27-year old small forward Ryan Gomes has been a solid player since coming over from the Boston Celtics in the Kevin Garnett trade. He has played in 199 games (174 starts) in his three years with the T-Wolves and he is averaging 30.2 minutes, 12.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Gomes does need to start playing better this season if he doesn’t want to start losing minutes. He has played in 35 games (24 starts) this season for the T-Wolves and he is averaging 27.6 minutes, 10.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. If Gomes steps up the T-Wolves will have one of the better young front lines in basketball with Al Jefferson at center and Kevin Love at power forward.

The feeling in the Timberwolves’ front office was that they could never win a title with Kevin Garnett. So they decided to trade him to the Boston Celtics where he won it all in his first year there while the T-Wolves continue to flounder. K-G played in 927 games for the Timberwolves in which he averaged 38.3 minutes, 20.5 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.7 blocked shots per game. He is the all-time leader in franchise history in games played (927), minutes played (35,535), points scored (19,041), rebounds (10,542), assists (4,146), steals (1,282) and blocked shots (1,576). He will be the all-time leader in all of those categories for a long time as I don’t see any current players on the team being a threat to any of his team records. The Timberwolves could be in the midst of a curse similar to that the Red Sox were in when they traded Babe Ruth.

I read recently that the T-Wolves offered starting center Al Jefferson straight up for SG Danny Granger of the Pacers but they were turned down. I can see why the Timberwolves made that offer as Granger is one of the best offensive players in the league. But, unless they are getting a very solid return there is no way I move a guy like Jefferson. He has played in 36 games (all starts) for the Timberwolves this season and he is averaging 33.3 minutes, 17.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. His numbers will go up even more as his knees get in better shape which are coming along right now.

Starting point guard Jonny Flynn has hit the ground running in Minnesota. He has played in 35 games (all starts) for the T-Wolves so far this season and he is averaging 29.2 minutes, 14.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Flynn will be the starting point guard for a long time if he continues to improve as a player and there is no reason to think he won’t. Shooting guard Wayne Ellington has worked his way into the rotation lately for the T-Wolves. He has played in 33 games (1 start) for the T-Wolves this season and he is averaging 17.2 minutes, 5.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. It’s too bad that the Timberwolves didn’t select someone else instead of Ricky Rubio or this would truly be a outstanding rookie class.

The Timberwolves thought they were getting a deal when they signed SG/SF Sasha Pavlovic over the summer but it just isn’t working out yet. He has played in 31 games (0 starts) for the T-Wolves this season and he is averaging 14.4 minutes, 4.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Pavlovic has been awful shooting the ball this season hitting 33.3% from the floor, 28.1% from three point range and only 41.7% from the free throw line. If his shooting doesn’t improve soon he will be nailed to the end of the bench the rest of this season.