[外電] Wolves stuck in staredown over Batum
After the team waived Darko Milicic, it waited for movement on its situation
with the Blazers over Nicolas Batum, but none occurred.
The Timberwolves on Thursday said farewell to failed experiment Milicic,
waiving him to clear the way for a promised rich offer sheet
to Portland restricted free agent Nicolas Batum that never arrived
by nightfall.
Wolves owner Glen Taylor said Thursday afternoon that his team would
"call their bluff" and sign Batum to a four-year, $46.5 million offer sheet
if the Trail Blazers didn't agree to a sign-and-trade arrangement by the end
of business that day.
Thursday evening came and went with neither a trade completed,
nor an offer sheet delivered to the Blazers while Wolves management worked
into the night, either to exhaust trade options with Portland or
to clear more salary-cap space.
Or both.
Taylor said the Wolves are willing to give Portland draft picks
and perhaps a player, but not 2011 No. 2 overall pick Derrick Williams,
if the Blazers agree they won't match the offer and pay the 23-year-old
swingman nearly $12 million a year. Comcast SportsNet in Portland reported
the offer sheet includes a 15 percent trade "kicker" that would cost
the Blazers more money to trade Batum if they ever wanted.
If that offer sheet is ever really signed by Batum and delivered to
Portland,
the Blazers will have three days to match the offer.
Blazers GM Neil Olshey on Wednesday said he wasn't interested in what
the Wolves were offering, but he could be holding out for a player such
as Williams or Nikola Pekovic.
Once the sheet is signed, any chance for a trade arrangement between
the teams is gone.
The Wolves started to clear that kind of big money from their salary cap
by releasing Milicic. They used a one-time "amnesty" clause given every team
in last November's new labor agreement to pay Milicic the rest
of his two-year contract without that $7 million being applied
to their salary-cap numbers.
By doing so, the Wolves ended their two-plus season experiment with the
now infamous second pick in a loaded 2003 draft, a guy whom President
of Basketball Operations David Kahn called "manna from heaven"
when he signed a four-year contract in July 2010. Kahn coined
that phrase during a memorable NBA TV interview with Chris Webber during
a Las Vegas Summer League game just after the Wolves signed Milicic
to a deal guaranteeing him at least $16 million.
Milicic will become a free agent if no NBA teams bid for him in
a 48-hour waiver process.
Agent Marc Cornstein said Thursday's release "didn't come out of left field"
to a player who fell out of disfavor with Wolves coach Rick Adelman midway
through last season's truncated 66-game schedule, adding that Milicic hopes
to play in the NBA again. If he does, it will be his sixth team
in 10 NBA seasons, all at the age of 27.
Besides releasing Milicic, the Wolves also are expected to buy Brad Miller
and Martell Webster out of the final years of their contracts
to free additional cap space.
If the Wolves fail to upgrade at small forward by adding Batum, they
could turn their search for a wing player to unrestricted free agents
Courtney Lee or O.J. Mayo or try to trade for Philadelphia swingman
and U.S. Olympian Andre Iguodala, who might be available because he is
due $30 million for the next two seasons.
Lee played for Wolves coach Rick Adelman and Iguodala would give them
a veteran leader and perimeter defender they clearly lack.
But Taylor suggested the team might instead turn their attention
to other positions.
"We need big guys," he said.
The Wolves have put their pursuit of Boston restricted free agent Stiemsma
and Los Angeles Lakers unrestricted free agent Jordan Hill on hold
while their pursuit of Batum continues on and on, and on.
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