Matteo Spagnolo Named Trentino Cup MVP

It’s never the offseason for Minnesota Timberwolves fans. With a league-leading seven players participating in international team activities this summer, the news continues to roll in. While many are focused on Anthony Edwards scrimmage highlights and whether or not he’ll be part of Team USA’s starting five, some exciting action was taking place across the Atlantic.

Team Italy, featuring Matteo Spagnolo (50th pick of the 2022 NBA draft), hosted Turkey, China, and Cape Verde for exhibition games dubbed the Trentino Cup. After a 90-89 overtime victory against Team Turkey (Spagnolo scored 7 points), the finals took place on Saturday, August 5th. To no surprise, they faced Team China and our dear friend Li Kai’er (Kyle Anderson), who was making his Chinese debut. Unlike their previous nail-biting win, Italy cruised to a stress-free 79-61 victory as Spagnolo led all players with 13 points and a flurry of beautiful dimes. SlowMo finished with 11 points and 6 rebounds of his own.

Check out some of the game highlights featuring both Wolves players below.

When it was all said and done, the 20-year-old guard from Brindisi, Italy received a tasty looking MVP trophy for his efforts. Wolves fans were delighted to see this news after Spagnolo sat out the Las Vegas Summer League due to injury. He has one more year on his European contract, though his development should be encouraging. If you’re unfamiliar with what he brings on the court, you should check out Benny Hughes’ breakdown.

From here, Team Italy will host Puerto Rico in another exhibition game on Sunday, August 13th. Team China will head eastward to participate in SuperCup in Hamburg this week, competing against Germany, New Zealand, and Canada (Nickeil Alexander-Walker). The fun doesn’t stop!

Speaking of fun, for more highlights and unicorn dust from “Italian Ricky Rubio’s” previous pro-season, click here.