The buyout is not official yet, Wolves spokesman
Mike Cristaldi said Saturday. But an agreement is expected to be
reached before 5 p.m. Monday, the NBA deadline for players to set their
regular-season rosters.
 
 
Howard hugged teammates goodbye after Friday’s exhibition finale at
Target Center and did not attend the Wolves’ public scrimmage there on
Saturday evening…
 
 
From Zgoda’s blog, On The Wolves:
His departure, barring any other transactions by Monday’s 5 p.m. roster
deadline, seemingly gets the Wolves to the required 15-player limit,
assuming they waive Wayne Simien as well. Simien was acquired in
Wednesday’s trade with Miami, but was told not to come to Minnesota
along with new Wolves Antoine Walker and Michael Doleac.

 
 
 
Jerry Zgoda/Star Tribune on Corey Brewer’s childhood, his family, and hometown of Portland, Tennessee:
When he was young, his middle-school teacher telephoned his mother at
work one day and asked her to fetch her son because he clearly wasn’t
feeling well.
Glenda Brewer asked what was wrong.
He’s not smiling.
"All his life, if I go through his pictures, every one I’ve seen has
got that smile," his mother said. "He was a happy child. There was a
reason he smiled. I’m going to tell you why he smiled. See, I’ve found,
we have love. We love each other. You’ve got to love each other."
 
 
Stephen Litel/Downtown Journal on last night’s win over Milwaukee:

Apparently, in an effort to be somewhat of a buzz-kill, I feel the need
to point out the rough evening had by Craig Smith. In 23 minutes, Smith
had 8 points, 2 rebounds, 5 fouls and 7 turnovers. Throughout most of
the game, Smith was constantly complaining to the refs for what he felt
were bad calls, although most of the calls were spot on.
 
At one point in the third quarter, Smith was sitting on the bench after
another horrible stint in the game. He sat there, very upset and nearly
crying. Eventually placing his head in his hands, Smith put on such a
display Marko Jaric–the team’s resident pouter–put his hand on
Smith’s back, consoling him. 
 
 
Ben Polk/City Pages on the game:
Things got surreal for me as I came into the Wolves dressing room after
the game. Jefferson, McCants, Ryan Gomes (who, it turns out, is a
really charming, friendly guy), Randy Foye and Corey Brewer were
watching highlights of the Celtics-Cavs game, in which the
aforementioned KG managed a triple-double and some ridiculous
highlights. It was beyond strange to see these normal (sort of) guys
chatting about their former team and teammate…
 
 
Mike Trudell/Timberwolves site with an extensive look at Marko Jaric. 
 
 
Oly Sandor/Hoopsvibe on veteran players the team could move.