Apr 24, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol (16) reacts during game two of the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs at AT

The possibility that Nikola Pekovic could catch an offer as large as a $13 or $14 million starting salary this offseason and the Wolves choosing to balk at matching it (though it seems less and less likely of late) — that, combined with the news that the Timberwolves were one of many to interview Maryland center Alex Len, makes you wonder how the Wolves would feel about taking on Gasol’s expiring $19 million contract this year before he becomes an unrestricted free agent next year. Losing Pek, making a move for Pau and adding Len as a third big would be a nice backup plan — assuming Pek would fetch any kind of perimeter scoring punch in a sign-and-trade (Korver and Morrow from Atlanta?).

The availability of Derrick Williams seemed to have little impact on the Lakers before the trade deadline this year. Although he averaged a semi-respectable 12 points and 6 boards filling in for Kevin Love, he is firmly behind Love on the depth chart and now that the small forward experiment is without a doubt over, his $5 million would be better spent elsewhere and his opportunity could be in Mike D’Antoni’s smallish lineup.

With Kobe Bryant spending the majority of next season recovering from injury, the Lakers situation has changed quite a bit. They’ll be more dependent on their bigs and Steve Nash, and will be in need of opportunistic scoring. Williams could fill the same offensive black hole with anemic rebounding-role A’mare Stoudemire once did alongside Steve Nash in Phoenix.

The Wolves could throw in Luke Ridnour, Greg Stiemsma, Alexey Shved and UCLA alum Malcolm Lee and they could cut half of them or send Ridnour back up to Portland where he and Shved could fetch them Wesley Matthews.

Wait. Why don’t the Wolves just go after Wesley Matthews and keep Pek?

March 2, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum (88) pleads his case to NBA referee Scott Twardoski during the first half of the Trail Blazers-Minnesota Timberwolves game at the Rose Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports

The Portland Trailblazers top the undermanned Minnesota Timberwolves. The Timberwolves finished their 3 game road trip dropping their 5^th straight, 109 – 94 to the Blazers on Saturday night. The Wolves were without Nikola Pekovic and Andrei Kirilenko in addition to the Brandon Roy, Kevin Love and Chase Budinger. Pek was out with an abdominal strain while Kirilenko was out due to strained left calf.

The Wolves were tied with the Blazers until the 7:22 mark left in the 1^st quarter when the Blazers took a lead that they wouldn’t give up. The Wolves were down by 7 at the half. The Blazers did open the lead to 17 in the 3^rd quarter, the Wolves batteled back to cut the lead back down to single digits in the 2^nd half, but didn’t have enough fire power with the 9 active players to complete the comeback.

The Wolves got another great performance from Derrick Williams who finished with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Even with 8 turnovers on the night, the Wolves atrocious 1-12 3 point performance, was too much to overcome. Couple the pitiful 3 point shooting, with the Wolves 39% shooting, -8 in rebounds and -13 in assist difference the Wolves were clearly just outplayed. As the Blazers continue to push for a playoff spot, the Wolves slip further out of playoff contention.

Ricky Rubio’s play continues to be very impressive, he was 1 assist and 1 rebound shy of a triple double, to go with his 12 points. Brandon Roy traveled with the team to Portland and received a very warm welcome from The Rose Garden in the 1^st quarter. Kevin Love was behind the bench as the Wolves played in his home state.

The Wolves will try to snap their 5 game losing streak Monday against the Miami Heat with a 7 pm tip.