Minnesota Timberwolves submit offer sheet for Greg Stiemsma – NBA News
After failing to land Nicolas Batum in free agency this year, the Minnesota Timberwolves have reached an agreement with Boston Celtics centre Greg Stiemsma.
Stiemsma patiently waited for the Wolves offer as they attempted to land Batum. After the Portland Trail Blazers decided to match the Wolves four year $45 million offer for Batum and kept him, the Wolves decided to offer Stiemsma
an offer sheet, which he accepted.
The Boston Celtics will now have three days to match the offer placed by the Wolves, but are expected to let him return to the Wolves, where he started his NBA career.
Stiemsma completed his college career at Wisconsin in 2008, and after playing in Turkey, South Korea and the D-League, he was signed by the Timberwolves in 2010 to be a training partner for Al Jefferson, who was making a comeback
from an ACL injury. However, he did not make a spot on the team. He signed a 10 day contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, after which he returned to Turkey to play basketball.
Stiemsma was signed by the Boston Celtics at the beginning of last season as a reserve for Kevin Garnett, and quickly made an impression on the management. Celtics coach Doc Rivers was impressed by him, particularly the energy
he brought on the defensive end. Stiemsma played 55 games for the Celtics last season, out of which he started in only 3. In 13.9 minutes of playing time per game, Stiemsma averaged 2.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.
The Celtics are in cap space trouble after signing Jason Terry, Courtney Lee and with Jeff Green returning next season. Hence, it is expected that they will not be matching the Wolves offer, even though details about the offer
are not known yet.
The Wolves have placed offers with Brandon Roy and Russian guard Alexey Shved. They are also eying Ronnie Brewer of the Chicago Bulls and Dominic McGuire of the Golden State Warriors. The addition of Stiemsma will give them a reserve
centre, who can back up their starter and has the experience of playing in a good team as a role player.
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