SB Nation Minnesota - Wes Johnson To Phoenix Deal Is Done, Allowing Wolves To Sign Andrei Kirilenko

Minnesota Timberwolves Projected By ESPN To Go 41-41 In 2012-2013

2012-08-22T12:00:43Z

The Minnesota Timberwolves were fighting for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference in 2012 until star point guard Ricky Rubio tore his ACL, and ESPN projects that the Wolves will be in the same position this coming season.

Unfortunately for Wolves fans, ESPN still sees Minnesota as being on the outside looking in come playoff time. In their preseason projection of the Western Conference, 100 of ESPN's basketball contributors see the Wolves going 41-and-41 and missing out on the playoffs in a tiebreaker to the Utah Jazz.

That 41-and-41 record would represent Minnesota's best record since the Kevin Garnett era; just approaching a winning record is a good sign for the franchise. But the team -- and star power forward Kevin Love -- are ready to compete in the playoffs now, and ninth place won't cut it.

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Timberwolves Complete 3-Way Trade, Sign Andrei Kirilenko

2012-07-27T18:02:43Z

On Friday afternoon, the Minnesota Timberwolves officially completed the proposed three-team deal with the New Orleans Hornets and Phoenix Suns that had been reported on July 25.

The deal will see the Twolves sending Wesley Johnson and a first-round pick to the Suns, so that the Hornets can send guard Jerome Dyson and the contract of retiring center Brad Miller to Minnesota.

This will then free up Minnesota's salary cap situation so that the team can complete the signing of free agent forward Andrei Kirilenko to a reported two-year, $20 million contract.

Three-way Hornets, Suns and Wolves deal finally completed, clearing way for Minny to sign Andrei Kirilenko to 2-year, $20M deal.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 27, 2012

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Wesley Johnson Trade Not A Done Deal Yet, According To Report

2012-07-26T12:20:26Z

"Significant issues" stand in the way of a three-way trade that would send Minnesota Timberwolves swingman Wesley Johnson to the Phoenix Suns, according to The Arizona Republic.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Wednesday that the Timberwolves, Suns and New Orleans Hornet had agreed to a deal that would send Johnson and a first-round pick from Minnesota to Phoenix. The deal also reportedly included Phoenix's Robin Lopez and Hakim Warrick going to New Orleans.

The Republic also says that the teams "agreed to the structure" of the deal, but adds:

The largest remaining issue is making the trade oblige with rules to get league approval. If the league rejects the trade parameters, Warrick would remain with the Suns and Lopez likely would remain with the Suns for his $4 million qualifying offer. In that case, Lopez would become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

New Orleans agreed to give Lopez, 24, a three-year, $15.3 million contract, according to Yahoo!.

After averaging 9.0 points and 3.0 rebounds as a rookie, Johnson, the No. 4 overall pick in 2010, averaged 6.0 and 2.7 last year.

Timberwolves Trade Wes Johnson, First-Round Pick To Suns In 3-Way Deal, According To Report

2012-07-25T20:59:17Z

On Wednesday afternoon, the Star Tribune reported that the Minnesota Timberwolves have completed the framework of a three-way trade with the New Orleans Hornets and Phoenix Suns.

The Timberwolves will be sending forward Wesley Johnson and a first round pick to Phoenix, while the Suns will be sending center Robin Lopez and forward Hakim Warrick to New Orleans, with the Hornets sending guard Jerome Dyson and the $5.1 million contract of retiring center Brad Miller to Minnesota.

In addition, the Twolves will receive two second round draft picks from the Hornets in exchange for cash.

As of this time, the deal has not yet become official but the Tribune cites a source close to the situation as saying that the deal merely needs to complete minor routine logistical matters prior to being consummated.

The goal of this move from the Minnesota perspective is to clear salary cap space in order to pursue free agents.

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NBA Trade Rumors: Timberwolves Targeting Andrei Kirilenko, According To Reports

2012-07-25T01:30:53Z

The Minnesota Timberwolves are making things quite interesting in the post-summer league NBA offseason. Building on earlier reports that Minnesota plans to trade former first-round pick Wesley Johnson the Star Tribune's Jerry Zgoda confirms what the T'Wolves might be up to following the trade.

Per @WojYahooNBA earlier tweets, league sources confirm Wolves are targeting Kirilenko, perhaps at $9M a season for at least 2 years
— Jerry Zgoda(@JerryZgoda) July 25, 2012

Reports earlier in the day had Andrei Kirilenko in the cross-hairs of the Brooklyn Nets and Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov. Kirilenko was quoted in the article mentioning he had options and it appears Minnesota may be a favorable one for the Russian forward. Kirilenko played ten seasons with the Utah Jazz before playing last year for CSKA Moscow and has made it known he plans to return to the NBA this season.

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NBA Trade Rumors: Wes Johnson To Suns As Part Of Robin Lopez Deal?

2012-07-25T00:07:18Z

The Minnesota Timberwolves have already made small deals this summer to ship out Wayne Ellington and Brad Miller, but the newest NBA trade rumor carries quite a bit more weight as the team is apparently shopping former fourth overall pick Wesley Johnson.

Johnson struggled mightily last season and, after showcasing him a bit in the NBA Summer League, the team has apparently found a way to get good value for him as a part of a three-way deal apparently centered around the Phoenix Suns shipping Robin Lopez to the New Orleans Hornets.

Along with Lopez, Suns would send Hakim Warrick to Hornets. Minny would send Wesley Johnson and a 1st round pick to the Suns, sources say.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 24, 2012

Wojnarowski has yet to report what the team would get in return (aside from the minor pieces of Jerome Dyson and a return of Brad Miller), but the Star Tribune's Jerry Zgoda is guessing that they'd receive Carl Landry and possibly another piece.

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Timberwolves' Trade Of Wayne Ellington For Dante Cunningham Reportedly Official

2012-07-24T21:25:50Z

It was reported last week that the Minnesota Timberwolves were on the verge of acquiring forward Dante Cunningham of the Memphis Grizzlies for guard Wayne Ellington, and now the deal is official according to The Memphis Commercial Appeal:

Cunningham-for-Ellington trade is official, per source
— Commercial Appeal (@CAGrizBlog) July 24, 2012

Cunningham averaged 5.2 points per game last year for the Grizzlies, but was held to just 17.6 minutes per night and rarely was given a chance to see significant court time. The 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward projects as a guy who can average somewhere near one steal and one block per game as a key contributor off the bench for the Timberwolves going forward.

Ellington, on the other hand, never quite lived up to his immense hype as a shooter coming out of North Carolina in 2009. Considering he rarely produced much aside from scoring as a one-dimensional shooter, Ellington's woeful shooting percentages this past year (40.4% FGs, 32.4% 3Ps) were clearly the last straw for Minnesota brass.

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Minnesota Timberwolves Release Statement Regarding Nicolas Batum

2012-07-18T22:02:16Z

On Wednesday afternoon, the Portland Trail Blazers matched the offersheet submitted by the Minnesota Timberwolves for restricted free agent Nicolas Batum.

After a sordid back-and-forth affair, Batum will remain in Portland and the Timberwolves are dissapointed that they were unable to find a way to retain his services.

Here is the team's official statement via the club's official public relations twitter account:

‪David Kahn statement: "We are disappointed that Nicolas Batum will not be on our team and wish him the best in the future, however, we were prepared for the possibility of this outcome and will move forward with our other plans. We are positioned well from a salary cap standpoint and will continue to explore additional roster moves. We are confident that we will make the necessary transactions to improve our team for the coming season and beyond."

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