The Minnesota Timberwolves took 20-year old forward Derrick Williams out of Arizona with the 2nd overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft last night. Williams is 6′8″, 241 pounds and he can handle playing either forward slot. Williams played in 38 games at Arizona last year and he averaged 30.0 minutes, 19.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He also hit 42 of 74 three point shots last year (56.8%) which lends creedence to playing Williams at small forward. Williams played in 69 games in his two years in college and he averaged 29.2 minutes, 17.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. This was a great pick for the T-Wolves as Williams should make a nice tandem at forward for the T-Wolves with Kevin Love. I look for the Timberwolves to deal last year’s starting small forward Michael Beasley before the 2011-12 starts.

The Minnesota Timberwolves dealt 22-year old point guard Jonny Flynn along with power forward Donatas Motiejunas (#20 pick overall last night) out of Lithuania to the Houston Rockets for 35-year old center Brad Miller, forward Nikola Mirotic (#23 overall pick who was later dealt to the Bulls), #38 overall pick (power forward Chandler Parsons) and a future first round pick. Flynn played in 53 games (8 starts) for the T-Wolves last year and he averaged 18.5 minutes, 5.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Flynn played in 134 games (89 starts) in his two years with Minnesota and he averaged 24.8 minutes, 10.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Flynn became expendable after Ricky Rubio decided to come to the States.

35-year old center Brad Miller had microfracture surgery recently so he probably won’t be ready to start the 2011-12 season on time. Miller played in 60 games (5 starts) for the Rockets and he averaged 16.9 minutes, 6.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He has now played in 853 games (597 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 28.6 minutes, 11.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. The T-Wolves needed a veteran big man, even if they have to wait a little bit for them.

UPDATE: (6/27/2011) - After getting a good look at Jonny Flynn’s hip, the Rockets wanted another second round pick from the T-Wolves to accept this deal. So the Timberwolves sent the Rockets an additional future second round pick to make the deal go through.

20-year old shooting guard Ricky Rubio has agreed to join the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was the 5th overall pick (1st round) of the 2009 NBA Draft. He played in 20 games in Spain last year and he averaged 22.4 minutes, 6.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Rubio only shot 39.2% from the floor last year and he was only 11 of 49 (22.4%) from three point range last year. The Timberwolves would be smart to bring Rubio along slowly as he will need time to adjust to the size and speed of the NBA.

The Timberwolves have dealt 24-year old shooting guard Corey Brewer to the Knicks for 21-year old power forward Anthony Randolph and 28-year old center Eddy Curry. Brewer played in 56 games (22 starts) for the Timberwolves this year and he averaged 24.3 minutes, 8.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He played in 232 games (147 starts) in his four years with the T-Wolves and he averaged 25.7 minutes, 9.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Brewer never lived up to his potential with the Timberwolves so they won’t miss him too much going forward.

Anthony Randolph is the prize here for the T-Wolves. He played in 17 games (0 starts) for the Knicks this year and he averaged 7.5 minutes, 2.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists on only 31.1% shooting from the floor. Randolph has now played in 113 games (29 starts) in his first 3 years in the NBA and he is averaging 17.7 minutes, 8.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. Randolph will back up Kevin Love the rest of the year. Eddy Curry’s expiring contract is what interested the T-Wolves about him. He has not played in any games so far this year and he has only played in 10 over his last three years. Curry has now played in 511 games (410 starts) so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 25.4 minutes, 13.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. He will likely never see the court for the Timberwolves. I really like this deal from the T-Wolves end as Randolph has a much higher upside than Brewer does.

UPDATE: The Timberwolves have also dealt 22-year old center Kosta Koufos to the Nuggets for a 2nd round pick as part of this deal. Koufos played in 39 games (1 start) for the Timberwolves this season and he averaged 8.6 minutes, 2.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. The T-Wolves didn’t really need Koufos anymore due to the addition of Anthony Randolph.

UPDATE II: The Timberwolves have bought out Eddy Curry before he even played in a game with them.

The Timberwolves have signed 24-year old point guard Sundiata Gaines. Gaines played in 32 games (0 starts) for the Jazz last season as a rookie and he averaged 6.8 minutes, 3.3 points, 0.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He was a decent player for the Jazz last year when he got on the court, which wasn’t much. But with the T-Wolves he should have no problem getting some P.T. to show what he can do.