Timberwolves Notes: Dunn, Rubio, Shumpert, and Tyus Jones
With the NBA regular season right around the corner, we at Sporting Sota have some Minnesota Timberwolves news from over the last few days.
First off, the Minnesota Timberwolves regular season is right around the corner. With a young up and coming team showing so much promise, there is a lot to be excited about as a Minnesota basketball fan.
This year will be interesting to watch as new head coach Tom Thibodeau sorts out his roster, and the young stars grow with another year under their belt.
Rubio Trade Talks, Dunn Taking the Starting Spot?
Earlier this week we saw that the Rubio trade talks are still happening. Multiple teams are interested in Rubio, although the Timberwolves are reluctant to let him go, just yet.
Yahoo’s The Vertical reported that multiple teams have inquired about Rubio. Most of all is the team that has been rumored to be in trade talks for Rubio all summer, the Sacramento Kings.
New head coach and President of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau is said to be holding off on trading Rubio as of right now. The Vertical is said to have a source that has heard that Thibodeau is waiting for his new rookie point guard, Kris Dunn, to be ready to take over the starting job. Their source says that Thibodeau has said that will take around 20 games.
After blowing up the Las Vegas Summer League, Dunn has had an underwhelming preseason. Dunn shows the promise on the defensive side of the ball, and his court vision looks great. The one issue that Dunn has is his shooting.
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Dunn has to develop a more efficient shot. So far is the preseason Dunn is averaging a shooting line of .196/.111/.714. This is very alarming. Dunn’s shot is not as bad as these numbers seem, but he has to take more efficient shots.
The drafting of Dunn was to replace Rubio with a better guard. Another guard who is a great defender, facilitator, and has shooting issues sounds familiar. That is exactly Rubio in a nutshell.
Watching the last preseason game, Rubio shows that he makes everyone on the court better. Not only being one of the best guard defenders in the NBA, but he has been one of the best facilitators in the league. Towns had 25 points in the first half of the last game against Memphis, and they are a lot of high percentage shots fed to him by Rubio.
Letting Rubio go right now will not be in the best interest of the team unless they are blown away by a trade package.
Iman Shumpert Rumors
There has been rumors of teams interested in Cleveland Cavaliers small forward Iman Shumpert. The Minnesota Timberwolves have been one of those teams.
Shumpert is a decent shooter, although not producing eye popping numbers, but what teams really want from him is his ability to be a perimeter defender.
Coming off last season’s championship run, Shumpert was a nice bench piece for the Cavaliers. He was often put in the game to lockdown one of the opposing shooters, which he did well.
It is unknown what the Timberwolves would have to give up to get Shumpert, but he would help this team on the defensive side of the ball. That will be new head coach Tom Thibodeau’s main focus this year, improving on the defensive side of the ball.
Tyus Jones Trade Rumors
There has been multiple teams rumored to be interested in second year point guard and Apple Valley native Tyus Jones.
After an amazing Las Vegas Summer League performance, Jones looks like he is finally adjusting to the NBA game. Most knew that it would take a year or two after most had thought that Jones should have forgone the draft for another year at Duke.
After being drafted in the first round last year, Jones was sent down to the D-League, then brought back up to the Timberwolves roster.
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Teams known to be interested have been the Philadelphia 76ers, and the New Orleans Pelicans. Both teams are in need of point guard depth.
It is unknown what would be the compensation given for Jones, but I am sure the team is open to listening to offers.
With rumors of the team listening to offers on Jones, and the a Rubio trade said to be “inevitable” but not knowing when it will happen, where would that leave the Timberwolves at point guard.
It is way too early to give the keys over to the rookie Kris Dunn. He has many kinks to work out of his game. Not to mention with the contracts given out over the summer, Rubio is on a team friendly deal. It might now be a bad idea to keep him around.
Gorgui Dieng Playing in a Contract Year
If you have watched the Timberwolves over the preseason, center/forward Gorgui Dieng looks to have bulked up. He looks to have added 10-15 pounds of muscle over the summer.
Adding weight will help him in the post. He has always been an efficient scorer and above average defender, but being able to use his weight to push guys around down low would be very helpful.
Dieng is in a contract year. With the contracts we saw over the summer, Dieng should be able to command a decent contract. The Timberwolves will have to make a decision on Dieng soon.
They will have a chance to lock him up early, or wait and let him test the market next summer. If they let him test the market, another team with a large amount of cap space will most likely out bid the Timberwolves, as they try to keep big contracts off the books with their young big three coming up in the next couple years.
It will be interesting to see how he plays this year, and what position the Timberwolves take on resigning him.
Next: Towns Will Crack the Top 10
We have heard a lot of interesting rumors involving the Timberwolves over the last week. Stay tuned here at Sporting Sota to stay up on all the latest Minnesota Sports News.