The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has hired Dean Cooper as an assistant coach. Cooper will join assistant coaches Jerry Sichting, J.B. Bickerstaff, Ed Pinckney and Brent Haskins on Randy Wittman’s staff. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“I’m really looking forward to joining Randy’s staff and working with a team that I think is definitely on the rise,” Cooper said. “Being in the league nine years, I’ve always thought highly of the Wolves organization and I’m excited to be a part of what they’re trying to build.”
Cooper joins the Wolves after spending the previous nine seasons with the Houston Rockets, most recently in the role of Vice President of Player Personnel. His responsibilities included the evaluation of draft prospects, free agents and potential trade acquisitions, and the coordination of the team’s national and international scouting.
Cooper began his NBA career as Houston’s video coordinator/scout in 1999, working two seasons in that capacity before being elevated to assistant coach on Rudy Tomjanovich’s staff for the following two seasons. After serving as an NBA personnel scout for the Rockets in 2003-04, he was promoted to Director of Scouting for the following three seasons before transitioning into his most recent role.
“In his time with the Rockets, Dean has proven himself to be a great basketball mind and an extremely hard worker,” Wittman said. “He’s very knowledgeable and passionate about the game and I’m excited to have him on my staff moving forward.”
A native of Belding, Mich., Cooper attended Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Mich. Before joining the Rockets, Cooper spent four years coaching in the collegiate ranks. He worked two seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater before taking a similar position with the University of Buffalo. Cooper began his coaching career at the high school level, spending five seasons at Belding High School and three years at Caledonia High School. In the offseason, Cooper is an active participant in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program, the league’s global basketball outreach platform that promotes leadership, education, sportsmanship and healthy living around the world.

Minnesota Timberwolves Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale today announced the team has re-signed restricted free-agent forward Ryan Gomes. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We’re really happy to have re-signed Ryan. He was one of our most consistent performers last year, and one of our top priorities this offseason was keeping him in a Wolves uniform,” McHale said. “Ryan is the consummate professional and a great asset to our organization both on the court and in the community.”
The Timberwolves acquired Gomes on July 31, 2007 in a trade with Boston. In his lone season with Minnesota, the 6-7, 250-pound forward averaged career highs with 12.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, including a career-high 35-point effort against Golden State on Jan. 21. For the first time in his career, Gomes appeared in all 82 games for the Wolves, starting 74 (including the final 58 contests). Originally selected by Boston with the 50th overall pick (second round) in the 2005 NBA Draft, Gomes has appeared in 216 NBA games, posting career averages of 11.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
InsideHoops.com says: Gomes is a good fill-in-the-blanks forward to bring off a bench. The man works hard and is a smart player.

The Oklahoman (Mike Baldwin) reports on a team’s 82-game regular season schedule: “Four games against division opponents. Four games against six out-of-division conference opponents. Three games against the remaining four conference teams. Two games against teams in the opposing conference. A five-year rotation determines which out-of-division conference teams are played only three times.”

The Minneapolis Star Tribune (Jerry Zgoda) reports: Sebastian Telfair’s three-year deal is worth $7.5 million and breaks down this way: $2.3 million this coming season, $2.5 million in 2009-2010 and he has the option to come back in 2010-2011 for $2.7 million. Craig Smith signed a two-year deal worth $4.8 million that will pay him $2.3 million and $2.5 million a season.

Minnesota Timberwolves Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale today announced the team has re-signed free-agent guard Sebastian Telfair. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Sebastian showed a lot of growth as a point guard and decision-maker last season and bringing him back was a priority for us this offseason,” McHale said. “He gives us another experienced playmaker in the backcourt and I look forward to his continued development.”
The Timberwolves acquired Telfair on July 31, 2007 in a trade with Boston. In his lone season with Minnesota, the 6-0 guard averaged 9.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and a career-high 5.9 assists per game, finishing the season ranked 10th in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.20-to-1). Telfair appeared in 60 games for the Wolves, starting 51, before missing the final 21 contests with a sprained left ankle.
Originally selected by Portland with the 13th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, Telfair played two seasons with the Blazers before being dealt to Boston in a draft-night trade on June 28, 2006. In his four seasons with the Blazers, Celtics and Wolves, Telfair has appeared in 274 games, posting career averages of 7.8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune (Jerry Zgoda) reports: Kevin McHale said he’d like to add a combo guard who can serve as a third point guard, but said he doesn’t currently consider it a pressing issue. He said he’d consider one of the team’s summer league guards — Blake Ahearn looked most like a combo guard from a group that included Drew Neitzel, Pooh Jeter and Bryce Taylor — for that spot when those players decide in the coming weeks whether they will play in Europe or the United States.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune (Jerry Zgoda) reports: Craig Smith is the first of the Wolves’ own free agents to reach an agreement with the team, coming to terms on a two-year deal he will sign when he is expected to join the summer-league team in Las Vegas today. Now how, or if, Smith will play in the remaining three games is uncertain, but since the summer team’s practice days all have passed, it wouldn’t make much sense for him to travel from his home in Los Angeles to Vegas if he wasn’t going to play at least a game.

The  National  Basketball  Association today announced  that  the  Salary  Cap  for  the  2008-09 season will be $58.680 million.   The  new  Cap  goes  into  effect  immediately  as  the league’s “moratorium  period”  has ended and teams can begin signing free agents and making trades.
The  tax level for the 2008-09 season has been set at $71.150 million.  Any team whose team salary exceeds that figure will pay a $1 tax for each $1 by which it exceeds $71.150 million.
The  mid-level  exception  is $5.585 million for the 2008-09 season and the minimum  team  salary,  which  is  set at 75% of the Salary Cap, is $44.010 million.
For  the 2007-08 season, the Salary Cap was set at $55.630 million, the tax level was $67.865 million and the mid-level exception was $5.356 million.