Andrew Wiggins has improved his shooting dramatically to begin his third NBA season.

“I’m more confident,” Wiggins said. “I shoot more and take better shots. It comes from preparation.”

Said Tom Thibodeau on Wiggins’s improved shooting: “He’s put a lot of work into it and it’s the unselfishness of his teammates, too. Guys are making plays. They are sharing the ball and making the extra pass. The threes that we are taking, I think for the most part, are very good. There’s ball movement. There’s penetration. As long as they’re rhythm threes, we’ll shoot a high percentage. One of [Wiggins’s] great strengths is his versatility.”

“He can score so many different ways,” Thibodeau said. “In the post, with his cutting. He has the ability to draw fouls. The way he can score different ways reminds me of Paul [Pierce], transition, pick-and-roll, as a screen, as a ballhandler, so many ways he can score.”

Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. is one of the most versatile young big men to ever play in the NBA with his inside/outside game.

When Towns arrived at Kentucky, he was taught to play the game from the inside out and he rarely drifted toward the perimeter during his lone season with John Calipari.

"Maybe it's fortunate to blend in with the new, current, modern-day NBA big, maybe it's not. What I can do is be as versatile as possible, where I could have played today or years ago when the 5s were rolling around. That's why I play. I play inside, and I also play outside. I play in both eras."

"His skill set is so unique for a 7-footer," Tom Thibodeau. "He can shoot the 3 with ease from all over the floor -- from the corners, from above the break, from the top of the key. He can put it on the floor. He can change direction. He can Euro-step. He can play back to the basket. He can play a face-up combo game. You can pick-and-roll with him where he's the screener. You can pick-and-roll with him where he's the ball handler. He has guard-like skills. He has great vision. He has playmaking ability. There's a defensive component and there's a drive to be great."

"Everything has to be cohesive. Everything has to jell together -- that's what makes the great ones great," Towns says. "Every day I'm just trying to find ways to keep my versatility high but keep every single aspect of my game working in sync. That's what I try to do on the court. I mean, why limit yourself? I don't limit myself. If my coach needs me to guard 1 through 5, I have worked tremendously hard to have the ability to do that. If I need to shoot, I can shoot. If I need to post up and be a bruiser, I can be a bruiser. I try to be great at all skills."

Ricky Rubio has agreed upon a multi-year extension with Adidas.

Rubio previously signed an endorsement deal with Adidas in 2012.

Rubio is signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves through 2019 but his future with the franchise remains uncertain due to the presence of Kris Dunn.

Gorgui Dieng signed a four-year, $64 million extension with the Minnesota Timberwolves before the deadline on Oct. 31st.

Dieng would have likely commanded a contract of at least $80 million in free agency.

"I want to be here. I didn't want to be here I wouldn't have bought a house this summer," he said. "Everybody knew it. I wanted to be here. I don't like moving around back and forth. I like here. I like the organization. Great people. They help you. It's an easy task for me being here."

Dieng spoke about the impact his new contract would make in Senegal.

"It doesn't matter how much you make but what can you do with it," Dieng said Tuesday,. "I'm sure a lot of people make more money than I did before and they didn't do the right thing with it. I always wanted to help and I'm going to keep helping. I'm going to do the best I can to my ability to make peoples' lives better."

Dieng met with Wolves owner Glen Taylor on Monday to chart out the vision for the franchise over the next five years.

"If I go to another team, am I going to be happy? I don't know," Dieng said. "I just wanted to be happy and make sure I'm comfortable where I am at. I'm looking forward (hoping) they're all going to do the same and be honest with their teammates, because at the end of the day it's not all about the money."

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and Dan Feldman of NBC’s Pro Basketball Talk and the Locked On Pistons Podcast (@DanFeldmanNBA) break down the NBA’s rookie scale extension and option deadline.

They review just-announced extensions for Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo, Rudy Gobert, Cody Zeller and Gorgui Dieng along with previously agreed-to deals for Giannis Antetokounmpo, CJ McCollum and Dennis Schroder.

After that, they discuss some of the significant option decisions including RJ Hunter and James Young for the Celtics, Adreian Payne for the Timberwolves and Nik Stauskas with the 76ers. 

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The Minnesota Timberwolves announced Ricky Rubio underwent an evaluation this evening by team orthopedic surgeon Diane Dahm of Mayo Clinic which confirmed the initial diagnosis of a sprained right elbow.

Rubio will be listed as out indefinitely and his status will be updated as appropriate.

Rubio suffered the injury at the 6:28 mark of the fourth quarter of Minnesota’s 106-103 loss at Sacramento on Saturday.