NBA free agency rumors: Brandon Rush to sign with the Minnesota Timberwolves
By John Buhler
After spending four of the last five years with the Golden State Warriors, forward Brandon Rush will sign a one-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, “Brandon Rush has landed a one-year deal at $3.5 million with the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to his agent Mark Bartelstein.”
Brandon Rush has landed a one-year deal at $3.5 million with the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to his agent Mark Bartelstein
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 6, 2016
With the Golden State Warriors signing top-tier 2016 free agent Kevin Durant on July 4, Rush is the most recent Warrior to leave the juggernaut basketball club this offseason. Both starting small forward Harrison Barnes and starting center Andrew Bogut are now with the Dallas Mavericks.
Rush has spent four of his eight NBA seasons with the Warriors, and was an important bench player in their back-to-back Western Conference Championships the past two seasons and the 2015 NBA Championship.
Rush played a ton of games for the Warriors this season, starting in 25 of 72 games for Golden State. He’ll leave arguably the favorite team to win the Western Conference this season for arguably the most exciting team in Minnesota in 2016-17.
The Timberwolves just might be good enough this winter to end their league-worst 12-year NBA Playoffs drought with their high-octane young lineup and proven head coach Tom Thibodeau.
Minnesota was largely going to stand pat in 2016 NBA free agency after crushing it in the last few NBA Drafts with minimal roster spaces available. However, the Timberwolves were in the market to solidify a veteran wing position coming off their bench after Tayshaun Prince hit free agency.
The Timberwolves wanted former Thibodeau disciple Luol Deng, but he ultimately signed a massive deal to play for the lowly Los Angeles Lakers. Rush comes from a culture of winning in Golden State and could be immensely valuable coming off the Minnesota bench this fall for Thibodeau, backing up Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine out on the wing for the Timberwolves.
For more NBA free agency news, please check out our NBA free agency category page.