Rumors

Dane Moore: Here's Ayo Dosunmu talking about what he's reading in pick and roll coverage and why he's taking more midrange shots in Minnesota after those were prohibited in Chicago. "In Chicago, midrange shots was really prohibited. It was 3s and layups, no midrange shots unless it's the end of the shot clock. Here, we got Rudy, he's setting big screens. So if you can set up pick and roll, you come off Rudy, you open." Dosunmu took 4 "long" midrange shots in 45 games in Chicago this season before being traded to Minnesota. And he's taken 12 in 15 games for the Wolves. Dosunmu has also nearly doubled the frequency in which he's taking shots from floater range. Dosunmu took 86% of his shots in Chicago at the rim or from 3. In Minnesota, he's becoming a three-level scorer. And his eFG% has stayed almost exactly the same.

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Executives across the NBA expect either the Minnesota Timberwolves or Memphis Grizzlies to move to the East to realign conferences with 16 each when Seattle and Las Vegas become West teams.

ESPN

Justin Martinez: Final: Thunder 116, Timberwolves 103. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 20 points and 10 assists, Chet Holmgren: 21 points and 9 rebounds, Isaiah Joe: 20 points and 4 rebounds. SGA extends his historic 20-point streak to 128 games, and OKC (53-15) extends its winning streak to eight.

Twitter

Justin Martinez: Anthony Edwards (right knee soreness) is questionable for Minnesota’s road game against OKC tomorrow

Twitter

Justin Martinez: Here's OKC's injury report for its home game against Minnesota tomorrow: Isaiah Hartenstein (left calf contusion) is questionable after missing the last three games. Jalen Williams (right hamstring strain) remains out.

Twitter

Jason Beede: The way the #Magic out-rebounded Minnesota 58-37 really stood out to me. Paolo Banchero led the team with 15 boards, but four others (WCJ, M. Wagner, TDS and Penda) had at least six rebounds. Overall, 10 players grabbed at least two for Orlando.

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He spends his days quietly, according to sources close to him, with his family and friends in the Denver area, playing golf, watching games and communicating with a handful of NBA brethren. The terms of his release restrict him from traveling outside the United States, and any state or city other than Colorado, California, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington D.C. or New York City.

ESPN

In the NBA world of first-class travel, where charter planes often create traffic jams for teams that are constantly on the move, there’s nothing worse than being stuck at the terminal for hours on end because your opponent called dibs on the runway first. That scenario was in play for both sides afterward, as the Nuggets were heading to Utah for a Monday game and Minnesota — winners of six of its last seven games and now fourth in the West — was eager to head home after a three-game road trip. Timberwolves staffers made the mission abundantly clear to the players in the locker room afterward, informing them all that time was of the essence if they were going to avoid falling behind the Nuggets (again). So after Minnesota asserted its will in the game, overcoming an 11-point deficit in the first quarter and then leading for the entire second half, these Wolves grabbed their luggage and won the race to the skies. Mission accomplished, in other words, in every way imaginable.

New York Times

Artem Komarov: Zenit Saint Petersburg have signed Johnny Juzang through the end of the season. The 24-year-old American has spent the past few seasons between Utah and Minnesota.

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Shams Charania: Kyle Anderson has agreed to a contract buyout with the Memphis Grizzlies and plans to sign with the Minnesota Timberwolves after clearing waivers, sources tell ESPN. Anderson spent two seasons with the Timberwolves (2022-24) and gets an opportunity to rejoin the West contender.

Twitter

Anthony Edwards on why he is happy to be in Minnesota and happy to stay here. “They embraced me, a lot of people didn’t think I was worthy of the number one pick and they did, I think that’s the main thing”

Twitter

And he did, pouring in 31 points in just 12 minutes in Team Stripes’ 48-45 win over Team World, the dominant performance of the day. His Team Stripes then lost the championship game to Team Stars, 47-21, and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards won the most valuable player award named for Kobe Bryant after scoring a total of 32 points in the round-robin tournament. The team with the younger stars won the title, but Leonard was the talk of the game. ‘I grew up here and coming here watching [All-Star games], going to the Convention Center, seeing the stars walk around and dreaming of being here,” Leonard said. “I wanted to take the opportunity to play great and take advantage of it and go out there and ball. So, I was happy I was able to do that this year in L.A. and also in the Intuit Dome.”

Los Angeles Times

Justin Martinez: Minnesota's Anthony Edwards has been named the All-Star Game's MVP

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Sean Highkin: The Blazers made Sidy Cissoko inactive tonight in Minnesota, presumably so he's eligible to play tomorrow in Utah when Scoot/Deni might not play. Then they can figure out his contract/roster stuff over the All-Star break.

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