Timberwolves may offer Kevin Love a maximum-salary contract

Kevin Love

Six days before the league deadline, the Timberwolves are prepared to pay All-Star forward Kevin Love a maximum-salary contract, a league source said Wednesday.

Unresolved is whether it will be a four-year contract approaching $61 million or a maximum five-year “designated player” deal surpassing $78 million.

The NBA’s new labor agreement allows every team one designated player — a player ending his rookie contract who receives a five-year maximum-salary contract extension — on their roster.

The Wolves prefer to save that designated-player slot for the future — to re-sign Ricky Rubio in three years, perhaps — but their negotiations with agent Jeff Schwartz might depend on what deals Oklahoma City reaches with Russell Westbrook and New Orleans reaches with Eric Gordon.

— Reported by Jerry Zgoda and Kent Youngblood of the Minneapolis Star Tribune

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Roy Hibbert not expecting new Pacers deal until summer

Roy Hibbert

With the deadline for teams to negotiate contract extensions approaching in less than a week, Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert said he thinks he won’t get a new deal by next Wednesday.

“My personal gut feeling is that we’ll do something in the summer, because the max guys are the ones that get extensions right away,” Hibbert said. “I’m just going to follow my agent’s lead.”

Hibbert, who is having his best season, will become a restricted free agent, which means the Pacers can match any offer made to him this summer if the deadline passes.

Hibbert, however, said no one should dwell on his becoming a free agent.

He prefers to remain a Pacer.

— Reported by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star

Mavs assistant Darrell Armstrong arrested in California

Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials say an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks basketball team has been arrested on an outstanding warrant from Las Vegas.

Sgt. James Brown says Darrell Armstrong was arrested and booked Tuesday in a case involving non-sufficient funds. Details about the case weren’t immediately available.

Armstrong’s bail was set at $40,000, and someone posted it Wednesday morning.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Milwaukee Bucks assign guard Darington Hobson to D-League

The Milwaukee Bucks have assigned rookie guard Darington Hobson (6-7, 210) to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League, General Manager John Hammond announced today.

Hobson, 24, has appeared in five games for the Bucks this season and averaged 1.2 assists and 0.8 points in 7.8 minutes per contest.

Originally assigned to the Mad Ants on December 29, Hobson averaged 11.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in three games for Fort Wayne earlier this season. He was recalled back to Milwaukee on January 4.

Eric Maynor had surgery, out for rest of season

Eric Maynor

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Eric Maynor underwent successful surgery this morning to repair a torn right Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL), the team announced today.

Maynor suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of Oklahoma City’s game at Houston on January 7. Prior to his injury, the third year guard was averaging 4.2 points, 2.4 assists, 1.4 rebounds and 15.2 minutes in nine games.

Maynor is expected to be ready for the 2012-13 Training Camp.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas joins Cleveland Cavaliers front office

Zydrunas Ilgauskas

The Cleveland Cavaliers today announced that Zydrunas Ilgauskas is joining the team’s front office as Special Assistant to the General Manager. The announcement was made today by Cavs General Manager Chris Grant. In his role as Special Assistant to the General Manager, Ilgauskas will be involved with front office responsibilities, including evaluation of amateur and professional prospects.

“We are very pleased to have Z begin the next phase of his basketball career with the Cavaliers and I am looking forward to working closely with him. Z has always had a great desire to learn and succeed and he already has a deep understanding and appreciation of the game and the NBA. We are extremely happy to welcome him back as part of our franchise,” said Grant.

Ilgauskas was originally drafted by the Cavaliers with the 20th overall pick in the first round of the 1996 NBA Draft. The Lithuanian made his home in Cleveland, playing the first 12 years of his 13-season career with the Cavaliers. The Cavs all-time leader in games played (771), Z also tops the Cavaliers record books in offensive rebounds (2,336), total rebounds (5,904) and blocks (1,269) while ranking second in points (10,616).

“I am really excited to come back to the Cavaliers, a team that I have so much history with and contributing to our future success,” said Ilgauskas. “I’m also looking forward to learning more about this game that I love so much and working with Chris Grant and the rest of the organization in every way that I can.”

A two-time all-star (2003, 2005), Ilgauskas finished his career with averages of 13.0 points on .476 shooting, 7.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 27.2 minutes in 843 games (724 starts). The 7-foot-3 center played in six postseasons with the Cavaliers, including playing a major role on the Cavaliers teams that reached at least the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs in five consecutive seasons (2006-2010) and made the franchise’s first appearance in the NBA Finals in 2007.

Nets assign Jordan Williams to D-League

The New Jersey Nets have assigned rookie forward Jordan Williams to their NBA Development League affiliate, the Springfield Armor, Nets General Manager Billy King announced today.

Williams was selected 36th overall by New Jersey in the second round of the 2011 NBA Draft.  The Maryland product has appeared in six games for the Nets, averaging 1.0 point and 1.5 rebounds in 6.2  minutes per game.  He has shot .333 (3-9) from the field.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar named global cultural ambassador

The NBA’s all-time scoring leader is now a global cultural ambassador.

The State Department announced Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s appointment Wednesday.

Ann Stock, assistant secretary of state for education and cultural affairs, says Abdul-Jabbar will travel the world to engage a generation of young people to help promote diplomacy.

Stock says the appointment is part of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “Smart Power” that combines diplomacy, defense and development to “bridge the gap in a tense world through young people.”

— Reported by John Carucci of the Associated Press

Bobcats rookie Bismack Biyombo showing talent

Bismack Biyombo

It took about a dozen games, but rookie Bismack Biyombo offered evidence to Charlotte Bobcats fans Tuesday why he was the seventh overall pick in the NBA draft.

He’s what Southerners would call “country strong” and what coach Paul Silas called the one truly tough guy on this roster. Biyombo did his best to stand up to the baddest dude in the NBA – Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard – and for a while, it worked.

Biyombo played a big part in Howard committing five fouls. It wasn’t enough to hold off the Magic in the Bobcats’ 96-89 loss at Amway Center, but it held promise for the future, concerning the springy 6-foot-9 big man from the Congo.

“He played Dwight tough. He didn’t just let him back it in all the way to the rim. He’s my toughest player,” Silas said of Biyombo, who finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

— Reported by Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer

Andrew Bynum having career season so far

Andrew Bynum

The formerly erratic scorer has posted double-doubles in eight of 11 games and overall is averaging 16.5 points, 13.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks, which would be career highs if he maintained those numbers over the rest of the season.

“He’s just establishing himself, being aggressive, making strong moves, rebounding the ball well and intimidating defensively,” Lakers forward Pau Gasol said, “so I’m proud of him and hopefully he’ll be able to keep it up.”

Bynum is also making a quick study of the double teams that have come his way since his early scoring spree, not surprising for a player known to tinker with computers and a fleet of high-end cars that has helped local law enforcement meet its ticket quota in recent months.

While improvising on the court often drives coaches bonkers, the Lakers’ Mike Brown likes it when Bynum employs his own special method of problem-solving. Particularly when it leads to the type of defense Bynum played earlier this month on Utah’s Al Jefferson, who scored only 11 points on five-for-17 shooting and had his shot blocked by Bynum in the final seconds of a loss to the Lakers.

— Reported by Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times