Minnesota Timberwolves waive Martell Webster to make cap space for Nicolas Batum – NBA News
The Minnesota Timberwolves have been engaged in sign and trade talks with the Portland Trail Blazers for swingman Nicolas Batum, but have failed to reach any conclusion so far.
Batum is a restricted free agent and the Wolves have a four year offer for him on the table. However, the Trail Blazers are looking to match that offer in a bid to retain Batum as they look towards rebuilding the team. Batum however
has stated clearly that he wants to part of the Wolves and is not interested in going back to Portland.
The Wolves on Friday traded centre Brad Miller to the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for a future conditional second round pick and waived off Martell Webster in order to make cap space to sign Batum to a four year $46.5 million
contract, which could go past $50 million.
They will submit their offer sheet to the league on Sunday after Webster clears waivers, which will give Portland three days to match the Wolves.
Portland’s new General Manager Neil Olshey has stated that the Trail Blazers would match any offer that is put forward for Batum, but the Wolves President David Kahn said on Friday that he was hopeful the two parties would be able
to reach an agreement on a sign and trade before Sunday.
Batum averaged 13.9 points and 4.6 rebounds for the Trail Blazers last season, and the Wolves consider him as the perimeter shooter they have been searching for the past few years.
“He very much is kind of a missing piece. We're very hopeful that we can have him. But we understand what restricted free agency is,” said Kahn.
The Wolves amnestied Darko Milicic on Thursday before waiving Webster on Friday, as they aggressively pursue Batum and attempt to make cap space to absorb an even bigger contract than the one they have offered, in case Portland
matches the offer.
The uncertainty regarding Batum’s next team might not be resolved till Wednesday next week, which will be the deadline for Portland to match the Wolves offer.
The long wait for a decision on the future of Batum could hurt the Wolves chances of recruiting the other two players on their radar, Courtney Lee and O.J. Mayo. But Kahn feels that Batum is important for the team and worth the
wait.
“We think that we owe it to ourselves to take the shot. If they choose to match it, it leaves us with a significant amount of room under the cap for us to pursue other players,” added Kahn.
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