Minnesota Timberwolves: Top 30 greatest players of all-time

MINNEAPOLIS - MAY 3: Kevin Garnett #21 of the Minnesota Timberwolves receives the NBA MVP award on May 3, 2004. (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS - MAY 3: Kevin Garnett #21 of the Minnesota Timberwolves receives the NBA MVP award on May 3, 2004. (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
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Anthony Peeler, Minnesota Timberwolves
(Photo by: Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
  • Six seasons with Timberwolves (1998-2003)
  • Averaged 9.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game and shot 37.9 percent on 3-point attempts with Timberwolves
  • Timberwolves’ all-time leader in 3-point field goals with 465

Anthony Peeler was a first-round pick of the Los Angeles Lakers in 1992. He played in L.A. for four seasons before joining the Vancouver Grizzlies. After one-plus season north of the border, Peeler was traded to Minnesota, where he spent the bulk of his career.

Peeler had been a 38.4 percent 3-point shooter over the first six years of his career, but in 1998-99, his first full year with the Wolves, he shot long-balls at a horrible 29.8 percent clip. He only started and played in 28 games due to injury in the lockout-shortened season, however, and things turned around the following year.

Peeler largely came off the bench in 1999-2000 and improved his 3-point shooting to 33.3 percent. In 2000-01, his percentage rocketed up to 39.1 percent, and Peeler shot a combined 39.7 percent over his last three years in Minnesota.

Of his 379 regular season games with the Wolves, Peeler started 154, and averaged 27.2 minutes per game. Whether starting or coming off the bench, he was always a vital part of coach Flip Saunders’ rotation.

In his six seasons with Minnesota, Peeler and the Wolves never managed to get out of the first round of the playoffs. Ironically, Peeler joined the Sacramento Kings in 2003-04 and reached the Western Conference Finals, only to face-off against Saunders, Kevin Garnett, and the Timberwolves.

And then, this happened…

Who knows, if Peeler hadn’t ‘bowed KG in the face, he may have ended up even higher on this list.

As it stands, Peeler is the all-time Timberwolves franchise leader in 3-point field goals made, which says a lot about Peeler’s longevity and proficiency from beyond the arc, as well as the dearth of long-range artists that have donned a Wolves jersey.