NBA Notes: Timberwolves, Rudy Gobert, Nets, Celtics

Timberwolves

NBA legend and TNT analyst Charles Barkley said the Timberwolves didn’t do themselves any favors by trading for center Rudy Gobert and pairing him with center/forward Karl-Anthony Towns.

“They got two 7-footers out there like idiots,” Barkley said, via Jonathan Sherman of AHN Fire Digital. “Nice trade.”

Barkley added that he didn’t like the deal from the beginning.

“I hated that trade,” he said, via Sherman. “They can’t play the pick-n-roll. It would’ve been fine in our day, but they can’t guard in today’s game. They’re not dominating in the paint offensively or defensively.”

Nets

While GM Sean Marks denied that the Nets have made a decision on their next head coach, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said suspended Celtics coach Ime Udoka could be hired as soon as Wednesday.

“A formal agreement could be reached as soon as today and Ime Udoka could be on the bench by as soon as this road trip on the weekend,” Wojnarowski said, via NetsDaily. “Sean Marks I think he sees in Udoka as someone who commands the respect of that locker room, improves them defensively. He was on Steve Nash’s staff before he went to Boston.”

We have more on the Udoka and Nets situation right here.

• In case you missed it, the Nets recently held trade talks with a Western Conference team in which the name of guard/forward Ben Simmons came up. You can check out the full post here.
• Star forward Kevin Durant said he was “shocked” about the Nets’ decision to fire Nash. Read more here.

Celtics 

While Udoka is expected to leave for the Nets, the Celtics are quite pleased with his replacement, Joe Mazzula, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.

In fact, per Washburn, Boston is “fully invested” in Mazulla and “pleased with how he’s leading the franchise.”

For now, Mazzulla is still working under the title of interim head coach. It will be interesting to see if that changes following Udoka’s departure.

Mazzulla, who played college basketball at West Virginia, had been an assistant with the Celtics since 2019.