Timberwolves 'kicking the tires' on veteran guard

The Timberwolves are “kicking the tires” on free agent point guard Cameron Payne, reports 5 Eyewitness News’s Darren Wolfson (Twitter link), who was waived by the Spurs on Monday. However, as of Friday morning, the team hadn’t extended an offer to the veteran guard, per Wolfson.

Payne, 29, averaged 10.3 points and 4.5 assists in 48 games with the Suns last year, becoming a reliable rotation point guard for Phoenix. The 6-foot-1 guard closed out his Suns tenure with a 31-point game in the playoffs against Denver. Phoenix traded him to San Antonio this offseason in order to open up a roster spot.

Minnesota has also had a couple of point guards in for workouts spanning the last few weeks: Elfrid Payton and Kennedy Chandler, according to Wolfson. However, neither guard was offered a contract following their respective workouts.

Payton, 29, holds career averages of 10.1 points and 5.7 assists in 500 NBA games. The 6-foot-3 guard hasn’t appeared in a game since the 2021-22 season. Chandler, 21, spent last season with Memphis after being drafted with the No. 38 overall pick in the 2022 draft. However, the former Tennessee guard was waived in April. He averaged 2.2 points in 36 appearances in his lone NBA season so far.

We have more from the Timberwolves:

• Anthony Edwards‘ ascension from young star to potential superstar was obvious during the 2023 FIBA World Cup, though one of his most impressive moments came off the court, Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer opines. Fischer writes that Edwards was asked a question about which teammate he’d rather trade: Karl-Anthony Towns or Rudy Gobert and, after initially ignoring it, Edwards circled back to it. “Neither one, man,” Edwards said. “I like all my teammates. I love them. They my brothers. I wouldn’t trade neither one of them.” In his journey to superstardom, Fischer writes, his leadership this summer shined.
• In his annual NBA player tier rankings, The Athletic’s Seth Partnow placed Towns in his Tier 4B, defining him as a “sub-elite” big. The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski joined Partnow to go through his logic for placing Towns between the 55th and 66th-best players in the league in his ranking. Partnow reasons that while Towns’s offensive production is tremendous, his defense and availability leave much to be desired, leading to his placement of the star center.
• In case you missed it, the Timberwolves signed guard Vit Krejci to a training camp deal on Thursday.