The finals are already intriguing, with Kyrie Irving and Kristaps Porzingis each going up against their former teams. Not only did Kyrie play for Boston, his time there was often tumultuous and his exit was inflammatory.

Did Kyrie Irving ever want to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves?

But that’s probably because he never wanted to play for the Celtics anyway. According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, Irving named four teams he was interested in playing for, back when he was trying to escape Cleveland in 2017.

According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, Irving’s then-agent, Jeffrey Wechsler, informed Gilbert that his client preferred to be dealt to either the Spurs, Knicks, Timberwolves or Heat, with the list intentionally excluding the Celtics — the franchise Cleveland had just faced in Eastern Conference finals. And once Wechsler secured permission from Gilbert to contact opposing teams, sources said, he and then-Celtics president Danny Ainge engaged in frequent dialogue about Irving’s trade market.

Jake Fischer – Yahoo Sports

Boston was not on his list for a reason, possibly because of a heated Eastern Conference Finals series that seemed to have rubbed the then 25-year-old Kyrie Irving the wrong way.

One surprise team he did mark down, however, was the Jimmy Butler led Minnesota Timberwolves. Imagine if Kyrie Irving had joined the Minnesota Timberwolves back during the Butler/Thibs era. Talk about dominant backcourts with a championship mentality.

Because of Dan Gilbert and Danny Ainge, we’ll never know…

Now, with Kyrie leading the Dallas Mavericks (his fourth team) to an NBA Finals, Wolves fans can only wonder what might have been had Danny Ainge not convinced Cavs owner Dan Gilbert to toss Irving’s list of teams out the window all those years ago.

The list was quite short, featuring just Minnesota, San Antonio, New York, and Miami. Notably absent was Boston, the team he eventually got traded to. But that’s because Danny Ainge seems to get what he wants, and back then, what he wanted was Kyrie Irving.

Related: Swaggy P Implores Timberwolves to Run it Back

Now, Irving’s trade list from back then isn’t exactly new information. We covered this story back when it took place and Minnesota Sports Fan was just a baby website. But this Boston + Danny Ainge hijacking angle sheds fresh morning light on the past.

Had Cavs owner Dan Gilbert not allowed Ainge to reel Irving to Beantown, is it possible Thibs would have considered moving Karl-Anthony Towns and/or Andrew Wiggins as part of a package to bring Kyrie Irving to Minnesota and pair him with good friend, Jimmy Butler?

Jimmy Butler Highlights vs Clippers – 20pts 5ast 4reb – 11-05-2018 #Timberwolves pic.twitter.com/Ml7zHQucOA

— Ice_Highlights (@SolvingBBall) November 6, 2018

And if that’s how history had played out, how many championship banners would be hanging in Target Center? That may be the real question. But hey, things have a way of working themselves out. Maybe, everything happens for a reason. Now, Kyrie’s landed himself in a championship-level situation with the Dallas Mavericks.

Related: Should Tim Connelly, Timberwolves Find Different Help for Anthony Edwards This Offseason?

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves believe they have the future face of the NBA, in a 22-year-old Anthony Edwards, who never would have landed in the Land of 10,000 Lakes had Jimmy Butler not, one year later, forced his way out of town.

Did Anthony Edwards call out Kyrie Irving?

Was it a surprise that Edwards was guarding arguably Dallas’ most dynamic scorer, certainly their best off-ball shot creator? Nope, because Ant told the world after putting the Denver Nuggets to bed on Sunday that his defensive matchup vs the Mavericks was Kyrie Irving.

“My matchup is gonna be Kyrie so that’s gonna be fun.”

Anthony Edwards shares early thoughts on WCF against the Mavericks. pic.twitter.com/Rej64yxytW

— Abby Jones (@_abigaiiiil) May 20, 2024

Ernie: “Any thoughts on playing the Mavs [in the next round]?”

Edwards: “It’s gonna be fun, man, you know. Umm, my matchup gonna be Kyrie so that’s gonna be fun. We’ll see what I can do vs him.”

Anthony Edwards after beating the Nuggets in game 7

I was caught by surprise when I heard Anthony Edwards announced that he would be guarding Kyrie Irving, mostly because I wasn’t sure whether or not the Wolves wanted him to disclose that.

Really, there was no guarantee that Ant would be tasked with that matchup, especially given how much the Wolves need Edwards to produce on offense. As was proven last night, it’s difficult to have enough energy offensively when you are chasing Kyrie Irving around on defense all game.

Related: Target Center Roof Leaking During Game 1 of Timberwolves vs Mavericks

What didn’t cross my mind, was whether or not Kyrie would see Ant’s TNT interview as trash talk. But apparently, the former NBA champion did see it that way, at least to some degree.

At the least, Edwards’ postgame interview from the end of that Denver series gave Irving motivation that he used for a monster performance last night. How do we know that? Kyrie got his own postgame interview with TNT after game one and made it clear that he was motivated after Ant ‘called him out’ on national TV.

"I used it as motivation… That's a no fear mentality and that's why we love Ant." 💯

Kyrie on Ant calling him out ahead of Game 1 pic.twitter.com/Mp4zw9Qccl

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 23, 2024

Barkley: “You’re at home minding your business the other night with your family. Probably just chilling, having a nice meal. And then [Anthony Edwards] says ‘I got Kyrie’. That’s the most aggressive you have been, in a long time. I know that had to erk you a little bit?”

Kyrie: “Yeah, I used it as a motivational tool [laughs]. When I was sitting home and I saw it, i was like, ‘this is a nod of respect’ and then also, I know what type of game it was going to be for game one and for the rest of the series.”

I hope Kyrie Irving didn’t actually see what Anthony Edwards said after game 7 and convolute it in his head as trash talk. And I’m not sure how Charles Barkley interpreted it that way either.

Related: BR Names Realistic Wolves Trade Partner if They Blow Up Big Three for Luxury Tax Purposes

If anything, Ant’s mistake was much more based in competitive advantage, than it was bulletin board material. He told Kyrie Irving and the rest of the world who he was guarding in game one. Not only did it allow Dallas to scheme against that, but it also changed Kyrie Irving’s mindset coming in.

Media creating narratives for Minnesota Timberwolves vs Dallas Mavericks

Like, ‘Oh shit, all eyes are going to be on me and the new face of the NBA. I need to prove I’m still a superstar. At the least, I can’t allow him to embarrass me’.

That might not have been the words that fell out of Kyrie Irving’s mouth when he was sitting at that TNT desk (Barkley and the others were too busy putting words in his mouth for him) but that’s pretty much what the above clips said to me.

Related: Paul Allen Watches Timberwolves Games Exactly How You Would Expect

Once he found out Anthony Edwards was his matchup, he knew he had to bring it, and he did. But all this nonsense that Ant called him out is just media-created propaganda. There’s a reason why ESPN and TNT aren’t showing the clip of Ant’s interview (like we did above).

Because once you actually see the clip, most right-minded individuals would realize that Edwards didn’t call Irving out at all. Maybe he said something dumb, from a competitive advantage standpoint, but he didn’t call anyone out.

As I blogged about just earlier today, shit is hitting the fan right now in the NBA Free Agency world and some of the latest news that was dropped has serious implications for what I wrote about earlier. But, let’s start with Mr. Flat World: Kyrie Irving will be signing with the Brooklyn Nets as of tomorrow.

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Free agent Kyrie Irving is meeting with the Brooklyn Nets in New York on Sunday and both sides are motivated to move quickly toward reaching a 4-year, $141M deal, league sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2019

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Once Kyrie signs with the Nets as expected via Woj above, the Nets will either “Sign and Trade” him (if they can find a deal that works for everyone) or be forced to renounce his rights, leaving him to sign with the team of his choice. Here’s what Woj tweeted involving D-Lo, after the Kyrie news he broke right before:

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Once Kyrie Irving commits to a deal, Nets are expected to renounce All-Star guard D'Angelo Russell and allow him to become an unrestricted free agent, league sources tell ESPN. Russell led Nets to the playoffs this past season. There's tremendous league-wide interest in Russell. https://t.co/cJSryXSUJV

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2019

Nets will be willing to work with Russell and his reps on ways to get him to a team of his choice, including sign-and-trade scenarios, league sources tell ESPN. If Russell and Nets found a sign-and-trade deal that works for both, obviously, there's no need to renounce his rights.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2019

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With all of the rumors swirling on Russell and Wiggins today, my erection was at peak-stiffness after this was tweeted. Unfortunately, the positive streak couldn’t go any longer (4 hours+ can get dangerous anyway) and Woj reminded us that the Timberwolves aren’t the only team that’s interested in the former #2 pick.

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The Los Angeles Lakers reached out to D'Angelo Russell's agents at CAA — Austin Brown and Aaron Mintz — to set up a meeting with the All-Star guard, league sources tell ESPN. The Lakers and Russell share a mutual interest in a reunion. Lakers have the cap space to sign him.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2019

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If the Wolves can find a way to get this sign and trade done before free agency hits tomorrow then they won’t have to worry about the Lakers… A S&T might make a bit more sense for the Wolves too, in landing D-Lo, because it might give them the opportunity to give some salary back to Brooklyn in the deal, instead of having to clear all of the cap space needed, to make the same signing once he hits unrestricted free agency.

Stay close over the next 12-24 hours fam.. it’s going to be a wild ride…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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Reports surfaced this afternoon that Kyrie Irving told the Cleveland Cavaliers he wants out of town. I saw it on Twitter pretty quickly and gave it a raised eyebrow. I immediately heard coworkers clammer about it in the cubes around me.

Then I thought: ‘So what?’

Look, I don’t have time to worry about Kyrie Irving deciding he doesn’t like LeBron James. I also don’t care about what Kathy Jenner-Kardashian-Chyna did on Insta yesterday. I run a MN Sports website. NOT ESPN or TMZ.

So, I forget about it and go on with my day.

Then. THEN. THEN.: My phone buzzes and I take a quick peak. This is what I see:

ESPN Sources: On Kyrie Irving front, Cavs were given four preferred landing spots: New York, Miami, San Antonio, Minnesota.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 21, 2017

This is one of those moments where you have to look at it again. And again. Blink twice. Nah? Can’t be? Right?

This is Minnesota. We had Kevin Garnett for 45 years and couldn’t get a big name to come here. What the F*** is going on?

Before I go on, let me get real:

Kyrie Irving is NOT coming to Minnesota. Hold on… there is a 99% chance Kyrie Irving is NOT coming to Minnesota. These new coaches and Heads of State in Minnesota have me thrown for a loop so I can’t guarantee anything anymore. Older regimes were so easy to predict

PJ Fleck with his own special on ESPN… Richard Pitino is keeping top MN kids in MN… Jimmy Butler wants to play basketball here…. and now this?

As Minnesota Sports Fans, we have pleaded and begged and rioted. We have screamed, cried, and thrown adult (and child) tantrums for our sports teams and the lack of leadership we have endured.

Now, to see it all turn around so quickly, and in so many different sports, just makes it feel like a “pinch me” moment…

BUT… let me bring some Minnesota Sports Fan thought into this:

If we don’t take advantage? If we fall short like we have so many times, does it really matter?

Our time might be coming. We may be knocking on the door, as a sports town. But now we need to grasp it. If any of the teams can actually nurture the young talent it is breeding, into a championship…..

WE WILL NAME STATUES AND STREETS AND BUILDINGS AND KIDS AFTER ALL OF YOU.

So please… please… please… bring us to the promise land.

It will be a love you have never felt before.

Sincerely,

A Minnesota Sports Fan

@RealMNSportsFan

Photo/Source: BleacherReport

UPDATE: 7/24/2017 11:20 AM CT (Continue scroll for July 26 Update)

This picked up steam again this morning as we went into the new week and all the sports outlets came back online. Remember, this broke at the end of the day Friday which leaves little time for all the weekly outlets to talk about it.

AP Guy – Jon Krasinsky was on the Power Trip Morning Show on KFAN this morning discussing the likely-hood of this happening. He shocked me when he mentioned “under 30%” chance the Timberwolves make it happen…

HOLY SHIT! 30%…. THAT IS WAAAAAAY BETTER THAN I EXPECTED…

Look, I know “under 30%” could, obviously, mean anything below 30%; so that means nothing. However, I didn’t even see 30% as the realistic ceiling… so that was surprising to me. AP Guy also confirmed that Butler is trying to get Irving here AND that the Timberwolves are DEFINITELY looking into it.

Here is the full morning show. Scroll to about the 8 AM hour (103.50 minute mark) to hear AP Guy’s interview.

A big question has been: “How are the Wolves going to make the money work?” The Wolves would be taking on an additional $11ish Million with no room in the cap.  I had an idea this morning that was shot down on Twitter by AP Guy and Travis Czech @TravisLyleCzech (he knows a lot about the NBA CBA and Cap situation and how it all works. I would give him a follow.)

So Wiggins for Irving $ doesn’t make sense rn… what if he resigned at the max? Idk how it works.. @howlintwolf @MeatSauce1 @TravLyleCzech

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) July 24, 2017

However, Travis had some scenarios that would make the deal fit.

It’s based off the current years salary. Wigg straight up doesn’t work. Need Dieng or Cole+Tyus to make money work.

— Travis Lyle Czech (@TravLyleCzech) July 24, 2017

AP Guy Confirmed what Travis said:

No they couldn’t because the extension wiggins will sign doesn’t kick in until 2018

— Jon Krawczynski (@APkrawczynski) July 24, 2017

So, resigning Wiggins to the max deal won’t be enough because these trade dollars are based on the current year’s salary. However, I would be OK with adding Aldrich and Tyus to make it work.

Now, it looks like things in Cleveland are falling apart FAST. Here is a report this morning from Stephan A. Smith, saying that LeBron is the one who leaked Kyrie’s trade request to the press….

According to @stephenasmith, Kyrie’s camp is not happy with the news breaking that he asked the Cavs for a trade. pic.twitter.com/TkNtyiMO2W

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 24, 2017

Now, that isn’t going to help relations. If things continue down this path, in Cleveland, then Kyrie will be on the move for sure.

But will it be Minnesota? Do you want to give Wiggins up for him? What if he agrees to resign for 5 more years at the end of his deal? He will be 27 years old at that time…

Lots of opinions on this. The Wolves wouldn’t be anything like the team we were rooting for last year. Does that matter to anyone?

You tell me.

Updated: 7/26/2017 6:45 AM CT (Continue scroll for July 27 Update)

So Kyrie Irving posted this on his SnapChat story last night:

Kyrie Irving posted this on Snapchat story. ?

pic.twitter.com/yN5QAhd0H2

— NBA SKITS (@NBA_Skits) July 26, 2017

It was nice of him to do that. Now sports outlets all over the country, and probably world, have another thing to talk about all day.

There are a couple things on this Snap:

• LeBron titled his address to Cleveland, upon his return a few years ago, “I’m Coming Home”, so some are seeing this as another slight at James
• Kyrie is from New York which is one of the teams that is rumored in trade talks with Cleveland

Does it mean anything?

Your guess is as good as mine. This soap opera is just too crazy, at this point, to even try and guess what will happen next. I know the media will be waiting and jumping on every social media post, from anyone involved, all day.

Also breaking this morning is that Chauncey Billups, former T-Wolf and former Cavs GM Prospect, said that he is not surprised with the Kyrie news and angst to get out of Cleveland, in an interview with ESPN:

“[Irving’s trade request] didn’t surprise me. I knew as [the Cavs] were doing their due diligence on me I was doing the same thing on them,” Billups said in an interview on the Vic Lombardi Show on Altitude Sports 950 AM in Denver on Tuesday.

He would go on to say:

“I knew so much about the situation that the rest of the world doesn’t know. But it’s unfortunate, man, because [Irving is] a special talent. So much of what he’s been able to accomplish on and off the floor has been as the beneficiary of having LeBron James.”

Lebron James tried to throw some water on the flames yesterday, calling some of the reports #NotFacts on social media. Stephen A. Smith refuted LeBron’s comments and invited him onto his radio show to discuss…. which LeBron didn’t do.

I’ll be on at the top of the damn hour Mr. @KingJames. That’s all I have to say until then.

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2017

Just saw @KingJames tweet about ME. See y’all on The Stephen A. Smith Show on ESPN Radio (SiriusXM Channel 80, 98.7FM ESPN NY & 710 ESPN LA)

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2017

Call-in number: 866.729.3776. I’m here! I’m back (on radio………Back on First Take next Monday). And damnit, I’m ready!

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 24, 2017

The news out of the Irving camp, according to Stephen A. Smith, is that the Wolves are at the top of Kyrie’s list of teams he would prefer to be traded to. It makes sense since we have the pieces the Caveliers would want back… well… we have Andrew Wiggins..

You can read more on that here from RandBall.

Andrew Wiggins plus a piece(s) would get it done, more than likely.

So, here in Minnesota, we will just grab our popcorn and watch to see what happens today. Is today the day Kyrie moves?

Hey Kyrie, if you are moving, Lake Minnetonka is sure nice this time of year…

Hey @KyrieIrving, if you are looking to move, it sure is nice this time of year in Minnesota. #LakesAndStuff #WeAreNiceHere pic.twitter.com/7iyemSP6gc

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) July 26, 2017

Eric Strack
Minnesota Sports Fan
@RealMNSportsFan

Sources: ESPN, StarTribune, Yahoo Sports

Updated: 7/27/17 6:00 PM CT (Continue scroll for July 30 Update)

This update isn’t as promising Minnesota Fans…

Today, ESPN’s Pablo Torre reported a “trusted source” claims Kyrie is desperate to join his home town Knicks….

“Kyrie Irving very badly wants to be a New York Knick. Kyrie Irving wants to come home.” –@PabloTorre, citing source pic.twitter.com/tlblz1hVT9

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 27, 2017

That would lend a little more credence to those who believe his SnapChat post, from above, was a plea to go home to New York. Minnesota fans who are desperate to see Irving in a Wolves jersey aren’t going to like that.

Well, at the end of the day, Kyrie doesn’t hold the final say. He doesn’t have any trade or no-trade clauses in his contract. AND we really don’t know what his “say” even is.  These types of reports make it seem like he DEFINITELY is NOT staying in Cleveland. Here is another tweet by someone with a checkmark:

Per Jason Lloyd, the Cavs can no longer even get Kyrie Irving on the phone

— Jordan Zirm (@clevezirm) July 27, 2017

So Kyrie is definitely out of Cleveland. Where does he go? Every day will be different until something becomes official. We will have all the updates here. Until then, I found this video interesting. It was from earlier this year. It is Kyrie describing some of the difficulties he deals with while playing with LeBron:

#TBT: On Wed @cavs management called Kyrie Irving’s status “fluid.” 2 months ago Irving described challenges he faces playing w/LeBron James pic.twitter.com/vMUhHQLU7i

— Spectrum Sports OH (@SpecSportsOH) July 27, 2017

Eric Strack @RealMNSportsFan

Updated 7/30/17 9:45 AM CT (Keep Scrolling for 8/1 Update)

Well, as the days go along, it seems less and less likely that Irving will be in Minnesota. Yesterday, if you missed it, Glen Taylor pretty much told us that Wiggins is NOT on the table in the Kyrie discussions. See more on that here.

If that is the case, then what kind of package are the Wolves really able to offer? It would be a bunch of our bench guys plus 2 future 1st round picks which would both be toward the end of the 1st round. You would have to think the other teams in discussions are offering more than that.

Nonetheless, it definitely looks like Kyrie is still on his way out. Here is a video that I saw this morning with Kyrie and Steph Curry seemingly making fun of LeBron’s dancing on his workout video posted a couple weeks ago. Here is LeBron’s workout video first:

LeBron’s weekend: dancing in front of a mirror at the gym.

(?: @dzanderTraining | Instagram) pic.twitter.com/qavIYWDer0

— SB Nation (@SBNation) July 17, 2017

And here we have the video that recently surfaced with Steph and Kyrie:

Steph Curry dancing at Harrison Barnes’ wedding just like Lebron James did when he shaved his head, with Kyrie Irving hyping Steph up. ?☠️ pic.twitter.com/GwRj8cYO4L

— suz (@firstversedrops) July 30, 2017

We will continue to watch closely as things continue to burn down in Cleveland. It has been a weird time for the Wolves. Who knows, maybe Thibs will be able pull the sheet over LeBron and the Cavs, punch them in the face, and steal Kyrie before they realize he is gone?

Eric Strack @RealMNSportsFan

Updated 8/1/17 – 8:35 PM CT (Continue Scrolling for August 3 Update)

Every day that goes by, the likelihood of the Timberwolves being the team that lands Kyrie, gets smaller and smaller. Today on Twitter, Darren Wolfson confirmed that Andrew Wiggins is NOT on the table in talks with the Cavaliers. Yet the Cavs want Wiggins + more (beyond Aldrich’s $ to make the deal work financially):

Not Wiggins, and it’ll take him and more.

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) August 1, 2017

Word is they want more than Aldrich to make the $$ work. They want something of substance in addition to Wiggins. No trade w/ MN is close.

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) August 1, 2017

So it looks like Minnesota won’t be Irving’s landing spot. That is ok. At least we never got this bitter when Marbury left (cleveland.com):

Eric Strack @RealMNSportsFan

Updated 8/3/17 1:30 PM CT

When I heard the reports that Wiggins was NOT on the table in the Irving deal, I was skeptical. The Wolves don’t get Kyrie without Wiggins right?

News just broke that cleared up my confusion and was what I was expecting to be the reasoning. It’s really the only thing that makes sense.

“I’m told Irving is not about to commit to any team at this point. He has two seasons left on his contract and wants to keep his options open.” – Terry Pluto

Kyrie Irving is NOT willing to promise an extension to ANY team he is traded to?!?!

It all makes sense now. Wiggins is about to sign a 5 year extension which will put him under Timberwolves’ control for 6 years. Kyrie is only guaranteed for 2. Now, the team that lands Irving in a trade will own his bird rights and will be able to offer him a bigger contract than any team he would sign with in free agency, no matter their cap situation. But NO TEAM can offer Irving more than Cleveland if he stays, since he has been there so long, so obviously money isn’t his biggest worry.

Without the guarantee of an extension, with the team he is dealt to, Kyrie becomes much less valuable as an asset. With only 2 years with Kyrie guaranteed, who is NOT on the table for other teams?

I still don’t think the Wolves have the best offer, even with this news. The Wolves’ entire 2016 bench + their next 2 draft picks isn’t a very good offer. But who knows…

I have thought the best offer available had Bledsoe included with Phoenix. After checking into it, Bledsoe is under contract the same amount of time as Irving (through 2018-2019). Is Bledsoe going to guarantee an extension to Cleveland? Doubtful with all the question marks around LeBron leaving after this season.

How does that get Cleveland anything out of Irving? It doesn’t.

Eric Strack @RealMNSportsFan
Sources: Cleveland.com – Terry Pluto, Spotrac

Teddy Bridgewater Spoke to Reporters Today:

Teddy looks better every time you see him. He had his usual smile on today as he answered questions from media outlets. He is an impressive human being.

Teddy Bridgewater addresses the media for the first time since his 2016 injury. pic.twitter.com/52GVVb2veX

— NFL (@NFL) July 27, 2017

The Twins make a sneaky trade:

In pretty sneaky fashion, late this afternoon, the Twins traded away (C) John Ryan Murphy. If you remember, they got him in exchange for (CF) Aaron Hicks a few years ago. He was going to be given every chance to be our next starting catcher. Chances weren’t what he needed. He struggled and was never a part of the new regime’s plan. I was surprised when this Baseball America article told me we got the hottest relief pitcher in the minor leagues for him…

Apparently the #MNTwins just traded (C) John R Murphy for the most dominant pitching prospect in the minors…? https://t.co/YVPnHVJyN5

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) July 27, 2017

Here are some thoughts on the front office about what we can expect from them at the deadline: Derek Falvey: Trade deadline a ‘fluid situation’ for Twins

And Randball getting in on the action too: Multiple reports suggest Twins could still trade Santana, other top players

Kyrie Irving wants to go to NY and won’t take calls from the Cavs:

So fewer and fewer people are seeing Irving in Cleveland, next year, as relations continue to sour. Reports from sources around the NBA today was that Cleveland can’t even get Kyrie to answer their phone calls.

Per Jason Lloyd, the Cavs can no longer even get Kyrie Irving on the phone

— Jordan Zirm (@clevezirm) July 27, 2017

According to Pablo Torre Kyrie wants to be nowhere but home:

“Kyrie Irving very badly wants to be a New York Knick. Kyrie Irving wants to come home.” –@PabloTorre, citing source pic.twitter.com/tlblz1hVT9

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 27, 2017

And my thoughts…

Cite this: ? https://t.co/jrvpmqzlZr

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) July 27, 2017

We are tracking everything on the Kyrie Situation here.

Will Molitor Stay or Go…:

This just popped up on the StarTribune. It looks like Phil Miller and Levelle Neal were able to tag team story on whether Molitor will be back next year. If Pohlad had the decision again you know what he would do after reading this…

Eric Strack
Minnesota Sports Fan @RealMNSportsFan

• A report surfaced on Friday afternoon that Kyrie Irving requested a trade recently away from LeBron James and the Cavaliers. Not only does he want to leave LeBron but he listed Minnesota as a preferred landing spot… Slap yourself and blink as many times as you want. You aren’t dreaming. Is this what we are in for now that we have a legitimate young talented roster? Only time will tell. Here is OUR reaction to the news.

Twins (48-47) Lose vs. Detroit 6-3:

• It was a rough start for Santana as he threw 97 pitches in just 3.1 innings before being replaced. He was going to 3-ball counts way too often. He wasn’t himself. The offense tried to make a comeback. They had a big 4th inning. Sano had 1 RBI and Adrianza had 2 RBI. However, the bats would go silent after that. The Tigers would score one more in the top of the 9th and the Twins go down 6-3. Cleveland handled the Blue Jays handily so the Twins drop to 1.5 back heading into the game tomorrow vs Detroit at 6:10 PM.
• WE WILL BE AT TARGET FIELD TOMORROW! SEE YOU THERE!

Tom Kelly Gets His Statue at Target Field: 

• We mentioned this a couple days ago but it happened on Thursday. T.K. was honored with his own statue. It is well deserved:

We’re proud to honor Tom Kelly with his own statue on Target Plaza!

Lookin’ good, TK! ? pic.twitter.com/wJ3QJjE2FL

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 21, 2017

Vikings’ Rookies Report to Training Camp Sunday:

• The Vikings’ season is quickly approaching! FINALLY! We will have plenty on that as things roll toward Training Camp and then the season. Until then, here are some articles to quench your Purple Drank Thirst:
  • EndZoneScore.com – Russel Baxter – Minnesota Vikings 2017 Most Improved Area: Running Back
  • Vikings.com – Lindsey Young – Lunchbreak: Mike Zimmer Tells ESPN Vikings Fans ‘Deserve to Win Big’

Oh Yeah, and Nobody Knows What is Going on w/Braves’ Garcia “Imminent Trade” to Twins:

So, yeah… the Garcia-to-Twins trade is most definitely on hold. pic.twitter.com/gchnfDss8V

— Chris Long (@ChrisLongKSTP) July 22, 2017

What a day in Minnesota Sports… I love this state.

Eric Strack
Minnesota Sports Fan
@RealMNSportsFan