Within the last few hours two Tweets have completely changed the scope of the rumored talks between the Lakers and Timberwolves.

The second of which came from CBSsports.com’s Ken Berger, who reported the Pau Gasol deal—the one that may or may not have involved Kevin Love—is completely dead.

“You can wipe the Pau Gasol-to-Minnesota rumor from your memory banks. ‘Not happening,’ says a source,” Berger wrote on his Twitter account.

The reason the trade has died could have something to do with an earlier tweet from NBA.com and SportsIllustrated.com reporter Sam Amick.

“Minnesota continues search for high-level player in exchange for No. 2 pick, source says T-Wolves made offer for Lakers C Andrew Bynum,” Amick posted on his Twitter account.

But these report’s don’t represent the end of rumors because the Timberwolves have been hammering the phones to see what the second-overall pick is worth. Yes, veteran Timberwolves beat writer Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune quoted assistant general manager Tony Ronzone as saying, “… right now we’re going to keep 2… We like 2.” However there is a different story emanating from other offices throughout the league.

The problem is pretty simple. As much as Minnesota may like Arizona forward Derrick Williams, they have no less than four players (Wesley Johnson, Michael Beasley, Anthony Randolph and Kevin Love) who will be siphoning off his playing time should he wind out in the Twin Cities. The team’s shooting guard experiment with Johnson was a miserable failure (he made only 39.7% of his field goals and was a non-factor on the boards—a perceived strength of his coming out of Syracuse), which means the small forward position in Minnesota is going to be crowded even without Williams. If Love is occupying the power forward position—which isn’t a certainty because he could see more minutes at center—Beasley will occupy the small forward spot while Randolph picks up leftover minutes at all three frontcourt positions. That effectively leaves Williams without a role as a rookie.

But since he’s generally considered to be a top-two talent in this year’s class—a class that continues to suffer following news that Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas will be spending one more season overseas before coming to the NBA—Williams should fetch the immediate contributor Kahn desperately needs.

If he were to trade for Bynum, Kahn would be making a major statement about whether or not he intends to keep head coach Kurt Rambis, who is under contract for two more seasons. Rambis coached Bynum as an assistant with the Lakers, but he’s currently moving in a different direction as a coach. When Rambis arrived in Minnesota from Los Angeles he was using more elements of Phil Jackson’s triangle offense—a system that’s helped Bynum average 10.5 PPG while making 56.9% of his field goals over his six-year career—but the T-Wolves have become increasingly reliant on high pick-and-roll sets and fast-break opportunities. They finished the season tops in the NBA in pace, averaging 99.2 possessions per game. Meanwhile the Lakers, for whom Bynum averaged 27.8 minutes and played 54 games in 2010-2011, finished tied for 19th in pace by averaging just 93.4 possessions per game. Simply put, Bynum could not sustain the current pace of Rambis’ offense.

Of course, Bynum is just one possibility in a smorgasbord of trade rumors and it appears for now that Kahn is committed to keeping the pace up on offense. He says the decision to push the tempo isn’t because of new point guard Ricky Rubio, but one has to assume that the team will play whatever style fits Rubio’s game.

“Not that Ricky is a symbol of this, but since I’ve arrived we’ve intended to play a style of basketball on both sides of the ball that is intended to be open court, exciting, fast-break,” Kahn told Jon Krawcynski of the Associated Press on Friday. “And for whatever reason we haven’t achieved that style yet, although we’ve done some good things as part of it.”

There very well could be nothing to all of the Timberwolves trade talk. Kahn might just go ahead and draft Williams, thus ending all the speculation. But for now, in the last few days before the draft, he’s proactively checking his options and nobody can criticize him for that.

Raptors Make It Official

Canada’s worst-kept secret was revealed on Tuesday as the Raptors named Mavericks assistant and former Timberwolves head coach Dwane Casey as outgoing coach Jay Triano’s replacement. Terms weren’t disclosed, but Casey’s deal expires after the 2013-2014 season.

“After a lengthy and detailed search for our new head coach, it became very clear that Dwane Casey embodies every aspect of what we defined as an ideal candidate,” Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo said on Tuesday. “Dwane’s 16-plus years in NBA coaching circles working with some tremendous basketball mentors coupled with his proven ability as a defensive architect will serve as a great backdrop for the future of this team.”

Casey served as an assistant under Rick Carlisle in Dallas for the last three seasons, and is credited with helping the Mavericks finish seventh in the NBA in defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) this past season.

“I am grateful to Bryan Colangelo for this opportunity and excited to come to the Raptors to work with this young team,” Casey said. “My number one goal is to create a defensive identity and an atmosphere of hard play. It is very, very important in the NBA to establish that culture of hard work.”

The Raptors have ranked dead last in the NBA in defensive efficiency for the past two seasons, so Casey definitely has his work cut out for him. The team might do well to draft center Enes Kanter if he’s available so they can move Andrea Bargnani to power forward. The Raptors leading scorer is only 25-years old, but he has yet to prove he can defend the paint like a traditional center.

Of course, if Kanter is drafted and Bargnani gets moved to power forward, Colangelo may want to consider trading Ed Davis and/or Amir Johnson, who currently occupy that position for the Raptors. Whichever way the Raptors decide to go with the draft, Casey will need to perform a minor miracle to turn this into a good defensive team.

For more on the Raptors’ newest coach, check out HOOPSWORLD’s Stephen Brotherston’s report.

John Hammond: We’re Not Trading Bogut

Bucks general manager John Hammond spoke to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel beat writer Charles F. Gardner on Monday to kill the rumors that he’s actively trying to trade center Andrew Bogut.

“There’s no truth to any of these false rumors that have been reported,” Hammond said, albeit in a slightly double-negative form.

One of the reports said that Bogut and the 10th-overall pick in Thursday’s draft were headed to Minnesota for the second-overall pick, but Hammond insists that the Bucks “have not” talked to the Timberwolves on the matter.

HOOPSWORLD’s Steve Kyler addressed the rumors surrounding Bogut in today’s NBA AM and says there is still slight chance the Australian big man gets dealt.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Check Out: Dick Vitale’s Sleepers

Dick Vitale takes a lot of heat from NBA draft experts because he is unflinchingly biased in favor of collegiate players. Some would say he’s biased against Europeans, but the truth is, if a foreigner has even a cup of coffee at an American university, then Vitale will see him in a much more positive light.

For instance, USC’s Nikola Vucevic—a native of Montenegro—made Vitale’s list of Draft Sleepers for his size (6-11) and rebounding ability (10.3 RPG last year). Vucevic had a solid three-year stint with the Trojans, so the former Detroit Mercy and Pistons coach had no problem anointing him a “Super Six Sleeper.”

No, Vitale isn’t biased against Europeans. He’s just a big proponent of college hoops and once in awhile he proves the so-called “experts” wrong. Where everyone else once predicted Maryland’s Steve Blake would struggle as a pro, Vitale accurately forecasted a solid NBA career for the skinny point guard. Obviously Vitale isn’t batting 1.000 in his predictions, but his opinion shouldn’t be discounted because of his affinity for the college game.

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