Wolves yet to sign a free agent

MINNEAPOLIS - As NBA teams settled on huge-dollar contracts with the likes of Timofey Mozgov in Los Angeles and Evan Turner in Portland, the Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t agree to any deals with players on free agency’s opening day Friday.
With the league’s salary cap jumping from
$70 million to an estimated $94 million next season, the Wolves have gobs of money to spend on players who can add three-point shooting, defense and toughness, according to new president of basketball operations and coach Tom Thibodeau.
At least two targets have emerged: Luol Deng and Kent Bazemore.
Deng, 31, played under Thibodeau in Chicago from 2010-14. He averaged 12.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and shot 34.4 percent from three-point range in 74 games for the Miami Heat last season.
The Wolves like Bazemore “a lot,” a source said. Bazemore has a lot of suitors, though. The source said the former Atlanta Hawks guard will meet with about six teams and has offers on the table, but it was unclear where the Wolves stacked up.
Bazemore, who turned 27 Friday, could help the Wolves with shooting and defense. He averaged 11.6 points, 1.3 steals and 35.7 percent three-point shooting in 75 games for the Hawks last season.
Forward Kris Humphries, the most-recent Minnesota Golden Gophers player taken in the NBA draft, in 2004, is another Wolves target, Yahoo reported Friday. Humphries averaged 6.5 points and 4.1 rebounds for three teams in 2015-16.
While teams were able to start negotiating with free agents at
11 p.m. Thursday, contracts with the players cannot be signed until July 7, per league rules.