The Minnesota Timberwolves moved on from Keita Bates-Diop in finalizing their opening night roster.
In a move to finalize their 2024-25 opening night roster, the Minnesota Timberwolves waived forward Keita Bates-Diop, who arrived to the team via the New York Knicks in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade. Bates-Diop is owed $2.65 million for the 2024-25 season. The six-year veteran began his career in Minnesota as a 2018 second-round pick and spent time with the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns and Brooklyn Nets.
Bates-Diop wasn’t at practice on Sunday, per The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski, hinting that his time with the Timberwolves was over.
“Appears he’s the odd man out in the final roster moves before the season begins,” Krawczynski speculated.
The move was made to make room to keep team president Tim Connelly’s “personal favorite,” PJ Dozier, per NBA insider Jake Fischer.
From the outside looking in, it seems there’s a lot of pressure on Anthony Edwards to make the Timberwolves soar. The 23-year-old is undeniably one of the must-see young superstars in the NBA, but has Minnesota assembled the right supporting cast to fit his style of play?
Mike Conley running the point provides the Timberwolves a steady hand and senior leadership. It’ll be interesting to see how head coach Chris Finch decides to flesh out his rotation between Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, Donte DiVincenzo, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Joe Ingles. Minnesota certainly has depth in their frontcourt.
With all the media attention being thrown at the Timberwolves, there seem to be a lot of distractions.
In an ESPN interview with Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, Edwards said he wants to play in the NFL if he wins an NBA title.
“If I win a ring in the next 3-4 years, I’m going to play football.”
There was also the drama of Donte DiVincenzo jawing with the Knicks coaching staff during the preseason. Plus, there were subsequent reactions to the squabble that played out through the media, like with his teammate Julius Randle.
“They had me on video saying it,” DiVincenzo told reporters after the game. “I’m not there anymore; I play competitively, I wear my heart on my sleeve, and that’s all it was.”
“Donte is a grown man. He was standing his ground,” Randle said. “And he’s a competitor at heart. That’s just really what it is. I don’t really think much about it. It’s basketball at the end of the day. We’re not going to get into the personal stuff.”
The Timberwolves can return to what they do best at the start of the regular season. Their schedule tips off with a trip to Los Angeles to play the Lakers on Tuesday, October 22, at 10:00 p.m. EST.
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