Timberwolves Rumors: Interest in Deng, Bazemore, Moore…

The Timberwolves have yet to be at the forefront of any serious free agency talks, but are rumored to be interested in a number of potential contributors.

Free agency began at 11:00 p.m. Central Time on Thursday, and a handful of large signings weren’t far away.

Hassan Whiteside, DeMar DeRozan, Nicolas Batum, and Bradley Beal each re-upped with their current squads with shiny, new contracts. Timofey Mozgov headed to the Lakers on a big deal. More recently, the likes of Al Jefferson and Jeremy Lin have begun to finalize deals with new teams.

But the Wolves have largely been on the sideline. Without any significant free agents of their own and with a solid, young core in place, the Timberwolves could look to make a semi-splash in landing a second-tier free agent, or they could largely sit the opening rounds of the spectacle on the sideline before pouncing in a few days or weeks.

The Wolves’ interest in Luol Deng has been reported here before, and Darren Wolfson says that the former Bulls and Heat forward will speak with Minnesota again on Friday.

Thus far today, the Wolves are also reportedly interested another former Tom Thibodeau player in E’Twaun Moore, as well as a longer, potentially more depth-focused play in former Brooklyn Net Willie Reed. We mentioned both Brandon Bass and Kris Humphries earlier in the week, and Wolfson says that contact has officially been made on Friday.

Reed would be a nice fit as probably a fourth or fifth man in the front court, and Moore is an intriguing backup combo guard. It’s unclear what, if any, impact the addition of Moore would have on the point guard situation with Ricky Rubio, Kris Dunn, and Tyus Jones already on the roster, but Moore would add outside shooting and defensive ability to the guard rotation.

Wolfson did throw a bit of cold water on the Moore rumor early in the afternoon, but it remains a possibility and yet another example of Thibodeau looking to acquire a former player from his teams in Chicago.

And now, the Wolves reportedly are after former Golden State Warrior and Atlanta Hawk Kent Bazemore:

Bazemore is currently a solid swingman who saw a nice uptick in overall production last season when he finally saw the court for significant minutes. He’s a 35.1 career three-point shooter and actually turns 27 today, July 1, so there’s certainly a nice floor for production and potential upside there.

More from Dunking with Wolves

• The dream starting 5 for Minnesota Timberwolves 5 years from now
• Anthony Edwards’ latest accolade is a great sign of things to come
• In an OT thriller, Team Canada snatches Bronze from Team USA
• Timberwolves start, bench, cut: Mike Conley, Shake Milton, Jordan McLaughlin
• Which Timberwolves roster additions have upgraded the bench?

The concern is that the all-around production isn’t quite there as of yet, and he’s likely going to get a lengthy contract in the neighborhood of $20 million annually.

If the Wolves are serious about Bazemore, than it almost certainly signifies that a) Shabazz Muhammad would be on the move, and b) Luol Deng would not be coming to Minneapolis.

In a vacuum, Deng is the better player today and would be a better value in 2016-17. Long-term, however, Bazemore obviously has the higher upside and is absolutely a better long-range shooter.

While the Wolves don’t need another player whose best position is probably shooting guard (see Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine), the roster needs outside shooting and defensive chops, both of which Bazemore has some of now and can likely develop more of those qualities under Thibodeau’s tutelage.

At any rate, the Timberwolves are much more in the conversation on the free agent market than they have been in recent memory, and they are resisting getting in on the insane feeding frenzy that the first (not even) 24 hours have brought to the league.

Next: Will Timberwolves Trade Ricky Rubio After Free Agency?

But stay tuned. Things can, and will, change at any time…