Minnesota Timberwolves: What to watch this weekend

Believe it or not, there is plenty of Minnesota Timberwolves-related content to enjoy on this mid-July weekend.

First, Karl-Anthony Towns will speak on an NBA-sponsored panel on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, Team U.S.A. will take on the Spanish national team.

Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns to join Steve Ballmer, Caron Butler, politicians on panel

Karl-Anthony Towns has always been outspoken in regards to social justice issues and a desire to spark change in a variety of areas of society.

We covered this following his Ebony magazine cover and feature story this week. Now, Towns will be featured on a panel entitled A Conversation on Policing Reform.

Towns will join LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, former NBA player Caron Butler, and politicians Karen Bass and Tim Scott for the discussion. The panel will be aired on the Twitter feeds of both the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association.

This is a really outside-the-box and meaningful approach for the league on a conversation that is obviously vital. It’s an interesting group of panelists and should be an intriguing and educational watch.

Minnesota Timberwolves players in Olympics exhibition games

We’re now only a week away from the start of the Tokyo Olympics, and the various national teams are all putting the finishing touches on their respective exhibition schedules.

Team U.S.A. has had a rough go of it, of course, losing their first two games before blowing out Argentina. But then, injuries and COVID-19 health and safety protocols caused sudden roster turnover and the cancellation of Friday’s scheduled exhibition against Australia.

The United States is slated to take on Ricky Rubio’s Spanish team on Sunday, and as of this writing, that game is expected to take place.

The U.S. is introducing JaVale McGee and Keldon Johnson to the roster this weekend to replace Kevin Love and Bradley Beal. Johnson had been on the U.S. Select team and at least was in camp in Las Vegas, but McGee was not previously on either roster.

Still, the United States will be considered the favorite in Tokyo, and a matchup against Spain on Sunday will be a worthy tune-up test for the rag-tag U.S.A. team.

For his part, Rubio is off to yet another strong start in international play with Spain.

We’ll keep an eye on this one and other games throughout the weekend. Oh, and don’t forget, Finals Game 5 is on Saturday night as well.

Suddenly, July is an exciting month for actual on-court basketball, and we still have the draft and free agency yet to come this summer. Buckle up.