Sports Frog

Good souls of the north Midwest, you may want to avert your eyes from the goings-on at the Target Center this winter, at least as far as it pertains to the gentlemen in tank tops. Without further ado...

Far and away the greatest player in the history of the Timberwolves' franchise, Kevin Garnett was shipped off to Boston, taking nine of the franchise's players' 12 All-Star appearances with him, not to mention over 19,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 4,000 assists, and 1,500 blocks. Save for one trip to the Western Conference Finals, this franchise has been muddled in being ho-hum. The Garnett trade sentences them back to the Stone Age, or at least back to the days of the first six years of the franchise (before Garnett was drafted) where the squad averaged 21 wins per season. By the way, that number is propped up by 29 victories in 1990-91. Fortunately for head coach Randy Wittman, he is used to coaching teams almost completely devoid of talent on the roster from his two seasons with Cleveland.

With Mike James sent to Houston in an offseason trade, Randy Foye likely will take over the point guard slot. Foye carded a 2.30-to-1 assist-to-turnover ration in his rookie season, evidence that he is not a true point guard. He is simply the best option at the spot.

Ricky Davis was probably upset the day Garnett was traded, then promptly had a wet dream that night when his subconscious made him realize how many shots he will get with this team. Davis will undoubtedly top his single-season high of 20.6 points per game and is almost as likely to throw up a career low in field goal percentage (41.0 percent, which was established the same 2002-03 season).

Trenton Hassell was likely to start at the three prior to being sent to Dallas for Greg Buckner, costing me another cheap shot at Ricky Davis. I've included it for your benefit in the following parentheses. ("Hassell is likely to start at the three, if for no other reason than to provide someone on the court who will play defense and not shoot, thereby helping Davis' personal goals.")

As a result, the path is clear for Corey Brewer to come in and start. While Brewer doesn't excel in any particular skill, he is a winner from Florida who does a little bit of everything. With some time in the weight room and working on his shooting range, Brewer will be a very nice complimentary piece.

Al Jefferson is going to find out that it is not quite so easy to be a "20-10" threat every night without a legitimate star opening things up for him. Jefferson turned in 19 of those last year in Boston, as well as one "10-20." Jefferson, however, will be the #1 option on this team (Ricky is his own man, not actually a part of the team), so look for him to get every opportunity for him to get established down low.

Mark Blount had a solid year last year, hitting over 50 percent of his field goals en route to scoring 12.3 points per game. Blount's soft mid-range touch should prevent double-teams on Jefferson and open things up a little for the youngster.

The two backup point guards are both flawed in their own special way. Marko Jaric has been around for a while and is a poor shooter who should be able to use his size to defend opposing points, but gets beaten off the dribble (no wonder his request to get sent out of town has fallen on deaf ears... of team executives from the other 29 franchises who don't want his outstanding four years and $27.35 million). Jaric will also see some minutes at the two. Sebastian Telfair is undersized and does not have a reliable jump shot, limiting his ability to take advantage of his penetration skills. Telfair also has a shoot-first mentality, which doesn't help when you can't shoot.

Rashad McCants neither shoots nor takes care of the ball well enough to see much time at the shooting guard spot. Greg Buckner will fill the role of the departed Hassell, only providing defense and toughness at the swingman spots off the bench.

Ryan Gomes, the other good part that came from Boston in the Garnett trade, will get some time at both forward spots. While Gomes is not a star, he won't hurt the Timberwolves.

Juwan Howard will also get some time at the power forward spot. The veteran has already requested a trade and will likely be on the roster only until the Wolves get a decent offer in return or until the end of the season, whereupon Howard will decline his option so he can run to a better team that shows interest in him and the promise of a reasonable contract.

Craig Smith is a young, strong player and, to show their appreciation, the Wolves will give hiim minutes off the bench as an undersized option at center. Smith is an efficient scorer (53.1 percent field goal shooting, 15.8 points per 40 minutes) and rebounder (10.8 rebounds per 40 minutes), but his lack of height is a problem. While he has fairly good power forward skills, he is stuck behind Jefferson, who is the cornerstone of the franchise.

Theo Ratliff will receive enough minutes to show he is still a competent low-post defender, but not enough to get injured, in hopes that some contender will give up an asset to take what remains on his contract off the Wolves' books.

This roster is perhaps the worst in the league in terms of talent. Foye, Brewer, Jefferson, and Smith are really the only players of interest on the roster, either for this season or long-term. While he will likely lead the team in scoring (and possibly three-pointers), the team would probably be happy to have someone take Davis off their hands so that they can work more on developing Brewer. The same thing goes for Blount (not the statistical leader thing, the other one). The rest is just spare parts and role players who don't do much of note. This group is going to seriously threaten the franchise record for fewest wins in a season (15).