Wolves forward Kevin Love’s had the stitches from his surgically repaired left hand removed at halftime Wednesday. He is scheduled to have that hand X-rayed again two weeks from Friday and is hopeful he will be cleared to return to practice if the film shows the hand has healed sufficiently.

That would be about Nov. 20. That also would be significantly ahead of the six-to-eight weeks estimation when he broke the hand in a preseason game at Chicago on Oct. 16.

“Hoping,” he said, crossing two fingers on his unbroken right hand.

Former Wolves guard Darrick Martin will become the team’s new assistant coach of player development.
From David Thorpe/ESPN: Rookie Watch: Jennings takes top spot
2. Jonny Flynn, Timberwolves
There is talk of Flynn’s being demoted to the second unit, in favor of Ramon Sessions, but it’s not because Flynn has stumbled out of the gate.

In fact, he’s been good, if not very good. His shot selection has been solid, as has his shooting (3-of-5 from 3, 47.5 percent FG). It’s clear that he has a flair for the dramatic, although his high turnover rate have not helped to keep the drama low, at least not to his coach.

What hasn’t moved much is Brewer’s shooting percentage. As a rookie, he took 486 shots in 79 games (six per game) and made 37.4 percent. He didn’t play enough last season for a legitimate comparison. And now, much-used early in his third season, he’s taking 15 shots per game and making 36.1 percent.

Wolves coach Kurt Rambis was saying before Wednesday night’s game with Boston that the basics of Brewers’ shot look good — the rotation, the arc. The problem is that Brewer has a tendency to get off balance as he readies to release the shot. He will fall back or twist his body, and then a sweet rotation isn’t going to help.