Category: Minnesota T-Wolves Blog

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Timberwolves sign Bonzi Wells and rookie Malcolm Lee

Bonzi Wells

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed rookie Malcolm Lee and free agent Bonzi Wells. We assume the Wells signing is just a training camp contract that doesn’t mean he’s making the regular season roster just yet.

Wells, a 6-5 guard-forward, is a 10-year NBA veteran (1998-2008) with career averages of 12.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 2.6 apg. He spent five-plus seasons with Portland, and also saw action with Memphis, Sacramento, Houston and New Orleans. His best season was 2001-02 when he averaged 17.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 74 games for the Trail Blazers. His most recent NBA action was during the 2007-08 season when he played in 51 games for the Rockets and 22 games for the Hornets. He spent the 2008-09 season playing in China and the 2009-10 season in the Puerto Rican League.

Lee, a 6-5 guard from UCLA, was drafted 43rd overall in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls and acquired by the Wolves in a draft-day trade. He averaged 9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists over his three-year collegiate career. Lee earned both First Team All-Pac-10 and Pac-10 All-Defensive Team honors in 2011 after averaging a career-best 13.1 points per game.

Timberwolves sign Jose Juan Barea

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed free-agent guard José Juan Barea. The deal is reportedly for four years, $19 million.

“We are excited to add J.J. Barea to our team,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “His experience, leadership capabilities and all-around play should help us immensely this coming season and beyond.”

Barea, 27, played in 81 games for Dallas in 2010-11, averaging 9.5 points and 3.9 assists in 20.5 minutes per contest. The 6-0 guard also appeared in 21 playoff games for the World Champion Mavericks, averaging 8.9 points and 3.4 assists in 18.6 minutes. Barea tallied 22 points and eight assists in the Mavs’ 2011 Western Conference Semifinals-clinching win over the Los Angeles Lakers. He started the final three games of the 2011 NBA Finals vs. Miami, scoring 17 points in Game 4 and 15 points (on 7-for-12 shooting) in the deciding Game 5.

Barea has played five seasons in the NBA, all with Dallas, and owns career averages of 7.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 315 games.

A native of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Barea attended Northeastern University from 2002-06, averaging 20.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.4 assists over his four-year collegiate career. He was not drafted by an NBA team and signed as a free agent with Dallas in August of 2006. He also spent time with the NBA D-League Fort Worth Flyers in 2006-07.

Wolves waive training camp invitees Will Conroy, Devean George

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has waived training camp invitees Will Conroy and Devean George.

Conroy, a 6-2 guard, was undrafted in 2005 after a four-year career at the University of Washington where he became the school’s all-time assist leader with 515 assists. He has played parts of two seasons in the NBA, most recently appearing in five games for the Houston Rockets in 2009-10, averaging 1.2 points and 1.4 assists. Conroy played for the Memphis Grizzlies (3 games) and Los Angeles Clippers (4 games) during the 2006-07 season. He has played in the NBA D-League for the Tulsa 66ers (2006-07), Albuquerque Thunderbirds (2007-09) and Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2010-11). Conroy has also played overseas for Virtus Bologna (2007), Olimpia Milano (2007-08) and Oyak Renault (2011).

George, a 6-8 guard-forward from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minn., was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round (23rd overall) of the 1999 NBA Draft. He spent eight seasons with the Lakers, winning NBA Championships his first three seasons. He was signed as a free agent by Dallas in 2006 and spent three seasons with the Mavericks. George played with Golden State in 2009-10. His best season was 2003-04 when he appeared in 82 games for the Lakers, including a career-high 48 starts, averaging 7.4 points and 4.0 rebounds. George has career averages of 5.6 points and 3.1 rebounds in 630 games. He has appeared in 86 playoff games, compiling averages of 5.0 ppg and 2.7 rpg.

Timberwolves trade Lazar Hayward to Thunder for Robert Vaden

Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has acquired forward Lazar Hayward from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for guard Robert Vaden and two conditional second-round picks.

“We are excited to be able to add Lazar to our organization,” Presti said. “Lazar is someone who we followed closely through the draft process and identified as a potential fit for the culture and identity that we are continuing to build in Oklahoma City. His toughness, length and shooting are attributes that will add depth to our roster, while his professionalism and competitiveness embody the intangibles that we value as an organization.”

Hayward (6-6, 225), originally drafted by the Washington in the 2010 NBA Draft (30th overall) was acquired by Minnesota in a draft night trade.  The Marquette University product saw action in 42 games during his rookie campaign, averaging 3.8 points and 1.7 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per contest.

The Oklahoma City Thunder roster now stands at 19.

Bonzi Wells seeks NBA comeback with Timberwolves

Bonzi Wells

The Timberwolves’ search for some stability and leadership has brought to training camp Bonzi Wells, who not that many years ago might have been one of the last guys ever considered to fulfill such needs.

Gifted but stubborn and immature once upon a time, he now, at age 35, is looking both for a job after three years out of the league and for a chance, perhaps, to tell young guys who think they know all a morsel or two about the way things really are.

He once was one of those guys.

Now, after playing in China in 2008-09, Puerto Rico in 2009-10 and not at all last season, he is seeking one last chance, mostly so he can leave professional basketball on his own terms.

“I really didn’t like the way I left the game,” Wells said. “You want to go out and say you’re retired. You don’t want to go out because someone tells you they don’t want you anymore.”

— Reported by Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune

Ricky Rubio arrives in Minnesota, ready for rookie season

Ricky Rubio

On his first winter morning in Minnesota, Ricky Rubio could have taken one of the many skyways that connect his downtown hotel to Target Center to avoid the cold.

Instead, Rubio decided to walk the couple of blocks outdoors to take in all the sights, sounds, and goose bumps that his new home brings with it.

“When I came to Target Center I decide to come in the street because I want to feel the weather,” Rubio said on Wednesday before going through a light workout. “It was a cold, a little.”

The NBA’s owners and players are still ironing out the details of a tentative labor agreement they reached over Thanksgiving weekend that would end the five-month lockout. In the most obvious sign yet that there are still wrinkles to be taken care of, Rubio was locked out of the arena when he arrived on Wednesday.

Literally.

“I was knocking on the door and nobody was opening,” he said with a chuckle. “I was like, `Cmon man.”’

Several Minnesota Timberwolves trickled into Target Center for voluntary workouts on Wednesday, two days before training camp is tentatively scheduled to begin. Wes Johnson, Anthony Tolliver, Michael Beasley, Darko Milicic and Nikola Pekovic joined All-Star Kevin Love, who has been in town for a couple of days.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Kevin Love lost 25 pounds during NBA lockout

Kevin Love

Kevin Love has used the extra offseason time created by the lockout to reshape his body, a grueling regimen that will have him reporting to training camp 25 pounds lighter than he was last season.

Entering the final year of his rookie contract, his bank account is poised to get a lot heavier.

Love worked out at the Minnesota Timberwolves facility on Sunday for the first time since NBA owners and players reached a tentative labor agreement, and he said he was encouraged by the changes the Wolves have made as he prepares to enter into talks on a contract extension.

“I love Minneapolis, I love the Twin Cities,” Love said when asked if he hoped to sign a deal that would keep him here for the long term. “Really this is all I know. It’s the first NBA city I fell in love with. This is all I know. Maybe we’ll keep it that way, maybe we won’t.”

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press 

Kevin Love turns down Besiktas offer

Kevin Love

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love informed Besiktas of Turkey on Sunday that he’s turning down its offer to sign with the Istanbul-based club and team up with New Jersey Nets guard Deron Williams.

“I didn’t feel it was the right decision for me at this time,” Love told ESPN.com.

Love, though, said playing abroad if the lockout drags on “is still very much an option” he’s considering.

NTV Spor of Turkey reported Friday that Love and Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng were Besiktas’ top two targets in its search for an elite forward to play alongside Williams.

— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com

Ricky Rubio may return to Spain

Ricky Rubio

Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio says he will consider playing for his former team Barcelona if the NBA season is canceled because of the ongoing lockout.

Rubio told Catalan radio ONA FM that “I want to wait until I see there is no chance of resolving the situation, and then I will sign with another team.”

— Reported by the Associated Press

InsideHoops.com editor says: Well, it’s really been great getting to know you, Ricky! But seriously folks, I’m not sure Ricky is ready for the NBA anyway. Another year overseas might do him some good, despite Ricky having an off year last season in Spain.