HoopsHype.com Rumors

The Minnesota Timberwolves are pulling out all the stops in an effort to land Pau Gasol. If they have to part with the highest draft choice in franchise history after just one season, the Wolves appear ready to do it. That much became clear leading up to the NBA draft on Thursday, when Minnesota offered Derrick Williams to the Charlotte Bobcats for the No. 2 pick as a vehicle to help them land Gasol from the Los Angeles Lakers, two people with knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press. MSNBC.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Trade, Pau Gasol, Derrick Williams 

The Timberwolves were expected to continue their pursuit of Gasol in hopes of putting him with fellow Spaniard Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love on a revamped roster aimed at getting the team back to the playoffs, and beyond, for the first time since 2004. The Wolves' interest in Gasol has long been rumored, with the highly skilled big man considered an ideal fit for coach Rick Adelman's corner offense, and the kind of playoff-tested veteran needed on one of the youngest rosters in the NBA. He is also close friends with Rubio, the Wolves' superb young point guard who is recovering from a torn ACL and hopes to be ready early next season. MSNBC.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Trade, Pau Gasol, Derrick Williams 

They're probably figuring a core of Gasol, Rubio and Love could win 50 games and not only getting them into the playoffs, but well into them. The Lakers also have interest Michael Beasley, who could be the established player in such a deal. If such a trade for Gasol is made, it might come closer to training camp than draft night, but we'll see. I''m not sure how to read this latest development: Is it a sign of movement toward a deal or an indication that one could be hard to strike if the Lakers aren't interested in Williams himself. Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Trade, Michael Beasley, Pau Gasol, Derrick Williams 

The Draft Express report is dead-on: the Wolves did offer Derrick Williams to Charlotte for the No. 2 pick, but were quickly turned down. The target is Florida shooting guard Bradley Beal. ESPN.com

Charlotte Bobcats, Minnesota Timberwolves, Draft, Trade, Derrick Williams, Bradley Beal 

Trade offers are in full force as the NBA draft approaches Thursday night, and according to sources close with Jonathan Givony of Draft Express, the Timberwolves offered a deal Thursday to the Bobcats that would have sent Derrick Williams to Charlotte for the No. 2 overall pick in the draft. The Bobcats reportedly immediately rejected the offer. Williams was the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft. In his rookie season, he didn’t exactly perform to expectations and averaged 8.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. He played in all 66 games for the Timberwolves. WEEI

Charlotte Bobcats, Minnesota Timberwolves, Draft, Trade, Derrick Williams 

Derrick Williams: I just wanna know why they don't show the lottery balls getting picked anymore ....... ? Twitter

Minnesota Timberwolves, Draft, Derrick Williams 

SLAM: Do you and your teammates play a lot of video games? KL: Yes. Definitely. We’re very competitive, and it’s always fun to keep the competitive spirit going, whether we are on the court, in the locker room or in the weight room, and we do it with video games as well. And Ghost Recon is definitely one of the games we play. And FIFA… a lot of sports games as well. SLAM: How long does a typical video game tournament go? KL: [Laughs] Hey, it will go as many hours as it takes for the beef to be settled. It’s always fun to have that kind of competitive back-and-forth between teammates, and that will go on for days, weeks or even months. I mean I remember with JJ Barea and Derrick Williams with FIFA, they were going at it for the entire season and counting their wins and losses. It’s just fun to get in the trenches with different players. SLAM

Minnesota Timberwolves, Videogames, Kevin Love, Jose Juan Barea, Derrick Williams 

With a single game remaining in this lockout-shortened season, Timberwolves rookie Derrick Williams has his eyes set on a transformational summer in which he intends to lose 10 to 15 pounds so he can prove what he contended way back before last summer’s draft: He really is an NBA small forward. His coach wants to see change, too. Except Rick Adelman doesn’t want to label it with numbers such as 3 and 4, basketball’s designations for the small-forward and power-forward positions. “I want him to be an effective, consistent forward,” Adelman said. Duluth News Tribune

Minnesota Timberwolves, Derrick Williams 

Adelman wants Williams to both slim down and toughen up around the basket, a possible contradiction Adelman says it’s possible because Love did it. “I’d like to see him do what Kevin did, so he’s much more active,” Adelman said. “Even at power forward he becomes a factor then, too. Unless it’s a big, physical guy, he has got the skills to do it. Players have to learn that when they come into the league. They have to find there are other ways to do it, and Kevin’s a real case in point: He lost that weight, got himself into great shape and had a great year.” Duluth News Tribune

Minnesota Timberwolves, Derrick Williams 

The Wolves lost their 18th in a row to the Lakers (105-102) on Friday night at Target Center. Again, Love was absent -- with back spasms -- and Williams made his sixth start in 41 games. This time, the game was contested fiercely until the final seconds, when Williams went down the lane in an attempt to put the Wolves in the lead, was met by Pau Gasol, and referee Tony Brothers, the senior man in the crew, made the call in the Lakers' favor. "The ref said he put his arms straight up,'' Williams said. "I thought he came down on my arms.'' Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Pau Gasol, Derrick Williams 

Coach Rick Adelman could not have been surprised the benefit went to the Lakers. A decade ago, his Sacramento Kings were victims of perhaps the NBA's all-time refereeing robbery in Los Angeles in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals Asked about not getting a favorable whistle in the closing seconds, Adelman cited "disadvantages'' his younger club faced against a team with the Lakers' "name power.'' Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Pau Gasol, Rick Adelman, Derrick Williams 

Derrick Williams: Congrats Jeremy Evans ! Had a lot of fun.. Too bad I couldn't get the off the backboard between the legs. It's all good ! Congrats K-Love ! Twitter

Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Jeremy Evans, Derrick Williams 

All you fans of monstrous dunks, rejoice: The uber-geeks at MIT Media Lab have figured out how to measure the force of a slam dunk, and the gadget makes its television debut during the NBA All-Star Weekend. The nifty net will quantify the force with which guys like Derrick Williams and Paul George stuff a ball through the hoop during the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday. The net is said to measure “slam force Gs.” We prefer the term “millijordans,” but no one asked us. Wired.com

Indiana Pacers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Paul George, Derrick Williams 

Media Lab developed the net in a partnership with Turner Sports. The results, displayed on the Sprite Intensity Meter on the bottom right of your TV screen, will determine, once and for all, if George throws down with more authority than Chase Budinger. Yeah, it’s little more than marketing hype — “Sprite Intensity Meter” was a pretty big clue to that — but this has some real science behind it. Wired.com

Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Paul George, Chase Budinger, Derrick Williams 

Dunks will be measured on a scale of zero to 100 slam force G’s. According to MIT’s scale, 100 slam force G’s should be about the equivalent of the muzzle energy of a .22 caliber round being fired. They can’t be sure of this until they confirm it during practice sessions in Orlando, but it sure sounds cool. Once a player dunks, the conductive thread will communicate with a computer chip behind the ‘board. The chip will render a reading to a duet, which is a device that allows TV production crews to add graphics to the TV broadcast. Looking ahead, Scott says there could be a place for this technology in basketball beyond the annual dunk-fest. He says we could even see the rest of us measuring the force of our dunks through Nerf hoops. And who knows — maybe one day slam force G’s will even be listed alongside stats like points, rebounds and assists. Wired.com

Indiana Pacers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Paul George, Derrick Williams 

The GSWs apparently asked to expand the deal to include the Timberwolves’ No. 1 pick in last year’s draft, which was 2nd overall and turned out to be Derrick Williams. At that point, according to the sources, the two sides got stuck negotiating what the GSWs would do then to sweeten it beyond Ellis. San Jose Mercury-News

Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Trade, Monta Ellis, Derrick Williams 

A sacrosanct source refutes last week’s Fox report the Lakers and Timberwolves were discussing a trade involving Pau Gasol for Derrick Williams and two draft picks. I’m informed no conversation between the teams has taken place in two months. New York Post

Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Trade, Pau Gasol, Derrick Williams 

Jerry Zgoda: Ricky also said he's willing to help DWill in slam-dunk contest, but didn't think he'll be needed, think DWill has his own tricks ready Twitter

Minnesota Timberwolves, Ricky Rubio, All-Star, Derrick Williams 

The NBA All-Star Slam Dunk contest in Orlando is getting a social media makeover, and fan voting will determine the winner. The league announced Thursday that four players will compete for the title on Feb. 25, at Amway Center (TNT, 8 p.m. ET) including the Houston Rockets' Chase Budinger, the Indiana Pacers' Paul George, the New York Knicks' Iman Shumpert, and the Minnesota Timberwolves' Derrick Williams. All the players are first-time participants in the event. Orlando Sentinel

Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Paul George, Chase Budinger, Derrick Williams, Iman Shumpert 

In other news involving NBA big men, a source said Wednesday that Minnesota continues to pursue a possible trade for Lakers forward Pau Gasol, dangling rookie Derrick Williams, who is from the Los Angeles area, and draft choices. The only players considered untouchable by the Timberwolves, who are seeking to add a veteran by the trade deadline, are Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio. The Timberwolves believe it could be enticing for Gasol to play on the same team as fellow Spaniard Rubio. FOXSports.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Trade, Pau Gasol, Derrick Williams