-ACC Third Team by the coaches and an Honorable Mention by the media.

Timberwolves waive Cole Aldrich

The Minnesota Timberwolves waived little-used center Cole Aldrich today.

Aldrich played in 21 games for the Timberwolves in the 2017-18 season, and averaged 0.6 points and 0.7 rebounds in 2.3 minutes per outing.

In 2016-17, Aldrich appeared in 62 games for the Wolves, averaging 1.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in 8.6 minutes per outing.

He joined the team as a free agent on July 13, 2016.

Timberwolves rookies ready to work

Tons of attention goes towards big-name rookies, but each year plenty of less heralded players emerge, and tracking them, from draft through summer league through the season, is always lots of fun. Here’s the Minneapolis Star Tribune reporting on some new Timberwolves:

New Timberwolves Josh Okogie and Keita Bates-Diop met the Twin Cities media on Tuesday outside the team offices and were set to start their new jobs quickly.

“We’ll begin tonight — their first workout is tonight,” said Wolves coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau.

The players, taken in the NBA Draft on Thursday night, said they were ready to make the big step.

“I think the biggest piece of advice I’ve received is that I’m in charge of my day-to-day, my decisions,” said Okogie, a 6-4 shooting guard who was the team’s first round pick (20th overall) out of Georgia Tech. “I have to be well-suited on and off the court.”

Bates-Diop was taken in the second round (48th) after winning Big Ten player of the year honors as a guard/forward at Ohio State. He was pegged as a first rounder in many mock drafts, but if his fall to the second round hurt him, he didn’t show it.

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