The
Minnesota Timberwolves are a professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota
, United
States
. Their organization is a member of the
National Basketball
Association (NBA).
Franchise history
Early struggles
NBA basketball returned to the Twin Cities in 1989 for the first time since the Minneapolis Lakers departed for Los Angeles
in 1960
(there was an American
Basketball Association franchise, the Minnesota Muskies, in 1967-68) when the
NBA granted one of its four new expansion teams (the others being
the Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets, and the Miami Heat) to original owners Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Ratner to begin play for the 1989–90 season. They
received the name "Timberwolves" as the result of a "Name that
team" contest. Minnesota is home to the largest population of
Timberwolves in the lower 48 states (at about 1200).
They made their debut on November 3, 1989 losing to the
Seattle SuperSonics on the road 106–94.
Five days
later they would make their home debut at the Metrodome
losing to the Chicago
Bulls 96–84. Just two nights later the Wolves would get
their first win, beating the
Philadelphia 76ers at home 125–118 on
November 10. The Timberwolves, led by
Tony
Campbell with 23.2 ppg, went on to a 22–60 record, finishing in
6th place in the Midwest Division. Playing in the cavernous
Metrodome, the expansion Timberwolves drew over 1 million fans (an
NBA record for attendance) including the 3rd-largest crowd in
NBA history at
49,551 on April 17, 1990 that saw the Timberwolves lose to the
Denver Nuggets 99–88 in the final
home game of the season.
The next
season the team moved
into the Target
Center
and won 29 games, however they fired their head
coach Bill Musselman. They
didn't fare much better under Musselman's successor, ex-
Celtics coach
Jimmy Rodgers finishing with an
NBA-worst 15–67 record. Looking to turn the corner, the Wolves
hired former
Detroit Pistons general
manager
Jack McCloskey to the same
position, but even with notable first round selections such as
Christian Laettner and
Isaiah Rider in the 1992 and 1993 NBA Draft
respectively, was unable to duplicate his "Detroit Bad Boys"
success in the Twin Cities as the Wolves on-court mediocrity
continued. One of the few highlights from this era was when the
Target Center served as host of the 1994
All-Star Game where Rider won the
Slam Dunk Contest with his
between-the-leg "East Bay Funk Dunk".
As winning basketball continued to elude the Wolves, Ratner and
Wolfenson
nearly
sold the team to New Orleans interests in
1994 before NBA owners rejected the proposed move.
Eventually,
Glen Taylor bought the team
and named
Kevin McHale general
manager.
1995–2007: The Kevin Garnett era
In 1995, the Timberwolves selected
Kevin
Garnett in the draft, and
Flip
Saunders became coach.
Christian
Laettner was traded along with
Sean
Rooks to the
Atlanta Hawks for
Andrew Lang and
Spud Webb. Also, first-round pick
Donyell Marshall was traded the previous
season for
Golden State
Warriors' forward
Tom Gugliotta.
These trades paved the way for rookie Kevin Garnett to become the
go-to player inside. Garnett went on to average 10.4 ppg in his
rookie season as the T-Wolves finished in 5th place in the Midwest
Division, with a 26–56 record.
In 1996, the T-Wolves added another star player in the draft,
swapping
Ray Allen to the
Milwaukee Bucks for the rights to
Stephon Marbury, the 4th overall pick. The
addition of Marbury had a positive effect on the entire team, as
Kevin Garnett and
Tom Gugliotta became
the first Wolves to be selected to the All-Star team. Gugliotta and
Garnett led the Timberwolves in scoring as the team made the
playoffs for the first time in franchise history with a record of
40–42. However,
in the playoffs
the Timberwolves made a quick exit as they were swept by the
Houston Rockets in 3 straight games.
The T-Wolves also decided to change their image by changing their
team logo and colors, adding black to the team colors and replacing
the original logo with a logo featuring a snarling wolf looming
over a field of trees.
It was also during the season that Minnesota
began to play on the parquet floor
also used by the Boston Celtics and
the Orlando Magic in every home game
at the Target
Center.
Logo from 1996-2008
1997, Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury established themselves as
two of the brightest rising stars in the
NBA. Garnett averaged 18.5
ppg and 9.6 rebounds per game, while Marbury averaged 17.7 ppg and
dished out 8.6 assists per game. Despite losing leading scorer
Tom Gugliotta for half the season the
Timberwolves went on to post their first winning season at 45–37
making the playoffs for the 2nd straight season. After dropping
Game 1 on the road to the Seattle Supersonics in the playoffs the
Timberwolves earned their first postseason win in Game 2 winning in
Seattle 98–93. As the series shifted to Minnesota the Timberwolves
had an opportunity to pull off the upset as they won Game 3 by a
score of 98–90. However, the Wolves dropped Game 4 at home as the
Sonics went on to win the series in 5 games.
In 1998, a year after signing Kevin Garnett to an unprecedented
6-year, $126 million contract, the Timberwolves were used as the
poster child of irresponsible spending as the NBA endured a 4-month
lockout that wiped out much of the season. With an already
cap-heavy payroll the Wolves were forced to let Tom Gugliotta walk
away in part because they want to save money in order to sign
Stephon Marbury to a long-term contract and in part because Tom
Gugliotta did not want to play with Stephon Marbury. This move
proved unsuccessful, however, as Stephon Marbury wanted to be the
biggest star on a team and subsequently forced an in-season trade
by refusing a contract extension. In the 3-team midseason deal that
sent Marbury to the
New Jersey Nets
the Wolves got
Terrell Brandon in
return and a first round draft pick in the 1999 draft (which turned
out to be the sixth pick). The Wolves made the playoffs for the 3rd
straight season by finishing in 4th place with a 25–25 record. In
the playoffs the Timberwolves were beaten by the eventual champion
San Antonio Spurs in 4
games.
1999–2004
In 1999, the Timberwolves drafted
Wally
Szczerbiak with the sixth pick in the draft. He had a solid
season finishing 3rd on the team in scoring with 11.6 ppg. Led by
Kevin Garnett, who averaged 22.9 ppg and 11.8 rebounds per game,
the Timberwolves enjoyed their first 50-win season finishing in 3rd
place with a solid record of 50–32. However, in the playoffs the
Wolves fell in the first round again, losing to the
Portland Trail Blazers in 4
games.
Guard
Malik Sealy was killed in a car
accident in the summer of 2000 by a drunk driver. Souksangouane
Phengsene, was
driving the wrong
way down the freeway Sealy was driving on, causing the fatal
crash in his Land Rover. Sealy's number has since been retired,
with the number 2 jersey memorialized with Sealy's name on a banner
hanging from the rafters of Target Center. The drunk driver was
convicted of vehicular homicide and sentenced to four years in
prison. He was previously arrested for drunk driving in Iowa in
1997 and has since been arrested twice more for driving while
intoxicated in 2006 and 2008.
Also in that season, a free agent deal signed by
Joe Smith was voided by the NBA, who
ruled that the Timberwolves violated proper procedure in signing
the contract. The league stripped the T-Wolves of five draft picks,
fined them $3.5 million and suspended general manager Kevin McHale
for one year. (Smith would eventually sign with the
Detroit Pistons before re-signing with the
Wolves in 2001.) Despite the trouble the Wolves made the playoffs
for the 5th straight season with a 47–35 record. In the playoffs
the Wolves were eliminated in the first round again by the
San Antonio Spurs in 4 games in the spring
of
2001.
With the arrival of newcomers
Gary Trent,
Loren Woods,
Maurice Evans and the return of
Joe Smith; the Wolves started the
season on fire by winning their first six games and a
franchise-best 30–10 start. One of the wins included a franchise
record 53 point over
Chicago in
November. They would finish with a 50–32 record, their second ever
50 win season that was highlighted by another All-Star appearance
by Garnett and a breakout season by
Wally Szczerbiak, who earned his first
All-Star appearance. Once again, Minnesota lost in the first round
of the playoffs, getting swept by the
Dallas Mavericks in three straight.
2002–03 seemed to look up
for the Wolves.
Kevin Garnett had a
great season, finishing second in
MVP voting while averaging a solid 23.0
ppg and 13.4 rebounds per game as the Timberwolves finish in 3rd
place with a 51–31 record. As a result, they were awarded home
court advantage for the first time when facing the three-time
defending champion
Los Angeles
Lakers. After being blown out at home in Game 1, the
Timberwolves had a chance to take a 3–1 series lead as they led
heading into the 4th quarter of Game 4 in Los Angeles. However, the
Lakers came back to win the game on the way to winning the series
in six games, and the Timberwolves were eliminated in the first
round for the 7th straight year.
In
2003, the Timberwolves made two strong
offseason moves, trading away forward Joe Smith and injured guard
Terrell Brandon in a multi-player deal for
Ervin Johnson,
Sam
Cassell and embattled guard
Latrell
Sprewell.
During the
2003–04 NBA
season, the Timberwolves became the team to beat in the Western
Conference. They finished the season as the top seed in the Western
Conference with a record of 58–24, and beat the
Denver Nuggets and
Sacramento Kings in the first two rounds of
the NBA playoffs. Kevin Garnett leapt upon the scorer's table upon
the completion of Game 7 in the Sacremento series, one of the more
defining moments in franchise playoff history. Unfortunately, the
Timberwolves' run ended in the Western Conference finals as the
team lost to the Lakers, the previous Minnesota franchise. Due to
an injured hip, Sam Cassell played only sparingly during the series
with the Lakers. Kevin Garnett finally earned his first MVP award
with 24.2 points, 13.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.
2004–2007
The Timberwolves conduct pre-game
warm-ups at their home arena, the Target Center.
In the
2004–05 season,
the Wolves kept the same team from the previous season. The team
was plagued with contract disputes and the complaining of key
players
Latrell Sprewell,
Sam Cassell, and
Troy
Hudson. Coach
Flip Saunders was
replaced in midseason by GM
Kevin
McHale, who took over the team for the rest of the season. The
Timberwolves finished 44–38, and missed the playoffs for the first
time in eight years. They missed the playoffs by 1 game, to the
Memphis Grizzlies.
During the 2005 offseason,
Kevin McHale
and the Wolves started their search for a head coach. McHale
interviewed
Seattle assistant
coach
Dwane Casey,
San Antonio Spurs assistant
P.J. Carlesimo,
former coach
John Lucas and
Wolves assistants
Randy Wittman,
Sidney Lowe and
Jerry Sichting, among others.
On June 17, 2005, the Timberwolves hired
Dwane Casey as the new head coach. This was
Casey's first head coaching job. He was the Wolves' 7th head coach
in their 16-year history.
In the
2005 Draft, the Timberwolves selected
Rashad McCants, a shooting guard from
North Carolina
with the 14th overall pick of the 1st round.
The
Timberwolves also selected Bracey
Wright, a guard from Indiana
with the 17th pick of the 2nd round (47th
overall).
During the offseason, they traded All-Star
Sam Cassell and a protected future first-round
draft pick to the
Los Angeles
Clippers for
Marko Jaric and
Lionel Chalmers. They also signed
free agent
Nikoloz
Tskitishvili.
On January 26, 2006, the Wolves traded forward Wally Szczerbiak,
centers Dwayne Jones and Michael Olowokandi, and a future
first-round draft pick to the
Boston
Celtics. In return, they received forward/guard
Ricky Davis, center
Mark
Blount, forward
Justin Reed, guard
Marcus Banks, and two second-round
draft picks. In a separate trade on the same day, the Timberwolves
traded
Nikoloz Tskitishvili to
the
Phoenix Suns for a 2006
second-round draft pick. The Timberwolves finished 33–49, missing
the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
In the 2006 NBA draft, the Timberwolves selected future Rookie of
the Year
Brandon Roy with the 6th
overall pick,
Craig Smith with the 36th
pick,
Bobby
Jones with the 37th pick and center
Loukas Mavrokefalidis with the 57th
pick. The Timberwolves traded Brandon Roy to the Portland Trail
Blazers for Randy Foye and cash considerations. The Timberwolves
then traded forward Bobby Jones to the Philadelphia 76ers for a
2007 second-round pick and cash.
On January 23, GM Kevin McHale fired head coach
Dwane Casey and replaced him with
Randy Wittman. McHale explained in a news
conference that it was inconsistency by Casey that led to the
firing. Casey had compiled an overall record of 53–69. They
finished the 2006–07 season with a record of 32–50, allowing them
to keep their 2007 first-round pick.
Rebuilding the Team
On June 14, 2007, the
Timberwolves
traded
Mike James and
Justin Reed to the
Houston Rockets for
Juwan Howard.
In the
2007 NBA Draft the
Timberwolves selected
Corey Brewer and
Chris Richard from the
National Champion Florida Gators.
On July 31, 2007, the Minnesota Timberwolves reached a deal to
trade All-Star
Kevin Garnett to the
Boston Celtics for
Al Jefferson,
Theo
Ratliff,
Gerald Green,
Sebastian Telfair,
Ryan Gomes, two first-round draft picks, and cash
considerations. This is the largest combination of players and
picks ever traded for a single player in NBA history.
On October 24, 2007, the Timberwolves traded
Ricky Davis and
Mark
Blount to the
Miami Heat in exchange
for the Heat's
Antoine Walker,
Michael Doleac,
Wayne Simien, and a 2008 protected first-round
draft pick (lottery protected in 2008, top 10 in 2009, top 6 in
2010, beyond: unprotected).
On October 29, 2007, The Timberwolves waived Juwan Howard after
reaching a contractual buyout agreement, worth $10 million of
roughly $14.25 million which Minnesota would have owed him. The
Timberwolves waived Wayne Simien to finalize their roster to 15
players. The Wolves traded a top 56 protected NBA draft pick to the
Spurs for cash and Beno Udrih whom was immediately waived.
2007-present
Alternate logo
(2008–present)
began the NBA preseason with two games in
London
and
Istanbul
, as part of
NBA Europe Live 2007. On
October 10, The
Wolves lost to
Kevin Garnett and the
revamped
Boston Celtics 92–81. To
start the season, the Wolves began 0–5 before finally ending the
drought with a home win over
Sacramento. That drought also brought about
speculation of the possible dismissal of current coach Randy
Wittman. The youngest team in the NBA began adjusting to life after
trading franchise star Kevin Garnett to Boston, meanwhile playing
without budding talent Randy Foye for the first half of the season.
Guards Sebastian Telfair and Marko Jaric were deputized as starting
point guards during Foye's injury absence. The Timberwolves
finished the season 22–60. On a handful of occasions during the
season, the team showed flashes of its potential in wins or very
close contests with the Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, and San
Antonio Spurs.
Second alternate logo
(2008–present)
the
2008 NBA Draft, the Timberwolves
selected
O.J. Mayo out of Southern California with the third
overall pick. Serbia's
Nikola Pekovic
was drafted with the 31st pick followed by Kansas point guard
Mario Chalmers who was drafted 34th.
Chalmers was traded to the Miami Heat for two second round picks
and cash. Following the first round, the Memphis Grizzlies informed
the Timberwolves that they wanted to revive trade discussions. When
the draft concluded, the Timberwolves traded
Antoine Walker,
Greg
Buckner,
OJ Mayo, and
Marko Jaric for
Kevin
Love,
Mike Miller,
Jason Collins, and
Brian Cardinal in a move that Jim Stack
called, "a deal we couldn’t pass up.”
In 2008, in celebration of the franchise's twentieth anniversary,
the team unveiled a new logo and uniforms. They first appeared in
the first preseason game against the Chicago Bulls at United Center
on October 14, 2008. They also refurbished the floor at Target
Center, returning to the traditional floor pattern and added
touches of varnish while exposing most of the hardwood.
On December 8, 2008, after a 23-point loss to the
Los Angeles Clippers that dropped the
team to 4–15, the Timberwolves fired head coach Randy Wittman and
Kevin McHale took over. McHale also relinquished his vice president
of basketball operations duties. It was unclear whether McHale's
future with the team was dependent on the success or progress of
the team which he had put together over the previous four
years.
Those questions seemed to be answered when the Timberwolves went
10-4 for the month of January, giving McHale the coach of the month
honors. But on February 8, 2009, the team's main star
Al Jefferson tore his
ACL in
his right knee in a game at
New
Orleans, sidelining him for the rest of the season. At the time
of the injury, Jefferson was having his best season to date,
averaging 23 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks. Without Jefferson
and another out-for-the-season player
Corey
Brewer, the Wolves sputtered, going 7-25 since Jefferson's
injury to finish with a 24-58 record.
On June 17, 2009, new president of basketball operations,
David Kahn, announced that
McHale would not be returning to the team as head coach. Kahn did
not give a specific reason for McHale's dismissal only saying "this
is going to be a transition period." For his part, McHale said he
wanted to come back but was not offered a contract.
On June 23 the Timberwolves and
Washington Wizards were involved in a
trade that sent
Mike Miller and
Randy Foye to the Wizards for the 5th pick of the
2009 NBA Draft,
Etan Thomas,
Darius
Songaila, and Oleksiy Pecherov. After the trade, the
Timberwolves had four first round draft picks in the 2009 NBA
Draft.
The
Timberwoves used the fifth pick to draft point guard Ricky Rubio out of Spain, Jonny Flynn out of Syracuse
with the sixth pick, and Ty
Lawson and Wayne Ellington both
out of North Carolina with the 18th and 28th picks. Lawson was
then traded to the
Denver Nuggets.
Nick Calathes out of Florida
was picked in the second round but his rights were
traded to the Dallas
Mavericks.
On August 10 the Timberwolves announced the signing of
Kurt Rambis, then
Los Angeles Lakers assistant, to a
four-year, $8 million contract to be their new head coach.
The Wolves suffered a big blow when their draft pick Ricky Rubio
decided to stay in Spain for another two years, after they were
unable to negotiate a contract buyout with
DKV Joventut.
On September 9 the Timberwolves traded
Darius Songaila and
Bobby Brown to the
New Orleans Hornets in exchange for
guard
Antonio Daniels and a future
2nd round pick.
Radio and Television
Radio
The Timberwolves flagship station is
KFAN
1130 AM. KFAN has been the flagship since the team's inception,
except for a brief two year hiatus to
KLCI BOB
106.1 FM for the
2006–07
and
2007–08 seasons.
Broadcasters are Alan Horton and Kevin Lynch.
Television
Games are
broadcast on KSTC-TV
Channel 45 and FSN
North. Broadcasters are Tom Hanneman and Jim
Petersen.
Season-by-season records
Team accomplishments
8 Playoff Appearances (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000,
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
Division Titles 1- 2004 (Midwest Division)
Players
Retired numbers
Unassigned numbers
Current roster
Franchise leaders
(as of November 27, 2009)
Bold denotes still active
with team.
Italics denotes still active in NBA.
Points scored
- 1. Kevin Garnett
(19,041)
- 2. Sam Mitchell
(7,161)
- 3. Wally Szczerbiak
(6,777)
- 4. Doug West (6,216)
- 5. Tony Campbell (4,888).
- 6. Christian Laettner
(4,759).
- 7. Isaiah Rider (4,315).
- 8. Tom Gugliotta (4,201).
- 9. Pooh Richardson (3,689).
- 10. Anthony Peeler (3,622).
- 11. Terrell Brandon
(3,157).
- 12. Al Jefferson
(3,085).
- 13. Tyrone Corbin (2,833).
- 14. Stephon Marbury
(2,826).
- 15. Troy Hudson (2,576).
- 16. Joe Smith
(2,533).
- 17. Randy Foye (2,481).
- 18. Sam Cassell
(2,402).
- 19. Latrell Sprewell
(2,396).
- 20. Rasho Nesterovic
(2,355).
- 21. Ryan Gomes
(2,281).
- 22. Micheal Williams
(2,247).
- 23. Rashad McCants
(2,233).
- 24. Chuck Person (2,203).
- 25. Trenton Hassell
(2,169).
- 26. Terry Porter (2,118).
- 27. Craig Smith
(2,081).
- 28. Ricky Davis
(2,063).
- 29. Thurl Bailey (1,937).
- 30. Chauncey Billups
(1,740).
Total Rebounds
- 1. Kevin Garnett
(10,542)
- 2. Sam Mitchell (3,030)
- 3. Christian Laettner
(2,225)
- 4. Tom Gugliotta (1,970)
- 5. Wally Szczerbiak
(1,932)
- 6. Rasho Nesterovic
(1,711)
- 7. Joe Smith
(1,561)
- 8. Al Jefferson
(1,559)
- 9. Doug West (1,559)
- 10. Felton Spencer (1,400)
- 11. Tyrone Corbin (1,262)
- 12. Dean Garrett (1,156)
- 13. Tony Campbell (1,083)
- 14. Anthony Peeler (1,058)
- 15. Craig Smith
(1,053)
- 16. Ryan Gomes
(958)
- 17. Trenton Hassell
(935)
- 18. Tod Murphy (929)
- 19. Randy Breuer (916)
- 20. Isaiah Rider (873)
- 21. Eddie Griffin
(867)
- 22. Thurl Bailey (837)
- 23. Luc Longley (792)
- 24. Gary Trent (777)
Assists
Head coaches
On December 8, 2008, Randy Wittman was fired as head coach of the
team and was replaced by GM Kevin McHale for his second stint as
interim head coach for the Wolves.In June 2009, Kevin McHale was
fired as Timberwolves head coach. On August 10, 2009, it was
reported that
Los Angeles Lakers
assistant coach
Kurt Rambis had been
hired as the new Timberwolves head coach.
See also
References
- http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/history/
- http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mammals/wolves/mgmt.html
- http://www.apbr.org/attendance.html
-
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/2008-03-30-2196930303_x.htm
- ESPN - NBA Standings, Pro Basketball Standings, NBA Team
Records
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