The Minnesota Timberwolves will head into the Las Vegas Summer League beginning on July 10 with the No. 1 overall pick Karl Anthony-Towns out of Kentucky. Towns was named SEC Freshman of the Year, en route to also being named First-Team All-SEC, and was high school’s Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2014. In 21.1 minutes per game, Towns averaged 10.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 2.3 blocks during his freshman campaign as a Wildcat.
2015 NCAA Tournament Champion Tyus Jones out of Duke will also headline the Timberwolves’ summer roster. The Timberwolves acquired Jones on a draft-day deal from the Cleveland Cavaliers. To aid the efforts of the Minnesota rookies, 2014 draft selections Zach LaVine, who captured the country’s attention during his 2015 Slam Dunk Contest-winning performance, and fellow 2014 first round draft pick Adreian Payne will also participate.
Minnesota has been waiting to make “the leap” for a while now, as the team hasn’t reached the postseason since the 2003-04 season, when Kevin Garnett was on the team. Garnett rejoined the Timberwolves during last season’s trade deadline and recently signed a two-year, $16 million deal with the club, where it is assumed he will be a part of the coaching staff when he hangs it up sooner than later.
T-Wolves fans can watch the team develop before the regular season by using Hipmunk.com to book Las Vegas flights from most major airline carriers. With multiple games, stay for more than one night by choose one of the affordable Las Vegas hotels listed on Hipmunk, starting from $20 per night.
With the 2014 Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins, the No. 1 overall selection in the 2015 draft Towns, the return of the Big Ticket for a full season, the 2014 Slam Dunk champion, and hopefully a healthy Ricky Rubio and Kevin Martin, the organization is starting to build something special that fans would buy Timberwolves tickets for. Despite having the worst record in the league this past season, which was mostly a result of numerous injuries that decimated the roster, the Wolves might be built to make a run at a playoff berth as early as this season.
The Las Vegas Summer League ends on July 20, and the Timberwolves have scheduled games against the Los Angeles Lakers on July 10, the Chicago Bulls on July 11 and the Utah Jazz on July 13. All three games are being played at the Thomas & Mack Center, home of the University of Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels.