Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: ‘Second bubble’ news, Norel retires

It doesn’t appear likely that the Minnesota Timberwolves will be part of a ‘second bubble.’

It’s looking more and more like the Minnesota Timberwolves will go nearly eight months without taking the court together as a team.

After the rumor in early July that the NBA was considering a second bubble of sorts, likely in Chicago, the idea seems to have lost steam amid the continued spread of COVID-19.

But wait — it’s a busy Roundup, and there’s plenty more to discuss.

A European player to whom the Wolves hold his rights has announced his retirement. Plus, yet another profile of Timberwolves executive Robby Sikka.

Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: ‘Second bubble’ news, Norel retires

First, let’s cover this bubble business.

As recently as a couple of weeks ago, there was buzz regarding a meet-up of at least pairs of the “Delete Eight” (non-Orlando bubble teams) during the months of August and September.

Now, according to Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic (subscription required), the continued spread and progression of the pandemic have caused the NBA seems to be far more hesitant to allow anything for the eight teams who missed out on Orlando, whether it would have been a second bubble or even simply organized team activities.

Instead, each of the Unfortunate Eight is relegated to the better part of eight months without hitting the court together. It certainly hurts, as former Nets executive and current ESPN analyst Bobby Marks pointed out on Twitter.

It’s certainly possible that something comes together that would allow the Timberwolves and the other teams to hit the court at their own facilities, but it’s unlikely that they’ll get to see any unfriendly competition on the court until preseason. Of course, we don’t yet know when that will take place, either.

Elsewhere, the Wolves were informed that Henk Norel, their second-round pick in the infamous 2009 NBA Draft, has retired due to recurring knee injuries.

That draft, of course, was the one during which the Wolves had four first-round picks and two seconds and emerged with Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn, Wayne Ellington, and … Norel. The other first-rounder was traded to Denver (Ty Lawson was selected) and the other second-rounder was traded to Dallas (Nick Calathes was selected).

There was never any indication that Norel was interested in coming over to the United States; this was essentially the final wasted pick of David Kahn’s career as Wolves president of basketball operations.

The final note for today: Minnesota Timberwolves front office executive Robby Sikka had yet another article written about him, this time by Alex Squadron at Slam. It’s a fantastic piece, even including a couple of awesome photographs of Sikka from his childhood, as a massive Wolves fan growing up in the Twin Cities.

We’ve talked about Sikka quite a bit here at DWW, but it’s fun to see him keep getting a bit of the national spotlight.

Enjoy the rest of this week’s games in the Orlando bubble!