Timberwolves’ Taylor says Rubio will be with team for opener

The latest episode of The Scoop on ESPN 1500 with Darren Wolfson included an interview with Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, plus a number of interesting Wolves-related nuggets.

Timberwolves fans can always count on Doogie Wolfson to keep them informed on everything Wolves throughout the summer. And regardless of how small of a tidbit it may be, it’s always interesting.

The interview with Wolves’ owner Glen Taylor began with a brief discussion regarding his partnership with new minority owners Lizhan Jiang and Meyer Orbach. Taylor also acknowledged that while he is still receiving a relatively high volume of inbound calls related to minority stake in the team, he is no longer seeking additional owners.

Wolfson hit on what is likely a hot button regarding the Wolves finishing 28th in the NBA in overall sponsorship and ticketing revenue, despite playing in one of the 12th to 15th largest media markets in the league. Taylor didn’t have much to say for himself on that one, other than that they recognize it needs to improve.

Taylor confirmed that the new scoreboard will be completed in the next five weeks, and that he’s excited about some of the suite level renovations that will directly impact fans and corporate clients in the upcoming season. Remember, the rest of the renovations will happen next summer, sending the 2017 Minnesota Lynx season over to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Wolfson asked about the Ed Pinckney situation, which he had tweeted about just a couple of days ago.

Taylor wouldn’t discuss Pinckney, but Doogie clarified after the Taylor portion of the pocast concluded. To make a long story short, Tom Thibodeau wanted to interview Pinckney, a current Denver Nuggets assistant. Denver denied permission, so Pinckney resigned. With two years remaining on his Nuggets contract, however, Pinckney is subject to a non-compete clause.

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?

All that said, a resolution is expected soon. Taylor did state that he’s expecting some additional front office moves and additions to be announced yet this summer.

Taylor also refuted Wolfson’s suggestion that the roster is “in flux”, although the owner did say that phrase could be accurate in regards to Kevin Garnett‘s current situation. When asked about the communication between Thibodeau and general manager Scott Layden while Thibs is in Rio with the U.S. Olympic team, Taylor mentioned that there are some players that the front office has scouted both in summer league (Toure Murry is a possibility) and is planning on seeing in Rio that could be possible training camp invites.

Taylor has some concern regarding Nikola Pekovic‘s conditioning, noting that he got married over the summer. He’ll be in town in the coming weeks to be evaluated by the Wolves’ staff.

Perhaps most notably, Wolfson asked about the Ricky Rubio trade talks that were all the rage surrounding draft night about a month ago, and Glen Taylor confirmed that they were “blown out of proportion”, even going so far as to say “he’ll be here” when the season begins. (This falls mostly in line with his earlier statement that Rubio is “not likely” to be traded.)

The Timberwolves were apparently mostly taking inbound calls regarding Rubio, especially once they selected Dunn fifth-overall in the draft. It makes sense for other teams to be on top of the situation, but Taylor claims that most of the overtures weren’t realistic offers and Minnesota was never close to moving their starting point guard.

Wolfson’s full podcast is always worth the listen; it’s about 20 minutes of Wolves talk followed by 25 minutes or so about the Twins and the Vikings.

Next: Best Timberwolves NBA Jam Duos

We’ll have a few more off-season notes later in the day on Tuesday, so stay tuned!