Croatian 7-footer Dragan Bender and Washington’s 6-foot-10 Marquese Chriss had unannounced, individual workouts with the Suns in Phoenix. The Suns also held their draft preparation’s most talent-loaded group workout Saturday, featuring three candidates for the Suns’ No. 13 pick in Michigan State power forward Deyonta Davis, Michigan State shooting guard Denzel Valentine and French small forward Timothe Luwawu. The workout also included Louisville center Chinanu Onuaku and help from Arizona State center Eric Jabobsen for a second time.
Croatian 7-footer Dragan Bender and Washington’s 6-fo…
May 21, 2022 | 12:31 pm EDT Update
Bulls interested in Matisse Thybulle
The Sixers could look to get off Matisse Thybulle’s contract to create some wiggle room under the luxury tax, which looms large over the team’s offseason, and one team with known interest, according to league sources, is Chicago. Bulls GM Marc Eversley has had a fondness for Thybulle going back to early in his collegiate career at Washington, and was instrumental in pushing the Sixers to acquire him in the 2019 draft.
A deal would likely require a third team if Philadelphia’s goal is to save money under the tax, but the Bulls would be a strong suitor if Thybulle is available.
Ira Winderman: Spoelstra says Lowry and Tucker will warm up tonight “with the intention to play.”
The Magic landed the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft thanks to Tuesday’s lottery, and NBA sources say there is virtually no chance they’ll trade off the pick unless it is a package that includes one of the other top-3 picks, as the Celtics did in 2017, trading to No. 3 to take Jason Tatum. That option might be available for the Magic, even if they are unlikely to accept it. “Other than No. 1, I think just about every team is going to be willing to talk about their picks in this draft,” one executive told Heavy. That starts with No. 2 Oklahoma City and No. 3 Houston.
Nuggets president Tim Connelly to meet with Wolves ownership
Nuggets president Tim Connelly is heading to Minnesota this weekend as the next step in the Timberwolves’ recruitment of him, a league source confirmed to The Denver Post. Connelly, who’s overseen the Nuggets since 2013, is planning to meet with Wolves owner Glen Taylor. ESPN first reported the development. With a stable organization, a reigning two-time MVP and a place where his family is comfortable, Connelly has no reason to leave the Nuggets. The only X-factor? Compensation. It’s believed the Timberwolves’ offer is more than double his current salary. Minnesota’s interest didn’t come out of nowhere. In fact, it was discussed when Connelly, team governor Josh Kroenke and coach Michael Malone all went to Serbia to surprise Nikola Jokic with his MVP trophy. News of Minnesota’s interest in poaching Connelly from Denver got out on Wednesday. Publicly, it’s been more than 48 hours since Denver’s ownership has had a chance to counter or ensure Connelly doesn’t even listen to Minnesota’s proposal. Privately, they’ve had far longer than that.
Denver Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly is traveling to meet with Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor this weekend in the next step in the team’s pursuit to hire Connelly and make him one of the NBA’s highest-compensated executives, sources told ESPN. Connelly has discussed the job extensively with Timberwolves minority owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez in the past week, and meeting with Taylor is next in the process, sources said.
Chris Hine: Connelly and Timberwolves inching closer to a deal. Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez have had significant influence over the process, but Glen Taylor as current controlling owner still has the final sign off on any deal.
Mike Singer: News came out Wednesday night tying Tim to Minnesota. It didn’t come out of nowhere. There’d been interest for a while, & it was discussed while group was in Serbia. The #Nuggets & the Kroenkes have had ample time to address and/or counter. It doesn’t look like they’re going to.
