Timberwolves Notes: Options, Free Agency, and More

Now that the draft has finished, it's time to move on to other business. Some Wolves notes:

• The Wolves extended a qualifying offer to Nikola Pekovic, making him a restricted free agent and giving the Wolves the right to match an offer sheet from another team. His QO is slightly over $6 million.
• The Wolves also picked up the option on Dante Cunningham's 2013-14 contract, bringing back the forward for $2,18 million.
• The Wolves have signed Brandon Paul, UDFA from Illinois, to play on their summer league team. Senior shooting guard who was not drafted Thursday.
• Teams can begin to speak with free agents starting at 11:01 CDT Sunday night. Flip has said that he'll be on the road at that time, presumably to court players.
• The Wolves have Chase Budinger as their only unrestricted free agent at the moment, and the Wolves look interested in bringing him back.
• The one UFA from another team that has been consistently linked to Saunders by the local media is O.J. Mayo, who opted out of his contract in Dallas. We'll see if he becomes an actual target.
• No word as of this writing on a decision from Andrei Kirilenko on his $10 million player option for next season.
• Word has it that the Wolves are getting a lot of inquiries about Luke Ridnour. He seems very likely headed out of town.
• The Lynx got revenge against the L.A. Sparks Friday night with an 88-64 pasting at Target Center. Linday Whalen led the way with 20 points and 6 assists.