(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
“I wouldn’t put a number on it. But if we stay healthy, I would say, in all likelihood, yes.” – Minnesota Timberwolves President David Kahn when asked if the Wolves would improve upon their 24-58 record of last year.
Unfortunately for Timberwolves fans, rising star Kevin Love will start the season nursing a broken hand for the next 6-to-8 weeks. Adding insult to injury, the foundation of the franchise, Al Jefferson, has not shown that he has completely recovered from his knee injury from last year and now may have a new injury.
Timberwolves fans are in for a long, dark and cold winter as the team begins to rebuild into becoming a team worthy of playoff consideration.
Love broke a bone in his right hand when he collided with teammate Oleksiy Pecherov fighting for a rebound during a preseason game. Love led all rookies and was ninth overall in the league with 734 boards. Love also led all rookies with 29 double-doubles. Love’s production will be sorely missed.
The injury to Love is part of a disturbing trend for the Wolves, going back to 2005. Love joins Rashard McCants, Randy Foye and Corey Brewer as Timberwolves first round draft picks to miss a significant portion of their second year with an injury.
Jefferson saw limited playing time in Saturday’s tilt against the Milwaukee Bucks due to a sore Achilles’ tendon. On Monday, Jefferson was held out of practice because of the injury. Adding fuel to the speculation that Jefferson’s injury could be serious, Jefferson took no questions from the media at practice.
Jefferson averages 23.1 points per game and is the only Wolves player on the roster that has a career average over 15 points.
A hobbled Jefferson without Love to begin the season will make it nearly impossible for the Wolves to compete. If Jefferson’s injury requires him to miss a significant number of games, the prospect is ... well, let’s just say not pleasant.
A more pleasant story line for Wolves fans will be the development of Jonny Flynn at point guard. The interesting sub-plot to the story will be how coach Kurt Rambis finds enough minutes for Ramon Sessions.
As the sixth pick of the draft, the Wolves have handed Flynn the starting point guard job. Flynn’s baptism of fire likely will pay dividends in the long run as he gains valuable on the job experience.
Sessions came to the Wolves after signing a four-year $16 million dollar contract in the off-season. Sessions chose the Wolves because he believed he would get a significant amount of playing time.
In order for Flynn to properly develop, he will need to have some minutes on the floor to work through mistakes. Those minutes in which Flynn is learning on the job will undoubtedly impact Sessions' playing time.
Kahn suggested initially playing Flynn and Sessions together. Head coach Kurt Rambis has publicly stated that while he hasn’t completly ruled out the idea, he is more inclined to have the players split time at the point guard position.
Flynn and Sessions both appear to be far more comfortable running the point as opposed to playing the shooting guard position. The drama could become even more intriguing if and when Ricky Rubio comes to town.
If Flynn establishes himself as a dependable point guard, the Wolves could have an interesting dilemma at the position, as they will have three point guards under 25 on their roster.
Another player for Wolves fans to watch is the return of defensive stopper Corey Brewer from last year’s knee injury.
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