Minnesota T-Wolves Blog – Page 68 – NBA Blog

Rashad McCants rejoins Texas Legends of D-League

The Texas Legends announced today that guard Rashad McCants has reported back to the team and is expected to be active for tonight’s game, as the Legends host the Sioux Falls Skyforce at 7:00 PM at HP Court inside Dr Pepper Arena.

McCants, 26, was assigned to the Legends from the Dallas Mavericks training camp and played in three games with Texas, before exploring options overseas. He becomes one of four Legends players to have been drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft.

In his three games with the Legends earlier this season, McCants averaged 12.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists, including a season-high 20 points in his first game with the team against Austin.

Despite leaving the storied college program of the University of North Carolina after just three years, McCants ranks 14th all-time in scoring at the school and is tied for second with 221 career three-point field goals. He also helped lead the Tar Heels to the 2005 National Championship.

He was drafted in the first round (14th overall) in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. McCants played in parts of four seasons with the T-Wolves and later the Sacramento Kings. In 249 career NBA games, the guard has averaged 10.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.

Chris Roberts, a 22-year-old guard out of Bradley University, was also acquired via the available player pool. He played in one game at the start of the season with the Idaho Stampede, in which he scored four points and grabbed two rebounds. Roberts has appeared on ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 Plays five times, including his 75-foot buzzer beater to defeat Oakland in the 2009 Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament Quarterfinal. Roberts will also be active for tonight’s contest.

Mavericks sign Corey Brewer

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed forward Corey Brewer. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Brewer (6-9, 188) was originally the seventh overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. He holds career averages of 9.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 25.7 minutes in 232 career games (147 starts) with Minnesota.

Brewer played in 79 games (35 starts) as a rookie for the Timberwolves in 2007-08, but sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament 15 games into 2008-09 campaign that cost him the remainder of the season. He returned for the 2009-10 season to start all 82 games and average career highs in points (13.0), rebounds (3.4), assists (2.4) and minutes per game (30.4).

Brewer has played in 56 games this season averaging 8.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.6 steals in 24.3 minutes before being traded to the New York Knicks as a part of the 12-player deal that also landed Carmelo Anthony in New York. Brewer joins the Mavericks after the Knicks requested waivers on him on Mar. 1.

The former University of Florida standout was a two-time national champion with the Gators in 2006 and 2007 and was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. In three years at Florida, Brewer also won three Southeastern Conference Championships to go along with two national titles and recorded the first triple-double in Florida basketball history on Dec. 18, 2005.

The native of Portland, Tenn., was a 2004 McDonald’s All-American after averaging 24.9 points and 12.8 rebounds in his senior season at Portland High School.

Brewer is also active with both the American Diabetes Association and Juvenile Diabetes Association to create awareness for the disease that has impacted his family.

Brewer will wear number 13 for the Mavericks.

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Corey Brewer and Jason Terry had a close encounter last year

Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports (via blog):

It was a year ago today when Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Corey Brewer had an up close and personal meeting.

Terry was amazingly whistled for a foul on a play in which he received an elbow in the nose from Brewer. Blood was spewing from Terry’s nose as he laid sprawled on his back on the floor.

Terry went to the locker room and was back in the game about three minutes later with cotton sticking from his left nostril. And he wound up scoring a game-high 26 points as the Mavs edged the T-Wolves, 112-109.

After an examination, it was revealed that Terry had to undergo facial surgery after he fractured his left orbital bone. The surgery, ironcially, occurred Mar. 5, which is Brewer’s birthday.

Timberwolves expected to offer Kevin Love $70 million contract extension

Kevin Love is an extremely good basketball player. You know it. I know it. The people know it. And the Minnesota Timberwolves reportedly know it.

Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports:

Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Kevin Love can look forward to a contract extension offer of six years in the $70 million range once a new NBA labor deal is reached, a little birdie says.

The NBA’s collective bargaining agreement expires June 30.

Love, 22, can become a restricted free agent after the 2012-2013 season. The Wolves have no intention of letting him get that far.

Love, who is being paid $4.61 million this season and is signed for $6.1 million next season, leads the NBA in rebounding (15.5 average) and double-doubles (56, five more than Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin), and ranks 18th in scoring with a 20.9-point average.

Love said Tuesday evening that he likes Minnesota and hopes to remain here.

Keeping Love will be great for the Wolves, though they definitely need to pack more talent around him. He’s a rebounding superstar, but not a top offensive or defensive star who can carry a team into the playoffs on his own.

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Timberwolves, Eddy Curry reach buyout agreement

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that the team and recently-acquired center Eddy Curry have agreed to terms on a contractual buyout. Subsequently, the team has placed Curry on waivers. Per team policy, terms of the buyout agreement were not disclosed.

The Timberwolves acquired Curry from New York on Feb. 22 along with Anthony Randolph, cash considerations and a future second-round draft pick from Denver as part of a three-team trade that sent Corey Brewer to the Knicks and Kosta Koufos to the Nuggets. Curry did not appear in a game for the Wolves following the trade.

Knicks waive Corey Brewer

New York Knicks President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that swingman Corey Brewer has been waived.

Brewer, 6-9, 188-pounds, was originally acquired from Minnesota on Feb. 22 as part of a 13-player, three-team trade. He has career averages of 9.1 points and 3.3 rebounds in 232 games (147 starts) in four NBA seasons with Minnesota. He did not appear in a game for New York.

The Knicks are expected to use the available roster spot to sign forward Jared Jeffries.

Carmelo Anthony traded to Knicks in 3-team deal involving Billups, Felton, Gallinari

The Denver Nuggets today acquired F Wilson Chandler, G Raymond Felton, F Danilo Gallinari, C Kosta Koufos and C Timofey Mozgov as part of a three-team trade with the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Nuggets also received New York’s first-round draft pick in 2014, second-round picks in 2012 and 2013 and cash considerations. The second-round picks were acquired by the Knicks from Golden State last summer.

In exchange, the Nuggets sent F Carmelo Anthony, G Chauncey Billups, G Anthony Carter, F Renaldo Balkman and F Shelden Williams to New York, which traded C Eddy Curry and F Anthony Randolph to Minnesota and will get F Corey Brewer from the Timberwolves.

“Carmelo has been an important part of the best seven-year stretch in Denver Nuggets history. We have shared many special moments and were fortunate to watch him grow into an All-Star and one of the league’s top players,” Nuggets team president Josh Kroenke said. “However, Carmelo made it very clear early in the season that he wasn’t willing to re-commit to the organization and wanted to pursue other opportunities in basketball and life. At that point, we decided it was imperative that we do what was in the best interest of the Denver Nuggets and our fans. We wish Carmelo the best in his career and sincerely thank him for what he’s helped us accomplish.

“I would also like to personally thank Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter, Renaldo Balkman and Shelden Williams for their contributions on and off court as members of the Denver Nuggets. I have gotten especially close with Chauncey and Anthony during their time here in Denver and their contributions to this organization and city goes far beyond wins and losses. They will truly be missed.”

Three of the four players acquired by the Nuggets are former first-round draft picks; Felton was taken fifth overall in 2005, Chandler 23rd in 2007 and Gallinari sixth in 2008.

Chandler, 6-8, 225, averaged a career-high 16.4 points and 5.9 rebounds in 51 games with the Knicks this season. The 23-year-old has scored at least 20 points 16 times and recorded five double-doubles.

Felton, 6-1, 205, is averaging a career highs in points (17.1), assists (9.0) and steals (1.8) while starting all 54 games in his sixth NBA season. Felton, 26, is fifth in the NBA in assists per game and he joins Utah’s Deron Williams as the only two NBA players averaging at least 17 points and 9 assists.

Gallinari, 6-10, 225, is averaging a career-high 15.9 points and shooting .893 from the free-throw line (sixth in the NBA) in 2010-11. The 22-year-old was second in the league last season with 186 three-pointers.

Koufos, 7-0, 265, appeared in 39 games with Minnesota this season, averaging 2.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in limited minutes. Mozgov, 7-1, 250, averaged 4.0 points and 3.1 rebounds in just 13.5 minutes as a part-time starter for the Knicks. The 24-year-old rookie spent the previous six seasons playing professionally in his native Russia.

“We are excited about the talented young players we acquired in this trade,” Kroenke said. “They were valuable contributors to one of the most improved teams in the NBA this season. We are looking forward to making another postseason push. Our goals remain the same: improve every day, play hard every game and bring an NBA championship to Denver.”

Wolves shut Jonny Flynn down for a week

The AP reports:

The Minnesota Timberwolves are shutting down point guard Jonny Flynn for the next week, hoping it will help his recovery from major hip surgery.

Flynn was inactive against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night. He also will likely miss back-to-back games coming out of the All-Star break on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

Ricky Rubio is shooting bricks overseas

The AP reports:

The numbers don’t lie—Ricky Rubio is struggling with his shot.

The Spaniard is shooting just 20 percent from beyond the 3-point line in the Euroleague this season, a stat that has concerned fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team that used a first-round draft pick in 2009 to claim him.

As for Rubio himself, he’s not sweating it.

“Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t,” Rubio told The Associated Press after a recent 80-56 win over Roma Lottomatica. “I’m not worried. You have to keep shooting and believing in yourself.”

Rubio is averaging only about six points per game, but he is also doing what he does best—finding passing angles few others see and creating offense.

Kevin Love replaces Yao Ming on 2011 West All-Star team

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love has been named to the 2011 Western Conference All-Star team, the National Basketball Association announced today. Love was named to the team by NBA Commissioner David Stern to replace Yao Ming, who was voted as a starter by the fans but is out for the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in his left ankle. The honor is the first of Love’s career and the first for a Timberwolves player since Kevin Garnett during the 2006-07 NBA season. Love is the fifth player in franchise history to be named an All-Star, joining Garnett (10 appearances), Tom Gugliotta (1), Wally Szczerbiak (1) and Sam Cassell (1).

“This is an incredible honor for me and I’m so proud to be able to represent the Timberwolves organization at one of the league’s premier events,” Love said. “I’m thankful to Commissioner Stern for giving me his support, as well as to all the great fans in Minnesota who have been behind me and my teammates all season long.”

This marks the second time in franchise history that the Commissioner has named a Wolves player to the All-Star game as a replacement for an injured player. Kevin Garnett earned an All-Star nod in 1997 as a replacement for the injured Shaquille O’Neal, the first of his NBA-record-tying 14 consecutive selections.

“I’m really happy for Kevin. He worked extremely hard this offseason to elevate his game and learn how to consistently perform at a high level in this league,” Wolves head coach Kurt Rambis said. “This recognition is well-deserved, and exciting news both for Kevin personally and our organization as a whole.”

Love, the league’s leading rebounder at 15.5 boards per game, is on pace to become the first player since Moses Malone in 1982-83 to average 20+ points and 15+ rebounds in a season. He’s also on track to become the first player in NBA history to average 12+ rebounds per game while shooting better than 40% from behind the arc. In addition, Love leads the league in double-doubles (43), and his current streak of 34 straight games with a double-double is the second-longest in the last 25 seasons (Kevin Garnett – 37 straight in 2006; John Stockton – 37 straight in 1989).

On Nov. 12, Love made history when he tallied 31 points and 31 rebounds in a come-from-behind win over New York. Love became one of just 19 players in NBA history with a 30/30 game, and the first to accomplish the feat since Moses Malone in 1982.

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