The Timberwolves have rebuilt in less than two years with youth, future salary-cap space and stockpiled draft picks. They will have at least two first-round picks, probably three, this summer. Here's a look at their biggest needs and some of the players their scouts are scouring the globe to see this winter.
The picks Their own: Unless it's not top-10, in which case the Clippers get that pick for that Marko Jaric-Sam Cassell trade years ago.
Miami's: Top 10-protected, looks like they'll get a pick in the late teens.
Boston's: Late first round.
Utah's: Top-22-protected ... not this year.
Need: Interior defender/shot blocker
The Wolves have committed themselves to the undersized, defensively suspect tandem of Al Jefferson and Kevin Love, but there are minutes and roster space for a defensive specialist who doesn't need the ball. They invested last summer's first pick in the second round on European Nikolai Pekovic, a bruising 6-11 center who could arrive in the NBA and Minnesota in 2010.
Player to watch: Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut, junior.
They likely will have to luck out and get a top-three pick when all is said and done to snare this developing 7-3 prospect. Extremely long, thin and with enough shot-blocking potential to invite comparisons to Dikembe Mutombo. See him: Wednesday vs. Syracuse, 6 p.m., ESPN.
Need: Game-changing point guard
The Wolves' January turnaround coincided with Sebastian Telfair's promotion to starting point guard. But ideally he's a backup and great insurance policy on a contender.
Players to watch: Ricky Rubio, Spain. Pete Maravich reincarnated, he wowed Kobe Bryant and Co. as Spain's 17-year-old phenom at the Olympics. Could wait until the 2010 draft, but a top-three pick whenever he enters.
- Patrick Mills, St. Mary's, sophomore. He'd make the Wolves' backcourt even smaller, but the 5-11 Australian Olympian and mid-first-round pick is super-quick and potentially special. A broken hand will keep him out until tournament time. See him: WCC tournament, March 8-9 on ESPN and ESPN2.
- Jrue Holliday, UCLA, freshman. Unselfish and mature, his college stats don't wow, but he's strong, really long for a 6-3 combo guard and a great defender. See him: Thursday at Arizona State, 8 p.m., ESPN.
Need: Athletic, big-time scoring wing
Rodney Carney's January play hints at what a star small forward might provide.
Players to watch: Al Farouq-Aminu, Wake Forest, freshman. Long and extremely athletic, he has been compared to Chicago's Tyrus Thomas and Golden State's Anthony Randolph. See him: ACC tournament, March 12-15, ESPN.
- Earl Clark, Louisville, junior. A "point" forward who can really run and jump and pass. He's also an enigmatic player who makes NBA scouts earn their money. See him: Thursday at Notre Dame, 6 p.m., ESPN.
- DeMar DeRozan, Southern California, freshman. His body looks NBA-ready right now. He hasn't wowed so far but has something NBA scouts covet: potential. See him: Pacific-10 tournament, March 11-14.
ZGODA'S SHORT TAKES
Two nights after Kobe Bryant scored 61 points there, LeBron James delivered a 52-point, 11-assist, nine-rebound performance at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.
The NBA on Friday took away a rebound credited to James that would have given him the first 50-point triple-double since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it with Milwaukee in 1975.
"I can't say this is the same as any other road game," he said. "It's the Mecca of Basketball. Like Kobe said, this is the last building that's still alive. It feels like you're on stage."
- - -
The Bobcats chartered a bus to bring Gerald Wallace home to Charlotte from Los Angeles after he suffered a collapsed lung and broken rib when Lakers center Andrew Bynum elbowed him. He left L.A. Monday on a three-day journey after a cardio-thoracic surgeon told him not to fly.
- - -
Kevin McHale and former Boston teammates Larry Bird and Danny Ainge all ended up running NBA franchises. Could McHale have foreseen any of it?
"Maybe Danny," he said. "Until they actually had CNN ... Danny didn't have any idea what was going on in the world. He would have thought 9-11 was someone's batting average. When CNN came out, he'd wake up in the morning, turn it on and say, `Ask me something that's happening in the world.' So Danny, yes. The rest of us, probably not."
- - -
Bad news just got worse for the Bucks. First, they lost star Michael Redd for the season, then learned this week that blossoming center Andrew Bogut will miss at least eight weeks because of an incomplete stress fracture in his lower back. Then on Thursday, they lost point guard Luke Ridnour for up to four weeks because of a broken thumb.
the wolves weeks
WEEK IN REVIEW
Record: 1-3
- They sandwiched losses Sunday at Boston and home to Atlanta on Wednesday with Tuesday's unsightly but successful comeback victory at Indiana. Kevin Garnett missed Sunday's game because of the flu, but the Celtics led by 18 before halftime anyway. They finished the week by blowing a 15-point first-half lead in a 107-90 loss at Houston on Saturday.
STAR TRIBUNE'S STAR OF THE WEEK
- Kevin Love, forward: The rookie moved back into the starting lineup Wednesday for the first time since Dec. 5 because of Craig Smith's rib injury and delivered his second double-double of the week -- 16 points and 14 rebounds in 30 minutes -- and his 11th of the season and his seventh in 2009.
THIS WEEK Two GAMES
Today: at New Orleans, 6 p.m. Tuesday: vs. Toronto, 7 p.m.
- A short week because of the All-Star break begins against a Hornets team likely missing the great Chris Paul.
