Timberwolves Roundup: Wolves add youth to the roster
By Ben Beecken
The Timberwolves are recalling rookie center Justin Patton from the G-League’s Iowa Wolves and are also expected to call up another pair of young players to bolster the roster.
On Sunday, the idle Timberwolves announced that they had called up rookie big man Justin Patton to the active roster.
Patton has sat on the bench with the big club for a couple of short stints earlier this year but has yet to step on the court in an NBA game. In 38 games in the G-League with the Iowa Wolves, Patton scored 12.7 points, pulled down 5.4 rebounds, and tallied 1.4 blocks per game.
Don’t expect Patton to play much, obviously, although it was games precisely like Saturday evening’s blowout loss in Philadelphia that would present an ideal opportunity for Tom Thibodeau to get the rookie some run at the NBA level. With Cole Aldrich expected to be moved over the summer, Patton will almost certainly be one of Coach Thibs’ backup big men with the Timberwolves next fall.
Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune also expects the two players that the Timberwolves signed to two-way contracts, Amile Jefferson and Anthony Brown, to be called up as well.
Jefferson, a 6′-9″ forward, broke the G-League record for double-doubles in a season this year, averaging 17.8 points and 12.8 rebounds per game and notching 36 double-doubles in 47 games. Additionally, he shot 62.5 percent from the floor and dished out 2.5 assists per game.
Brown averaged a team-high 18.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game for the Wolves while shooting 40.2 percent from beyond the arc. As a wing player that can play both shooting guard and small forward, Brown could have the best shot to grab some playing time down the stretch for the Timberwolves.
Elsewhere, Zgoda wrote about the sudden spike in NBA head coaches stepping away from the game due to health injuries. Thibodeau, of course, is renowned for his intense work ethic. Zgoda included quotes from the Clippers’ Doc Rivers and Wolves forward Taj Gibson, as well as Thibs himself.
"In December, Charlotte’s Steve Clifford stepped away from coaching for nearly six weeks so he could resolve stress-related headaches caused by a lack of sleep. Last week, Cleveland’s Tyronn Lue, at 40, did the same for an undetermined amount of time because of chest pains and what he called other “troubling” symptoms.…“I worry about Thibs, I worry about Thibs all the time,” Gibson said. “Thibs is a guy who really loves the game. He spends hours and hours in the gym. When he’s on the road, he really looks at the team like a family, like a real family. He really puts his all into it. Even in practice, you always worry about him. … That’s why it’s really important we have to do the best we can to support him.”"
Be sure to read the article in it’s entirety, including some NBA nuggets at the end of the column.
Next: On the Timberwolves post-All-Star break progress
We’ll be back with a preview for tonight’s Wolves-Grizzlies tilt, as well as a recap and a few thoughts following the game as the Timberwolves enter the home stretch of the regular season.