Minnesota Timberwolves: 10 players you forgot played for the Wolves in the 2010s
By Ben Beecken
10 players you forgot played for the Minnesota Timberwolves: Damien Wilkins
. Wing. Minnesota Timberwolves. Damien Wilkins. 4. player. 86
- Played in 80 games with the Wolves in 2009-10
- Averaged 5.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game
We’re really on a roll with these Kahn/Kurt Rambis-era players, aren’t we?
Damien Wilkins was acquired from the Oklahoma City Thunder in that same 2009 offseason, along with Chucky Atkins, who never played for the Wolves. Minnesota gave up two second-round picks and Etan Thomas, who also never wore a Timberwolves uniform.
Wilkins, the nephew of Hall-of-Famer Dominique Wilkins, had gone undrafted a few years prior and played five seasons for the Seattle/Oklahoma City franchise. He had always been a primary reserve for what were mostly bad teams and had seen his role shrink the year prior with the 23-win Thunder.
For his career, Wilkins had shot 33.8 percent on 1.8 3-point attempts per game and had mostly been a decent wing defender before coming to Minnesota. And the Wolves got more of the same from Wilkins.
Playing for head coach Kurt Rambis’ 15-67 squad, Wilkins appeared in 80 games, starting 31. He averaged 5.6 points and 3.1 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per game while shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 29.5 percent from deep on less than one 3-point attempt per game.
Wilkins continued to be a solid defender on what was a terrible defensive team devoid of above-average individual defenders at every level.
Wilkins was allowed to walk in free agency the following year, and he played in Atlanta, Detroit, and Philadelphia each of the next three years. Over the next four-plus years, he bounced from overseas to the then-D-League and didn’t play in the NBA again until 2017-18. The Indiana Pacers gave him a chance, and he played 19 games for them that season.
Wilkins hasn’t played in the league since 2018 and ultimately suited-up for six teams over 10 seasons in the NBA.