22 wins, 60 losses—I honestly wasn't surprised with how the Minnesota Timberwolves finished last season.
Trading Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics was expected to make the T'Wolves one of the laughing stocks of the league. With the trade, Minnesota brought in Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, and Sebastian Telfair.
Gerald Green was traded shortly after the All-Star break because apparently blowing out candles at an all-star dunk contest wasn't impressive enough for him to remain on the team. In the process, Minnesota received Kirk Snyder who started in 18 of his 27 games with the Wolves.
Theo Ratliff was released mid-season as well, and later picked up by the Detroit Pistons. Ratliff was injured throughout the 2007-2008 season.
For the players who remained on the team, they were apart of Minnesota's centerpiece. Al Jefferson was the star of the team, he finished the season with an average of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Ryan Gomes started in 74 games and appeared in all 82—he averaged 12 and a half points. Sebastian Telfair started 51 games at Point Guard with averages of 9.3 points and nearly 6 assists.
Minnesota's team stats:
Game Statistics
Rebounds
Miscellaneous
NAME
GP
GS
MIN
PTS
OFF
DEF
TOT
AST
STL
BLK
TO
A/TO
PF
TECH
Al Jefferson
82
82
35.6
21.0
3.8
7.4
11.1
1.4
0.90
1.45
2.0
0.70
2.7
0.0
Rashad McCants
75
24
27.0
14.9
0.7
2.1
2.7
2.2
0.88
0.24
2.3
0.94
3.1
0.0
Randy Foye
39
31
32.3
13.1
0.3
2.9
3.3
4.2
0.92
0.08
2.0
2.08
2.6
0.0
Ryan Gomes
82
74
29.7
12.6
1.6
4.2
5.8
1.8
0.79
0.12
1.2
1.51
1.9
0.0
Craig Smith
77
11
20.1
9.4
1.6
3.0
4.6
0.8
0.47
0.22
1.2
0.67
2.8
0.0
Sebastian Telfair
60
51
32.2
9.3
0.3
2.0
2.3
5.9
0.98
0.18
1.9
3.20
2.9
0.1
Kirk Snyder†
27
18
25.2
8.4
0.9
3.3
4.2
2.1
0.70
0.52
1.8
1.17
1.8
0.1
Marko Jaric
75
56
29.2
8.3
0.5
2.5
3.0
4.1
1.29
0.43
1.7
2.43
2.4
0.0
Antoine Walker
46
1
19.4
8.0
1.2
2.4
3.7
1.0
0.72
0.17
1.0
0.98
1.7
0.0
Theo Ratliff†
10
6
21.3
6.3
1.3
2.6
3.9
0.7
0.30
1.90
1.2
0.58
3.0
0.0
Corey Brewer
79
35
22.8
5.8
1.0
2.7
3.7
1.4
0.96
0.32
1.1
1.25
2.4
0.0
Gerald Green†
29
0
12.2
5.1
0.4
1.8
2.1
1.0
0.28
0.14
1.1
0.91
1.5
0.0
Greg Buckner
31
4
16.7
4.0
0.3
1.8
2.1
1.3
0.68
0.06
0.9
1.34
2.0
0.0
Michael Doleac
24
8
10.7
2.4
0.7
1.4
2.0
0.3
0.42
0.42
0.5
0.58
1.8
0.0
Chris Richard
52
3
10.7
1.9
1.0
1.6
2.6
0.3
0.19
0.23
0.5
0.75
1.6
0.0
Mark Madsen
20
6
7.5
0.5
0.9
1.0
1.9
0.2
0.15
0.10
0.5
0.44
1.3
0.0
Totals
82
---
---
95.6
11.8
29.6
41.4
19.9
7.51
3.73
13.9
1.43
23.0
0.2
Opponents
82
---
---
102.4
10.6
31.0
41.7
23.2
7.44
5.71
13.0
1.78
17.5
0.2
Rashad McCants had the role of pull-up shooter and floor general. Second year Guard Randy Foye was injured for the majority of his season. Corey Brewer was very disappointing in his rookie campaign, failing to even average six points. The reason I mentioned these three is because they are the young guards who will see plenty of time this coming season.
2008 Draft
Round 1, Pick 3 O.J. Mayo, SG, USC
Mayo was expected to be the Timberwolves top pick and he was. Hours later, the USC star was abruptly traded with Marko Jaric, Greg Buckner, and Antoine Walker to the Memphis Grizzles for Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and Jason Collins.
Round 2 Nikola Pekovic, C, Serbia
One of the top international prospects in the whole entire draft. Too bad he signed a huge contract in Greece and won't likely be in the NBA anytime soon.
Round 2 Mario Chalmers, PG, Kansas
The steal of the draft in my opinion. Of course, the Timberwolves trade him to Miami. He could have been the future Point Guard for Minnesota is McCants went else where.
2008 Losses
Theo Ratliff—Pistons, Gerald Green—Houston Rockets, Marko Jaric—Memphis Grizzlies, Antoine Walker—Memphis Grizzlies, Gerald Buckner—Grizzlies. Kirk Snyder
2008 Signings
Mike Miller—Grizzlies, Jason Collins—Grizzlies, Brian Cardinal—Grizzlies, Rodney Carney—76'ers, Calvin Booth—76'ers.
2008-2009 Projected Starting Line-up
PG: Rashad McCants
SG: Randy Foye
SF: Mike Miller
PF: Al Jefferson
C: Kevin Love
Bench
F: Ryan Gomes
G: Sebastian Telfair
F: Corey Brewer
C: Jason Collins
C: Mark Madsen
F: Craig Smith
F: Rodney Carney
F: Brian Cardinal
C: Calvin Booth
F: Chris Richard
2008-2009 Projected Record: 34 wins, 48 losses (4th place)
I believe if Al Jefferson provides double digit numbers again, he will be an All-Star. Mike Miller provides a smooth jump shot and three-point range. McCants can be the floor general once again, Randy Foye will be the secret weapon, Kevin Love provides strength and inside game.
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3 months ago
Kirk Snyder is no longer with the T-Wolves. From the Reno Gazette Journal:
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008808160341
"Kirk Snyder and Nick Fazekas find themselves in relatively similar positions these days. The former Nevada Wolf Pack basketball teammates both have NBA experience and both have been working out for NBA teams. But both have yet to sign a contract for next season. When Snyder was in Reno in mid-June, he said he was hoping to have a deal in place shortly after the NBA free-agency period opened on July 1. Yet, it has been more than six weeks since players could sign deals and Snyder's services are still open to the highest bidder. Snyder's agent, Chris Emens, said his client has been contacted by five or six teams and he isn't in a rush to get a deal signed. "You want to see the process through in order to get the best deal for your client," Emens said. "It's really dictated by the market and how quickly it develops." Snyder, a four-year NBA veteran, became an unrestricted free agent on July 1 when the Minnesota Timberwolves declined to offer him a one-year qualifying offer worth about $3.3 million. Although Snyder had hoped to get a deal done quickly, Emens said the only timeline he has is getting a contract signed by Oct. 1 (when players report to their teams). Where Snyder and Fazekas play next year is to be determined, but Emens said he has discussed with Snyder the possibility of playing in Europe next year. That might have seemed like a stretch a few months ago but is a realistic option for NBA players after Josh Childress, Jannero Pargo, Carlos Arroyo, Nenad Krstic, Carlos Delfino and a handful of other NBA vets signed lucrative deals with European teams this offseason."
"It's something that we are considering or at least that we will evaluate," Emens said. "But with Kirk's size, strength and athleticism, that really lends himself more to the NBA."
3 months ago
Thanks James! I was not aware of this.
2 months ago
I think the author here has McCants and Foye confused. McCants was the Wolves sixth man last year and Foye was the "floor general" if you want to call him that since he was injured for the first 43 games. Telfair was more of the PG last year, but it looks like Foye will have that starting role to begin the season, and McCants will continue to provide the "secret weapon" scoring punch off the bench. More likely starting line up on opening night: Jefferson, Gomes, Brewer, Miller, Foye. Eventually, Love will likely replace Gomes in the starting role, but based on his preseason performance, that might be a couple of months until he truly gets up to speed with the NBA game.
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