Clock is ticking: Wolves submit Batum offer sheet

The Wolves hand delivered that $46.5 million Nicolas Batum offet sheet to Portland GM Neil Olshey this afternoon in Las Vegas.

Finally.

And now?

Tick, tock...

The Trail Blazers now have until 10:59 p.m. Wednesday to match the offer, which of course they will do unless somehow the three parties agree to rescind the offer sheet.

I'm not heading to Las Vegas for summer league, but here is where I wish I had been tonight:

In the row behind Olshey and Portland owner Paul Allen as they sat engaged in a long conversation before the Blazers summer-league team played New Orleans tonight.

Could this be the best thing David Kahn ever did because it might save him from himself?

Now, he forces a division rival to muck up its salary cap by significantly overpaying a player and he has cleared more than $14 million to spend on some combination of Brandon Roy, Courtney Lee, Alexey Shved, Greg Stiemsma and Jordan Hill.

Here's the "Wolves Insider" column I wrote for the Monday paper that provides some background on what seems like a growing feud between these two teams.

A couple other things:

* The Wolves "cut" their minicamp roster down to 19 players who they took to Las Vegas on Sunday to play five summer-league games in the next seven days.

They left him off the Vegas roster because they want him and that surgically repaired knee to concentrate on "strength and conditoning" issues so he'll be completely ready for training camp.

They didn't want him playing those five games in seven days, but you'd think they would take him along and let him play a couple, right?

Whether this is strictly a precaution, I don't know, although I was told he didn't report to minicamp on Friday out of shape.

Otherwise, the Wolves took everyone to Las Vegas other than forward Gary Johnson.

Why so many, 19?

I know I blogged about him Friday, but here's a story I wrote on slimmed down Derrick Williams for the Sunday paper.

The Wolves' opening game against the Clippers on Monday night won't be televised live on NBA TV.