60WinTim wrote: ↑Wed Jul 09, 2025 2:08 pm
The Rocco era is here to stay!
He signed his 2-Way contract today!
It will be interesting to see if anyone plays so well in the summer league (either with the Wolves or otherwise) that the Wolves would consider offering them an NBA contract. Keep in mind NBA rookie's can sign for very cheap for that first year. The Wolves might be interested in locking in one of their young players.
Meanwhile Clark is a FA after this year and could be in line for a decent to nice raise if what we saw last year is legit.
Great point about the very cheap rookie contract minimum. It’s a very cap-friendly way to fill out a roster.
Feels like we've flooded the zone with a bunch of young 7-footers that could potentially backup or eventually replace Rudy: Jesse Edwards, Rocco Zikarsky, and Joan Beringer. Jesse is 25 already, so he's obviously the most mature, but also has the least amount of upside. He toiled away in Iowa most of last season and did good, but not great.
I'll be interested to see which Center we start in Game 1 of summer league and what that initial pecking order looks like since it's unlikely any will share the floor together.
The other position to watch is point guard and whether Fulton, Bailey, or Newton distinguish themselves.
If I were TC I would have offered him an extension and try to lock him up for cheap, but maybe isn't he a RFA? If RFA then no.
He is a RFA. It hasn't been a year since he signed his last contract so I'm not sure he is extension eligible someone might have those details on timing of extensions. I was surprised they only signed him for a 2 year deal but they basically had him on a 2 way for 2 years so they might have been thinking as long as he is a RFA at the end of the contract that seems fair enough.
Yeah, the circumstances behind Clark's contract seem to not be in the Wolves favor. Teams often arrange 4-year deals with the last two years being options, or non-guaranteed. But it looks like Clark is set to be a restricted FA after year 2. Other teams can make an offer, although if I understand the rules correctly, the maximum a team can offer is the non-tax-payer MLE, which would be in the 15 mil range next year. That could make retaining Clark after next year rather expensive.
I kinda doubt Clark will be a guy teams will want to hold up their FA to see if the Wolves match salalries for. Once he is eligible they might sign him to an extension. Of course with RFA a sign and trade could also be on the table but it seems like they need him as right now they don't have an obvious replacement for someone like him. I believe in Clark but this might be a little premature maybe last season was a bit of a fluke.
It will be interesting to see if anyone plays so well in the summer league (either with the Wolves or otherwise) that the Wolves would consider offering them an NBA contract. Keep in mind NBA rookie's can sign for very cheap for that first year. The Wolves might be interested in locking in one of their young players.
Meanwhile Clark is a FA after this year and could be in line for a decent to nice raise if what we saw last year is legit.
Great point about the very cheap rookie contract minimum. It’s a very cap-friendly way to fill out a roster.
Feels like we've flooded the zone with a bunch of young 7-footers that could potentially backup or eventually replace Rudy: Jesse Edwards, Rocco Zikarsky, and Joan Beringer. Jesse is 25 already, so he's obviously the most mature, but also has the least amount of upside. He toiled away in Iowa most of last season and did good, but not great.
I'll be interested to see which Center we start in Game 1 of summer league and what that initial pecking order looks like since it's unlikely any will share the floor together.
The other position to watch is point guard and whether Fulton, Bailey, or Newton distinguish themselves.
Yep. Those will be the two positions to watch closely. I’m fairly certain Jesse will start at center. And of course Rob will start at PG. How things sort out after that will be really interesting. Questions to be answered:
CENTER: Who will be first off the bench at center initially, Joan or Rocco? Between those two, which one will have logged the most minutes at the end of Summer League. Will Joan and Rocco get any time together on the court? Will Joan and/or Rocco end up with more PT than Jesse? Will either or both of those two outplay Jesse? Will Jesse look at all like a potential NBA player or will he continue to look like what I viewed as a G-League lifer watching him last year?
PG: You posed the most important question - i.e., which of the G-League PGs will distinguish themselves? I’m thinking it will be Newton. Some other questions: How many games and minutes will Rob end up playing throughout Summer League? Can Fulton keep up with the speed on the NBA game at the Summer League level? Will Fulton show a consistent perimeter jump shot? Is Newton as good defensively as the Wolves organization appears to believe? Has Newton developed an offensive game, including a jump shot? Bailey seems like the most intriguing of the three but so far he’s been a perennial G-League guy.
This popped up in my youtube feed. It's a chronological account of Rocco's path to where he is today. Pretty damn encouraging. TC seems to have knack for finding players who come out early (e.g. Rocco by age, Clark by injury) and may not contribute right away, but have the potential to be something down the road.
60WinTim wrote: ↑Tue Jul 22, 2025 10:13 am
This popped up in my youtube feed. It's a chronological account of Rocco's path to where he is today. Pretty damn encouraging. TC seems to have knack for finding players who come out early (e.g. Rocco by age, Clark by injury) and may not contribute right away, but have the potential to be something down the road.
18 years old playing against grown men. He’s 2 inches longer than Walker Kessler and he might even grow some more at his age like most Timberwolves draft picks. And check out his one corner three near the beginning of the video. Not pretty but not ugly either.
Right now, this is Ant’s team. But in a few years, this could be Rocco’s team.
I'm not sure he's athletic or quick enough to be a good defender. Size is great but you need quickness and agility too, both of which are areas which Joan shines tremendously. I would bet on Joan becoming a decent corner shooter then we have a great all around center.
But I wouldn't count on it within a year or two either. He needs to tune his shot and then make it reliable. I guess two years is feasible and maybe realistic? However he may never develop it either. So we'll see. He can still be a great player without a 3P shot, however to be a superstar he would need it.
He is a RFA. It hasn't been a year since he signed his last contract so I'm not sure he is extension eligible someone might have those details on timing of extensions. I was surprised they only signed him for a 2 year deal but they basically had him on a 2 way for 2 years so they might have been thinking as long as he is a RFA at the end of the contract that seems fair enough.
Yeah, the circumstances behind Clark's contract seem to not be in the Wolves favor. Teams often arrange 4-year deals with the last two years being options, or non-guaranteed. But it looks like Clark is set to be a restricted FA after year 2. Other teams can make an offer, although if I understand the rules correctly, the maximum a team can offer is the non-tax-payer MLE, which would be in the 15 mil range next year. That could make retaining Clark after next year rather expensive.
I kinda doubt Clark will be a guy teams will want to hold up their FA to see if the Wolves match salalries for. Once he is eligible they might sign him to an extension. Of course with RFA a sign and trade could also be on the table but it seems like they need him as right now they don't have an obvious replacement for someone like him. I believe in Clark but this might be a little premature maybe last season was a bit of a fluke.
I kind of expect to see him offered maybe 5-7 if he plays similar to last year. A fringe rotation player on a great team. Now if he plays tremendous and regular minutes then sure, I could see someone wanting to go full MLE. But those odds seem lower to me at this point. I kind of see TJ playing much more minutes then Clark for the season. We need more offensive punch I think to reach our maximum potential.
And check out his one corner three near the beginning of the video. Not pretty but not ugly either.