This morning, Jonah Ballow of the Timberwolves’ official website announced via Twitter that the team has waived Greg Stiemsma:
The #Twolves waived center Greg Stiemsma. The 24-year old was signed as a free agent on April 13
Jonah Ballow
jonahballow
If you’re wondering who Stiemsma is, that’s perfectly reasonable. The 6-foot-11 center went undrafted out of Wisconsin in 2008 and spent two years in the NBA D-League before the Wolves signed him to a two-year deal last April 13th, which is two days before the end of the season. He never appeared in a game for the Wolves.
According to ShamSports’ salary database, the web’s most reliable NBA salary resource, Stiemsma’s contract for the coming season would have become $100,000 guaranteed if he were still on the roster on September 15th. Minnesota waived him to avoid that obligation, which means that, for his willingness to join the Timberwolves for two days in April, Stiemsma pocketed $5,383 plus whatever amount of money he made playing for their Summer League team. Incidentally, he averaged 0.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game for Minnesota’s summer-league squad this year.
Despite the fact that he went undrafted, Stiemsma’s time in the D-League proved he could play a bit. Last season, he average 8.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.6 blocked shots, in addition to winning the league’s Defensive Player of the Year Award. Those numbers suggest he’s worthy of at least an NBA training-camp invitation, but as previously explained, bringing him to camp would have cost the Wolves $100,000 in guaranteed money. Having waived him to avoid that salary hit, Minnesota can now invite him to training camp on a different contract, if it so chooses.