The Wolves’ roster was finalized when the league’s 5 p.m. deadline passed and it’s the same as it looked on Thursday, when the team placed Chris Richard, David Harrison and Blake Ahearn. None of the three were claimed on waivers and all became free agents officially as of 5 o’clock.
The Wolves practiced at Target Center this morning in preparation for Wednesday night’s season opener against Sacramento. It sure looks like the starting lineup will be the one they finished with in the preseason: Gomes, Jefferson and Brewer in the frontcourt, Miller and Foye in the backcourt.
Don Seeholzer/Pioneer Press has a Q&A session with Wolves owner Glen Taylor in which Taylor discussed the team’s rebuilding effort, the trade for Kevin Love, and more.
Q: Is the rebuilding plan you put in place after the Kevin Garnett trade on schedule, and how soon do you expect to be a playoff team?
A: We said when we did that that this was a three-year (deal), so we’re in the second year of it. Next year we would hope that for sure we would be a playoff team, but I don’t want to say that we’re not going to try for that this year. We are, but we recognize it’s not only our team. We’re looking at the other teams in the conference. There are a lot of other teams that sort of geared up to win in the short run. They added experienced players. We just have to play through that and recognize that some of those teams are going to have to remold their team in the next year or two. That’s when I think we’ll make the big jump.
The headband is back. And if portions of the preseason were telling, so might be Corey Brewer.
Brewer wore two NCAA championships at Florida and sported a fabric headband while doing so. In his debut NBA season a year ago, he went without it because coach Randy Wittman’s team rule prohibits rookies from wearing one.
“No particular reason, other than he was a rookie,” Wittman said when asked about the rule. “He graduated to his headband this year.”
Brewer spent all summer in the gym working on a jump shot that abandoned him last season. In eight preseason games, he shot 40.3 percent from the field — a slight improvement over last season’s 37 percent — but made eight of 12 three-point shots, one more than he made all last regular season.
KSTP talks to Wolves VP of Communications Ted Johnson about the team’s new uniform and the new Target Center court (video).
Sidelined since before the start of training camp while recovering from elbow surgery, the Timberwolves’ veteran center won’t play in Wednesday night’s season opener against Sacramento, but he has been cleared to practice the following day.
Bob Sansevere/Pioneer Press conducts a Q&A with Ryan Gomes.
BS: Will this be a breakout year for the Timberwolves and/or Ryan Gomes?
RG: I believe so. You have to have confidence in yourself, and you want to think you can get better as a team and individual. We put ourselves in a position to be something special this year (with the addition of players such as Mike Miller and rookie Kevin Love). We came on late last year to play well. Early in the season, we were adjusting to what our roles were.
Jan Hubbard/Star-Telegram names the Wolves the West’s “most fascinating team”:
Pundits criticized Wolves GM Kevin McHale for his gift of Kevin Garnett to McHale’s alma mater, the Celtics, but the cupboard is not empty. Only nine players averaged double figures in points and rebounds last year, and one of those was Al Jefferson, who is 6-10, 265 and 23 years old. Jefferson, the key player for the Wolves in the Garnett deal, averaged 21.0 points and 11.1 rebounds and this year gets help in the form of Kevin Love, who adds additional bulk underneath the basket. The Wolves won’t challenge for the playoffs this season, but watching the team develop will be fun for Minnesota fans.