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Published July 23, 2012, 07:13 AM

Wolves, Stiemsma reach contract

Greg Stiemsma’s patience with the Minnesota Timberwolves appears to have paid off. After waiting more than a week for the Timberwolves to finish their dalliance with Nicolas Batum, Stiemsma agreed to terms on an offer sheet with the Wolves on Saturday, his agent Mike Naiditch said.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Greg Stiemsma’s patience with the Minnesota Timberwolves appears to have paid off.

After waiting more than a week for the Timberwolves to finish their dalliance with Nicolas Batum, Stiemsma agreed to terms on an offer sheet with the Wolves on Saturday, his agent Mike Naiditch said.

The Boston Celtics have three days to match the offer for the restricted free agent big man, but they are expected to let him return to where his NBA career began.

The Celtics signed him before the start of last season and he carved a niche for himself as an energy guy off the bench who would spell Kevin Garnett. Stiemsma averaged 2.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 14 minutes per game for the Celtics last season.

If the Wolves do land Stiemsma, it will be a welcome bit of good fortune on the free agent market after a few swings and misses. They negotiated with Portland to try to get Batum for more than a week, only to have the Blazers match their four-year, $45 million offer sheet.

The Wolves then missed out on Lee, who was moved to Boston in a sign-and-trade deal, and power forward Jordan Hill, who re-signed with the Lakers.

They also have agreements with former Blazers guard Brandon Roy and Russian guard Alexey Shved that have yet to be officially announced.

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