Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: Minicamp, Gupta finalist for Kings job

The Minnesota Timberwolves are gearing up for September minicamp. Plus, Sachin Gupta is a finalist with the Kings.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are working to finalize their plans for the upcoming September minicamp, including which players from the Iowa Wolves will be attending.

Additionally, Wolves’ executive vice president of basketball operations Sachin Gupta has advanced to the second round of interviews for the top job with the Sacramento Kings.

Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: Minicamp, Gupta finalist for Kings job

While we still don’t have concrete dates for the Minnesota Timberwolves’ upcoming minicamp, we know that we’re getting closer.

In case you missed it, the Wolves are able to put on as one of the “Delete Eight” teams (hat tip to The Athletic’s John Hollinger for the nickname) that were left out of the Orlando bubble.

So far, all we think we know about the minicamps that these eight teams will host comes from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. As he reported in mid-August, teams will be able to have a week of individual practices leading into two weeks of team workouts. They’ll only be able to play an hour of five-on-five each day.

The hope here is that the Timberwolves will allow fans to have access to see at least some of what is going on during minicamp. Perhaps the video team will be able to put together daily recaps with media availability, similar to what is traditionally done during training camp — which coincidentally would be about to kick off in any normal year.

The latest news is from Darren Wolfson of SKOR North and KSTP 5 in the Twin Cities, and has to doo with the extra players the Wolves plan to invite.

You may recall that Lindell Wigginton was on an Exhibit 10 contract last year and spent time in training camp with the Wolves. With the G League’s Iowa Wolves, Wigginton averaged 15.3 points and 3.9 assists per game while shooting 34.4 percent on 5.7 3-point attempts per game.

Canyon Barry was on the Wolves’ Las Vegas Summer League entry and played in 20 games for the Iowa Wolves after appearing in 42 games for the team the year prior. Over 64 G League games across the two seasons, Barry is shooting 39.3 percent from deep — and 83.2 percent on free throw attempts using the same awesome shooting form that his dad perfected.

Elsewhere, Gupta has advanced past the first round of interviews with the Sacramento Kings for their vacant president of basketball operations position.

We first discussed Gupta’s candidacy last week, when he was one of at least six candidates the Kings were considering. Now, it’s reportedly down to three, and Gupta will travel to Sacramento for an in-person visit.

As mentioned in the above-linked piece, Gupta has been extremely active in building out as many possible scenarios that can be imagined with the No. 1 pick. He is Gersson Rosas’ right-hand man in the front office and it would hurt to lose him only about a year after he was hired.

From a basketball perspective, the Kings are one of the few franchises who have been more lost than the Minnesota Timberwolves over the past decade-plus. But perhaps Gupta is the one to help correct their front office issues.

And of course, if this role is ultimately what is best for Gupta and his family, then it’s absolutely right for him to pursue it.