The Minnesota Timberwolves have rejected offers from the Dallas Mavericks for Robert Covington.

The Wolves have been believed to be open to trading Covington.

The Houston Rockets and Philadelphia 76ers have also been mentioned as interested in trading for Covington.

Gersson Rosas addressed trade rumors surrounding Karl-Anthony Towns, saying that the Minnesota Timberwolves have no plans to trade Towns.

"Karl-Anthony Towns is as untouchable as they come. He's the best player on our team and he's the guy we're building around. Everything we do is to help him become the best player and to help us become the best team we can be. He's a special talent that we're going to do anything possible to help him achieve his highest potential," Towns told Eric Woodyard of ESPN.

Towns is currently in the first-year of a 5-year, $158 million deal.

Rosas added that the Wolves will actively continue to improve their roster. 

"We're gonna be very active and we're going to look at any opportunity that can present itself and make sure that if there's a deal that we can do to improve our team, we're going to take advantage of those opportunities."

The trade market for Robert Covington has intensified over recent days, according to rival teams that spoke with The Athletic. 

The Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers have expressed interest in Covington.

Minnesota is expected to hold firm on a high asking price for Covington. Covington has $25 million remaining on his current contract over the next two seasons and has a great relationship with Karl-Anthony Towns.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have intensified their pursuit of D'Angelo Russell.

Deals have yielded no traction as the Golden State Warriors have been inclined to keep Russell. The Wolves attempted to sign Russell this past offseason and is known to be close friends with Karl-Antony Towns.

Minnesota traded Jeff Teague to the Atlanta Hawks earlier on Thursday.

The Atlanta Hawks have acquired Jeff Teague and Treveon Graham from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Allen Crabbe.

Teague will serve as Trae Young's backup for the Hawks.

Teague previously played for the Hawks before he was traded to the Indiana Pacers. Teague is in the final season of a three-year, $57 million deal.

Crabbe signed a four-year, $74.8 million deal in 2016 and will be a free agent this offseason. The deal also creates an open roster spot for the Wolves that can help facilitate another trade before the deadline. 

Gersson Rosas had an extended interview with Chris Hine of the Star Tribune about the state of the Minnesota Timberwolves with one of the main questions concerning the future of Karl-Anthony Towns with the franchise.

There have been reports that Towns is unhappy with the state of the Wolves.

"You know, the reality of it is I know in terms of what we control and that’s in this organization and this building," said Rosas. "Everything that we’ve done is to help Karl be the best player he can be, the best person he can be. I know he really appreciates that. You look at the facts: He’s had his best season. We’re fully optimizing who he is, what he’s about. We’re challenging him as a player and as a leader to be the best that he can, and we have the potential to do something here that’s built around him to allow him to be the best player he can be. That will allow us to be the best organization and the best team we can be on the floor. We have an ownership group and a leadership group here that’s given us every resource to be successful. We’ve been aggressive at every step of the way during my short tenure here, whether it’s the draft or free agency, to bring in high-level talent. There’s going to be challenges along that path, but I’m extremely confident we’re on the same page and there’s full commitment from every level here to make this successful. There’s always noise in whatever pursuit you have. Unfortunately even though that noise is unwarranted or unconfirmed, we don’t allow that to distract us from our goal of building a championship organization here."

Karl-Anthony Towns missed his 14th straight game on Monday evening though it was more related to flulike symptoms than his knee.

“He’s got a bug,’’ Ryan Saunders said. “He’s very close. But he’s not in the facility because he’s got a bug.’’

Saunders said a return this week is reasonable.

From the start the Wolves described his injury as a day-to-day situation, consistently listing him as questionable.

“It’s one of those things were we value our players’ health,’’ Saunders said. “And we want him to be 100 percent when he comes back.’’

Saunders also indicated that Towns’ knee may not have responded to treatment as planned.

“What might look, early on, as a couple games, he didn’t really respond early,’’ Saunders said. “We want these guys, when they’re out there, when they’re on the court, to be fully healthy. Because [Towns] is a big part of our future, and we know that. I think we all understand that.’’

While teams like the Golden State Warriors may be monitoring Karl-Anthony Towns, he is almost certainly not going to be traded at any point in the near future.

According to Marc Stein of The New York Times, the Wolves are building "everything" around Towns.

Towns is in Year 1 of a five-year, $190 million contract extension.

The Wolves are 12-20 one year after a disappointing 18-19 season. Minnesota reached the playoffs in 2018.