Glen Taylor thinks team will be improved next year and more
From Sid Hartman/Star Tribune:
"I think we're going to be an improved team next year," Taylor said. "I think it's the first step, and we'll have to do a couple years of those steps. But I'm confident that next year will be a step for more wins and that our fans will see improvement in both the defense and the quality of our play."
Likes top draft choice
"I think [top draft pick] Wes Johnson just fits our needs perfectly," Taylor said. "We were just short a shooter out there, and he was the person that was available at four, so he fits our needs. I'm happy with that. I think we didn't see the player at 16 that could kind of step in and help us this year, and we already have quite a few young people on the team, so the fellows made a decision that we should go out and trade that for a proven player, and one in which they see some upside. He's a very young guy, [Martell] Webster is a young person, and they see some improvement, so I think that was the best we could do at 16."
Taylor looks for the club to make a sign-and-trade deal, and it could involve Al Jefferson.
The team may have lost as much as $20 million last year, but Taylor said the Wolves are not the exception and he believes more than half of the teams in the NBA lost money last year because of the poor economy.
From Michael Wallace/The Miami Herald: Riley Explains Beasley Decision
From Marcus Thompson's twitter account:
Minnesota and Toronto, I'm told, made S&T offers @johnsomniac: who else was gonna give the Knicks a deal for Lee though???
As it happens, the Minnesota Timberwolves have a player who fits that description to a tee, and they would love to get their hands on the TPE in exchange for Al Jefferson. Jefferson has been on the block for some time, as unlike the Cavaliers the Timberwolves are very much in the rebuilding mode. The arrival of Nikola Pekovic and the re-signing of Darko Milicic have long since spelled the end for Jefferson in Minnesota, and the belief is that Minnesota would send him to Cleveland for the TPE and the right combination of picks.
From WCCO:
A couple of tall Minnesota men are hoping to change the Timberwolves' skyline. They are Blaine's 7-foot Patrick O'Bryant and Duluth's 6-foot-11 Rick Rickert.
From WFIE.com:
After a 3 day tryout with the Timberwolves, former USI guard Jamar Smith has been given the opportunity to play with Minnesota's summer league team.
Smith left on Sunday for Las Vegas, where he will play along-side college stars Wayne Ellington and Deon Thompson out of North Carolina, Lazar Hayward from Marquette, and Johnny Flynn and Wesley Johnson, out of Syracuse.
NBA free agents might avoid Minneapolis due to its harsh winters, but many others move there partly because of the city’s determination to remain "green." Target Center, home of the Timberwolves, is an example of why that’s the case.
The arena, which opened in downtown Minneapolis in 1990 and which sits across the street from the Twins’ new palace, Target Field, unveiled its green roof in September 2009 to rave reviews. Target Center became the first sports arena in North America to have a green roof, which at the time was the fifth-largest extensive green roof in the U.S. (An extensive green roof means that it’s there strictly for functional purposes.)