Minnesota T-Wolves Blog – Page 73 – NBA Blog

Wolves, Wizards trade rookies

The Minnesota Timberwolves tonight acquired the draft rights to Marquette forward Lazar Hayward, the 30th overall pick, and Serbian forward Nemanja Bjelica, the 35th overall pick, from the Washington Wizards in exchange for the draft rights to Clemson forward Trevor Booker, the 23rd overall pick, and Hamady N’diaye, the 56th overall pick. Additionally, Minnesota selected center Paulao Prestes from Brazil with the 45th overall pick.

Hayward, a 6-6 forward, started 118 of his 138 games at Marquette, averaging 13.5 points and 6.6 rebounds while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from behind the arc. The second all-time leading scorer in Marquette history with 1,859 career points, Hayward played in a school-record 138 games and earned Second Team All-Big East and Honorable Mention AP All-American honors as a senior. He was recently named Most Outstanding Player at the 2010 NABC All-Star Game.

Bjelica, a 6-10 forward from Serbia, averaged 9.9 points per game in 20 appearances last season for KK Crvena Zvezda in the Adriatic League, and improved to 20.2 points per game in six appearances in the Serbia A League. He was also the leading rebounder on the silver medal-winning Serbian National Team in Eurobasket 2009 last fall.

Prestes, a 6-11 center, currently plays for CB Murcia in the Spanish ACB League. The native of Brazil averaged 9.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in the Spanish ACB league this season while shooting 57.4 percent from the field. On a per minute basis, Prestes is the top rebounder in his league.

Earlier tonight, the Wolves selected Syracuse forward Wesley Johnson with the 4th overall pick in the draft. Minnesota also acquired Portland Trail Blazers guard/forward Martell Webster in exchange for forward Ryan Gomes and the draft rights to Luke Babbitt.

Wolves trade Ryan Gomes, Luke Babbitt draft rights to Blazers for Martell Webster

The Minnesota Timberwolves tonight acquired 6-7 guard/forward Martell Webster from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for forward Ryan Gomes and the draft rights to Luke Babbitt, the 16th overall pick in tonight’s draft.

“We’re excited to add a player like Martell who has the ability to shoot the basketball and display a rare athleticism on the floor. He fits in well with our stated desire to stay young and add maturity,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “We want to thank Ryan Gomes for being the consummate professional both on and off the court during his time in Minnesota and wish him the best of luck in the future.”

Just 23 years old but a five-year veteran in the league, Webster owns career averages of 8.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in 301 games (164 starts) for the Blazers. The 6th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft out of Seattle Preparatory High School in Seattle, Wash., Webster rebounded to appear in all 82 games last season and post averages of 9.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game after suffering a stress fracture in his left foot on opening night in 2008 that cause him to miss all but five minutes of the 2008-09 season. A career 37.2 percent shooter from behind the arc, Webster has connected on 120+ three-pointers in each of his last two full NBA seasons.

Gomes played three seasons in Minnesota, averaging 12.3 points and 5.1 rebounds in 240 games. The 50th overall pick by the Boston Celtics in the 2005 NBA Draft, Minnesota acquired Gomes in the 2007 trade that sent Kevin Garnett to Boston.

Ricky Rubio still not coming to NBA until 2011-12 season

The AP reports:

Ricky Rubio is promising NBA fans they’ll get to see his razzle-dazzle, but not before the 2011-12 season — and not necessarily with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In an interview with the Associated Press, the highly rated prospect said he won’t leave Spanish club Barcelona before his NBA opt-out clause comes up after next season. The Timberwolves remain his team of choice, as long as they make improvements following a season where they finished 15-67, the second-worst record in the league.

If not, the Spaniard may want to make his NBA debut elsewhere.

“I’m open to everything,” Rubio said courtside from Barcelona’s Palau Blaugrana stadium. “You never know when all of this finishes if it will be with this team.”

Although Rubio expects improvements from the team that took him with the fifth choice in last year’s draft, he was ready to stand by a club that has called him the only “untouchable” player on its roster — even if he’s not even on that yet.

Wizards win first pick in 2010 NBA Draft Lottery

The National Basketball Association announced tonight that the Washington Wizards received the first overall pick in the 2010 Draft during tonight’s Draft Lottery in Secaucus, NJ.

“This is a great night for our franchise and particularly for our fans,” said Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld. “They have shown great support and passion during what has been a difficult stretch over the last two seasons, but they can celebrate tonight knowing that we’ve taken a big step towards building the team that they deserve.”

The Wizards, who had a 10.3% chance of landing the first pick in tonight’s Draft Lottery, have held the number one overall pick twice before in franchise history. They chose Walt Bellamy number one in 1961 and Kwame Brown with the top pick in 2001.

In addition to the number one pick, the Wizards own Cleveland’s first round selection (30th overall) as a result of a three-team deal on Feb. 17 and hold their own second round pick (35th overall).

Washington is totally rebuilding, and chances are they’ll go make John Wall the first overall selection.

The Philadelphia 76ers are likely to take Evan Turner second, playing him alongside Andre Iguodala.

At third, the Nets will probably go for a power forward. There are several good candidates worthy of going that high up.

Complete 2010 NBA Draft Lottery results are here.

Timberwolves hire Tony Ronzone as assistant GM

Minnesota Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations David Kahn today announced the hiring of Tony Ronzone as the franchise’s Assistant General Manager/Player Personnel. Ronzone has been with the Detroit Pistons for the past nine seasons, most recently as the team’s Director of Basketball Operations. Ronzone will report directly to Kahn.

“We are excited to be able to add a person with Tony’s extensive basketball experience to our player personnel staff,” Kahn said. “Even though Tony’s reputation is largely tied to international scouting, I believe he has always had a firm handle on NBA and college personnel as well. He is a relentless worker and we are fortunate to have him join us.”

Ronzone began with the Pistons in 2001, serving as the team’s Director of International Scouting until 2005 and as Director of Basketball Operations from 2005-10. In his most recent role with Detroit, Ronzone directed all of the Pistons’ international scouting activities and assisted with college scouting and evaluating NBA personnel. Ronzone began his NBA career as a scout with the Dallas Mavericks from 1998 through 2000.

“I’m pleased to be joining a great organization like the Minnesota Timberwolves and excited to work with David Kahn and the entire basketball staff,” Ronzone said. “This is a great opportunity and I look forward to using my knowledge and past experiences in helping the organization achieve its goals.”

Ronzone began his front office basketball career as a player/coach in New Zealand. In 1990, Ronzone returned to the U.S. as an assistant coach at Arizona State. He also coached the Saudi Arabian National Team in 1992, and spent five years as a coach in United Arab Emirates. Ronzone’s international coaching resume also includes stints as an assistant coach for the Chinese youth national team in 1998 and the Chinese National Team in 2001. He was the first American to ever coach with the Chinese National Team.

Ronzone played college basketball at the University of Nevada before finishing his collegiate career at Long Beach State. He played professionally overseas in New Zealand, Australia and the Philippines.

Ronzone is involved with USA Basketball, where he serves as Director of International Player Personnel. In this position, he assisted with the gold-medal winning men’s basketball team at the 2008 Olympics. He is also active in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program.

2009-10 All-Rookie teams

Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings, Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors were unanimous selections to the 2009-10 NBA All-Rookie First Team, the NBA announced today.

Rounding out the NBA All-Rookie First Team are New Orleans’ Darren Collison (46 points) and Chicago’s Taj Gibson (41 points).

The NBA All-Rookie Second Team consists of New Orleans’ Marcus Thornton (31 points), San Antonio’s DeJuan Blair (30 points), Oklahoma City’s James Harden (22 points), Minnesota’s Jonny Flynn (22 points) and Detroit’s Jonas Jerebko (22 points).

More info and complete voting results here.

Tyreke Evans wins Rookie of Year

Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings is the recipient of the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy as the 2009-10 NBA Rookie of the Year, the NBA announced today.

He deserved it. This is an individual award, not a team award. And as an individual, Evans was pretty much the best first-year player in the league. Stephen Curry came on strong as the season progressed, and Brandon Jennings had more team success than either of them, but as an individual, Evans rocked.

Evans received 67 first-place votes (491 points) from a panel of 123 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Golden State’s Stephen Curry finished second with 391 points and Milwaukee’s Brandon Jennings finished third with 204 points. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

More info and full voting results here. And fan discussion is here.

Iowa State hires Fred Hoiberg as coach

The AP reports:

Iowa State has brought back “The Mayor” for a second term in Ames, and the Cyclones are hoping former Indiana Pacer Fred Hoiberg still has the magic touch he displayed so often as a sharp-shooting star at Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State confirmed the swift and surprising hiring of Hoiberg late Tuesday night after finalizing negotiations with the former Cyclones star.

Hoiberg, known as “The Mayor” during his playing career, replaces Greg McDermott, who left Iowa State after four seasons to take over as coach at Creighton.

Judging Flip Saunders as Wizards coach

Mike Jones of CSN Washington reports:

A winner everywhere he’s been, Saunders was supposed to come in and take the Wizards from the middle of the playoff pack to the ranks of the league’s elite. But, like his talented roster, he came up short. It’s difficult to give Saunders’ coaching this season a precise grade because there were so many derisive elements involved this season. He – like his players – talked about the need to set egos aside and sacrifice for the greater good, but when things got going, Saunders couldn’t get the Wizards to play together.

Saunders was heralded as an offensive genius, but we never really saw him work his magic on the Wizards. Because he wanted to give Arenas, Butler, Jamison and Haywood time to get used to play together again, Saunders didn’t make them run much of his system. Over-estimating his players, he admittedly let them freestyle while they got back into the groove. But they never got there. The player that suffered the most was Butler, who often looked lost in the system. Was that because Saunders didn’t use him effectively, or was it a result of a lack of focus on Butler’s part, or his bad chemistry with Arenas? It turned out not making Arenas play within a system was a terrible decision because he wasn’t capable of running the show and balancing scoring with distributing. And so, the Wizards’ never clicked.

How much of it was Saunders’ fault, though? With the agendas that the Wizards had, would the coach have had any success if he did direct them to play within his system? By December, Saunders was publically criticizing his players for terrible shot selection and not playing together, “In all my years of coaching…I have never had to yell at a player for taking bad shots…until this year,” said Saunders, who also stressed improved ball movement.

Timberwolves need a superstar

The AP reports:

Al Jefferson and Kevin Love are quality pieces of the foundation, as is Corey Brewer, who showed considerable improvement this year. But that’s not enough.

”We don’t have THE block,” president David Kahn said. ”That one block where you can build everything else around.”

They went 15-67, tying the 1991-92 Timberwolves for the worst record in franchise history. They lost 29 of their final 31 games of the season and played in front of sparse crowds that became more disillusioned as the year passed.

Now it’s time to find out if taking those lumps all season long was worth it.

”Now, it’s very hard to say we’re going to get that guy this summer, and I hope we can. … But somehow, some way over the next certain amount of time we’ve got to find our great player,” Kahn said.