Minnesota Timberwolves sign two new guards and waive two players
By Andrew Ites
The Minnesota Timberwolves have shaken up the end of their roster a bit by signing two guards to replace two players who were on Exhibit 10 contracts.
The Minnesota Timberwolves‘ new front office has put in more work around the margins than the previous regime who seemed to only sign players who used to play for Tom Thibodeau in Chicago.
Earlier this fall, the Wolves brought in former Golden Gophers big man Jordan Murphy and former Iowa State Cyclones standout Lindell Wigginton on Exhibit 10 contracts.
Those deals essentially tagged Murphy and Wigginton as training camp bodies to scrimmage against the rest of Minnesota’s roster during camp.
Gersson Rosas and the rest of the front office have decided to churn the bottom of the roster and bring in two familiar faces to take Murphy and Wigginton’s spots.
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Those new faces are Tyus Battle and Barry Brown who both played on the Wolves’ Summer League squad that made it to the championship game in Las Vegas this July.
Battle, a former Syracuse Orangeman, played 10.8 minutes per game in Summer League scoring 3.2 points and grabbing 1.5 rebounds per contest.
Battle was a finalist for the Jerry West award recognizing the nation’s best shooting guard during his three-year tenure at Syracuse where he averaged 16 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game.
Barry Brown is another player who comes into the league with plenty of college experience after four seasons at Kansas State where he set school records for the most games played, minutes and steals in Wildcat history.
Brown joined Battle on the Wolves’ Summer League team where he dropped 8 points with 2.3 rebounds in 16 minutes per game.
Both Battle and Brown were known for their intense backcourt defense in college and they will get plenty of chances to hound the rest of the Wolves’ guards during the remaining days of training camp.
It’s pretty unlikely that either Brown or Battle make the 15-man regular season roster, but their intensity should be valuable in practice as they try to earn spots on the G League squad in Iowa.