Minnesota Timberwolves: Top 30 Scorers in Franchise History

#17 – Latrell Sprewell

The Timberwolves brought in veterans Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell in the summer of 2003 to support superstar Kevin Garnett in Minnesota’s seemingly never-ending quest to get past the first round of the NBA playoffs.

It worked, and the Wolves reached the Western Conference Finals before an injury to Cassell contributed mightily to the Wolves falling to the Los Angeles Lakers, who would go on to win the title. Sprewell, for his part, came to Minnesota as a four-time All-Star on the tail end of his career, looking for that elusive ring.

After scoring 19.1 points per game over 11 seasons split between Golden State and New York, Sprewell knew he was coming to Minnesota to play second fiddle to Garnett. He accepted that role and saw his scoring number dip to 16.8 points per contest in 2003-04, which was also his age-33 season. In fact, Cassell was actually the second-leading scorer at 19.8 points per game during that season.

While Spree was never a sharpshooter from outside, he made the most of being a cutter in Flip Saunders’ complicated offensive system and taking advantage of the otherworldly passing ability of Garnett. Everything clicked, and if it weren’t for the injury bug, the Wolves could have landed the title in spring of 2004.

Sprewell played one more season with the Wolves, averaging a career-low 12.8 points per game before balking at the Wolves’ free agent contract offer in summer of 2005 and ultimately retiring without ever playing another minute in the NBA.

Next: #16 - Michael Beasley