Timberwolves Waive Lorenzo Brown and Othyus Jeffers

Jerry Zgoda reports that the Wovles have made their first two of three cuts necessary to get the roster down to 15 by the Monday deadline.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>The Wolves released Othyus Jeffers &amp; Lorenzo Brown today. That leaves Robbie Hummel, A.J. Price and Chris Johnson with one more cut to come.</p>&mdash; Jerry Zgoda (@JerryZgoda) <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryZgoda/statuses/393845604733841408">October 25, 2013</a></blockquote>

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While this has been expected, I think I would have preferred to keep Jeffers over Robbie Hummel.  Jeffers is not only an amazing story, but also showed good tenacity on defense and in attacking the rim during both summer league and pre-season.  The Wolves, however, have apparently decided to keep the better shooting Hummel for the end of the bench.

Lorenzo Brown was the Wolves' second round draft choice this year, and according to vjl's excellent metrics was probably worthy of a first round selection.  However, the tall point guard out of North Carolina State simply didn't show enough during his time with the team to earn a roster spot.

With 16 players remaining on the roster, one more cut will have to be made.  It looks like it's between Chris Johnson, who has a guaranteed contract but has hardly appeared during the preseason, or veteran point guard A.J. Price joining Hummel on the final roster.  Price has established himself as a legitimate backup point guard, and certainly if the Wolves feel the need for depth at that position, they could do a lot worse than having Price around for emergencies.  He is capable of running a team at an NBA level.

Johnson showed flashes both last season as a mid-season pickup and during summer league, but has been on the outside looking in during the preseason.  He is a capable shot blocker and dunker, but lacks the strength to be a real defensive asset at the center spot.  He looked like he was improving both his passing and shooting ability this summer, but has not had the opportunity to show anything during the exhibition games.  Presumably the coaching staff has gotten enough of a look in practice.

Hummel meanwhile appears all but in as the Wolves need an extra wing body as the roster currently stands. David Kahn's final draft pick for the organization, Hummel was chosen in the 2nd round of the 2012 draft.  A promising college career at Purdue was derailed multiple times by knee injuries, but Hummel persevered.  He spent last season playing in Spain, before getting his chance to show off his shooting ability and game awareness during summer league. He's been up and down during preseason action, but Rick Adelman has praised him for his ability to fit in to the team and fill the role assigned to him.

Again, one more cut is required by the Monday deadline.

Best wishes to Lorenzo Brown and Othyus Jeffers.