Veteran small forward Brian Cardinal is doing nothing to help the T-Wolves this season. He has played in 25 games (0 starts) for the Timberwolves this season and he is averaging 9.2 minutes, 1.7 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Cardinal’s ususally been a good shooter in his NBA career but not this year as he is hitting only 38.2% of his shots from the floor and 33.3% of his shots from three point range. Look for him to continue to ride the pine unless he gets his shooting stroke back.

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 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.

Ramon Sessions is wasting away on the Timberwolves’ bench and he’s way too talented to be stuck there. With that in mind the T-Wolves have a very nice trade chip who could bring them back potentially a first round pick and a lesser played. Sessions has played in 31 games (0 starts) for the T-Wolves this season and he is averaging 21.5 minutes, 8.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. If the Timberwolves were on the fringe of being a playoff team I think it would be smart to keep him. But, with him playing behind Jonny Flynn and being too small to team with him in the backcourt I think a trade makes the most sense.

The Timberwolves outrebounded the Suns 50-40 last night but it didn’t matter as the Suns shot a sizzling 54.3% from the floor. Al Jefferson had an outstanding game for the T-Wolves with 27 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Rashad McCants also had a good game with 19 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Craig Smith had an outstanding game off of the bench as he scored 16 points and grabbed 3 rebounds in only 22 minutes on the court. The Timberwolves fell to a woeful 5-33 record with this loss.

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