The Minnesota Timberwolves made a bold move in trading for Rudy Gobert and the follow-up to it if it continues to be a disappointment could be a trade of Karl-Anthony Towns to try to repair the situation. Towns has been out since November with a calf injury and the franchise has tiled even more heavily toward Anthony Edwards in his absence. 

"It has felt like the inevitable end game where at the very least it is something that is talked about between teams," said Zach Lowe on his podcast of potential chatter around the Wolves trading Towns.

"Teams are already talking about it," Jon Krawczynski replied. "There's no doubt that other teams are eyeing this situation and looking to see if KAT will become available.

"I can tell you from everyone that I've talked to within the organization, they very much believe in KAT. They believe that once he comes back and they have some time to build around ANT and Gobert and KAT, they very much believe that can still work. Chris Finch believes it. Tim Connelly believes it. They don't have any plans to trade him.

"But if the bottom falls out of this thing and they go forward that way, there are going to be teams knocking on the door. I do think that overall, especially locally here, there's a lack of appreciation among fans for what Karl-Anthony Towns is as a player."

Bryn Forbes was arrested early on Wednesday on a family violence charge in San Antonio.

Forbes was waived last week by the Minnesota Timberwolves to create a roster spot and is currently a free agent.

Forbes was arrested on suspicion of assault with bodily injury, a misdemeanor, after a verbal argument with a female companion turned physical, according to police records.

According to a police report, Forbes had an argument with a woman he is dating. Forbes struck the woman several times after the couple arrived home, according to the report. The San Antonio Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services responded to assist the woman.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are optimistic that Karl-Anthony Towns can return from a calf injury with 10-15 games left in the regular season, reported Shams Charania on FanDuel TV's Run It Back.

"There's optimism he'll be back at some point second half of the season, anywhere from 10-15 games left in the year is what you'd hope for, when there's really a month-plus left in the NBA regular season.

"But they've been really cautious. That was a very serious calf strain that he had," said Charania.

Towns, who was injured in late November, was originally expected to miss 6-8 weeks.

The Timberwolves are currently 31-29, with one game left before the All-Star break.

Anthony Edwards, De'Aaron Fox and Pascal Siakam have been named as injury replacements for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game.

The trio replace Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Zion Williamson.

All three players were starters and in their place will be Joel Embiid, Lauri Markkanen and Ja Morant.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are not expected to pursue Patrick Beverley if he becomes available following a buyout with the Orlando Magic.

Beverley was traded by the Los Angeles Lakers to the Magic for Mo Bamba at the deadline. 

The Wolves traded Beverley to the Utah Jazz last summer as part of the Rudy Gobert deal.

The Los Angeles Lakers are exploring the point guard market and have engaged the Minnesota Timberwolves on a deal for D'Angelo Russell, reported Adrian Wojnarowski on NBA Today.

Russell is on an expiring contract and has only had tepid discussions on an extension with the Wolves. The viability of the trade appears to hinge on how Russell's value is viewed by the Wolves, who have discussed trades involving him elsewhere as well.

The Lakers previously pursued a trade for Kyrie Irving and have also been linked with a trade for Mike Conley as they search for a point guard.

Russell was drafted by the Lakers in 2015 and traded to the Brooklyn Nets in 2017.

Shams Charania and Tony Jones of The Athletic report that the Utah Jazz are involved in the talks with the Lakers and Wolves with Conley going to Minnesota. The Jazz would take on Westbrook and receive draft compensation. Utah is widely expected to buyout or waive Westbrook if they acquire him at the deadline. 

Jake Fischer of Yahoo reports that various versions of these discussions have included Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt also going to the Lakers. 

The Denver Nuggets have removed Bones Hyland from their rotation in the days leading up to Thursday's trade deadline. That's expected to be a precursor to trading Hyland.

The Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans and Toronto Raptors have all shown interested in trading for the second-year guard. The Nuggets believe they can get at least a first-round pick in exchange for Hyland.

Hyland has averaged 12.1 points in 42 games off Denver's bench this season. He's shot 37.8% on 5.7 three-point attempts per game. Hyland is also a developing playmaker, who has averaged three assists per game.

The 6-foot-3 guard has been looking for a bigger role than the one he has with the Nuggets. Some reports said Hyland would like to start, or play significant minutes off the bench, with a chance to be a part of a team's closing lineups.

The NBA suspended Mo Bamba four games and Austin Rivers three games for their on-court altercation on Friday.

Jalen Suggs was also suspended one game for escalating the incident.

Jaden McDaniels was also fined $20,000 for getting involved in the altercation.

Taurean Prince, who was also ejected, did not receive any further punishment. 

Austin Rivers and Mo Bamba were among five players ejected following a fight where both players threw punches.

Jaden McDaniels, Taurean Prince and Jalen Suggs were also ejected.

Bamba appeared to be talking trash to Rivers on multiple trips down the floor.

"This isn't like a cool moment for me," Rivers said after the game. "I feel embarrassed. I'm the oldest on the team. I consider myself the leader of the team, or one of the leaders of the team. It was a weird game, and I don't think that helped at all. If anything right now, I'm just [ticked off] that we lost, and that I had [something] to do with that. It doesn't make me feel good."

"You obviously want to have your teammate's back and at the same time, you've got to be a professional," said Moritz Wagner.

Rivers approached Bamba about his comments.

"I'm not going to snitch on the dude or whatever, but I just didn't like the way he was talking to me," said Rivers. "For no reason, too. I don't even know that dude. I don't know anything about him. Obviously, I just know he's a player for the Magic. And he proceeded to talk, so that next possession, when I went down there, I just said, pretty much, 'Just keep it respectful, bro.'"

Markelle Fultz, when asked what Bamba said to Rivers, told reporters it was "normal trash, nothing disrespectful or crazy."

It came as a bit of a surprise when the Denver Nuggets were reported to be shopping Bones Hyland in trade talks. Hyland is an up-and-coming, which made it surprising that Denver would consider moving him.

However, Hyland reportedly has had friction with the Nuggets coaching staff. The second-year guard would like a bigger role, but Denver has concerns about Hyland's ability to hold up defensively.

One team reportedly interested in the Minnesota Timberwolves. Wolves front office leader Tim Connelly originally drafted Hyland when he led the Nuggets basketball operations. There remains some bitterness from Denver toward Connelly for how he left the Nuggets for the Wolves this past summer. That could be a holdup towards a deal.

The Charlotte Hornets are also interested in Hyland. If Charlotte moves on from some of their veterans, they would be looking to rebuild their team around LaMelo Ball with younger players.