Mar 4, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Alexey Shved (1) shoots over Miami Heat center Chris Andersen (11) during the fourth quarter at the Target Center. The Heat defeated the Timberwolves 97-81. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Taking on the bleak recap of the Wolves 2012-13 season is something you really need to psyche yourself up for. The stages of development and destruction bare all sorts of scars and claw marks. Through all the injuries and ugh, the injuries, it’s easy to forget Alexey Shved had himself a nice start to the year.

Mr. McPherson over at A Wolf Among Wolves remembers.

It would have been easy to pile on to Shved for his late-season performance, but I tried to resist. Without resorting to statistical measures, my memory of his rookie year was an impressive quick start spurred by injuries to the rest of the guard rotation, a major stumble prior to some missed games thanks to a sprained ankle, a minor resurgence following the sprain, and then a long slow descent into futility and frustration.

Looking at the breakdown of the season in 10 game chunks at NBA.com more or less confirms this pattern. Here’s a snapshot:

The breakdown immediately following the midpoint of the season is stark. His double-digit points per game average plunges to 7.3, then 7.0, then 5.6 and finally 4.3. His 3-point shooting absolutely craters at 21.4% between games 41–50. He stops getting to the line; his free throw shooting gets worse; his assists drop off. It’s more than worth noting that a typical season in the Euroleague is about 30 games, with perhaps a dozen more for tournaments—almost exactly half a season in the NBA.

Towards the end, when Adelman was barely giving him time on the floor (his minutes per game having fallen from a high of 33.9 in games 21–30 to just 14.3 in 61–70) he just looked numb. Shell-shocked.

In fact, what he needs more than anything next season is the thing that was denied so many Timberwolves players in this injury-riddled season: a clear role with a margin of error that can allow for mistakes and growth. Shved has been through the fire and now the best thing for him is to be coming off the bench in specific spots to do specific things. Adelman was consist in lamenting Shved’s lack of off-the-ball abilities, which he also said wasn’t an unusual problem among rookies in the NBA. It would be great next season to see Shved get the chance to come into the game and work specifically to get good off-the-ball looks for five minutes at a time, or to work on drive-and-kicks coming in the flow of the offense.

If Shved can be given the chance to evolve more naturally next season, it’s possible we look back at his half-promising, half-demoralizing rookie year not as the failure it kind of feels like now, but as merely the first great challenge that helps forge a successful career in the NBA.

Mar 7, 2013; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Fox talks to guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (1) and guard Kenny Gaines (12) during a time out against the Kentucky Wildcats during the second half at Stegeman Coliseum. Georgia defeated Kentucky 72-62. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

It’s springtime in the Twin Cities and you can feel the unbridled optimism building.

I haven’t highlighted much of anything Jerry has written in awhile, but there he goes with his draft scouting…

Gold Jerry, that’s gold. Classic, Jerr…

Right after this interaction the scout could be found guffawing with other NBA personnel and dropping pens in Zgoda’s buttcrack.

But seriously, in case you have any faith in Jerry after that tidbit, read on:

Representatives from 25 other NBA teams attended the Wolves’ two-day group workouts that ended this afternoon at Target Center.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was here, too.

Why?

He’s serving as something of a draft adviser to pal Flip Saunders, the Wolves’ new president of basketball operations.

“He’s good because he has seen a lot of these guys play, recruited a lot of these players,” Flip said. “Him coming in to look and talk just helps, gives you insight. One of the biggest things you want to do is background checks, so you know as much about players and where they were four or five years ago and what improvement they’ve made. Have they reached their full potential or do they have a lot more to go. He helps with that.”

Other bits of this and that from these first workouts as the June 27 draft approaches:

* Rick Adelman did come to town — I didn’t see him there yesterday — for these two days of workouts and Thursday’s first individual workouts and he chatted with Kevin Love high up in the Target Center stands at the end of today’s second session.

* Those first individual workouts on Thursday are scheduled to feature shooting guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Georgia), Allen Crabbe (Cal) and Ricky Ledo (Providence) in a six-player group.

Caldwell-Pope is perhaps the leading possibility for that 9th overall pick. The other two guys are candidates for the Wolves’ second first-round pick, 26th overall.

Those Thursday workouts are the last until after Saunders returns the second week of June from Italy for the annual Eurocamp.

* Flip will leave after Thursday’s workouts for Las Vegas and will watch Russian prospect Sergey Karasev — a 6-7 shooting swingman who the Wolves will consider with that 9th pick — in a pro day there on Friday.

He’ll then fly to Miami to meet with Ricky Rubio on Saturday.

* While in Europe, Flip also hopes to meet with Alexey Shved — as well as Nikola Pekovic — before he returns to Minnesota to continue workouts starting June 12 most likely.