21-year old point guard Ricky Rubio and 20-year old forward Derrick Williams are off to good starts for the Timberwolves so far this year. Ricky Rubio has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Timberwolves so far this year and he is averaging 29.0 minutes, 10.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Derrick Williams has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the T-Wolves so far this year and he is averaging 21.3 minutes, 8.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Rubio and Williams are both likely going to see more P.T. as this season goes on for the T-Wolves.

The Timberwolves’ rookie class played well at times and not so good at other times, but that’s they way a lot of rookies are in their first taste of the NBA. 23-year old SG/SF Wesley Johnson played in 79 games (63 starts) for the Timberwolves last year and he averaged 26.2 minutes, 9.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. He only shot 39.7% from the floor and 69.6% from the free throw line last year and that’s just not good enough. Johnson will have to work on his shooting over the summer because he’s going to have to play shooting guard in Minnesota with Michael Beasley entrenched at small forward (which is Johnson’s best position). 25-year old center Nikola Pekovic finally decided to come overseas and give the NBA a shot. He proved to be a bruiser for the T-Wolves under the basket. Pekovic played in 65 games (11 starts) for the Timberwolves last year and he averaged 13.6 minutes, 5.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He also is a good shooter as he hit 51.3% of his shots from the floor and 76.3% from the free throw line. Pekovic could start to push Darko Milicic for minutes as early as the 2011-12 season. 24-year old small forward Lazar Hayward played in 42 games (0 starts) for the Timberwolves last year and he averaged 10.0 minutes, 3.8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He only shot 35.7% from the floor last year but I blame that partly on his very inconsistent P.T.

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ rookie class has played pretty decent basketball so far this year. 23-year old SG/SF Wesley Johnson has played in 61 games (45 starts) for the T-Wolves and he is averaging 26.8 minutes, 9.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Johnson was a small forward in college so he’s still adjusting to playing a little further from the basket as a shooting guard. 25-year old center Nikola Pekovic has moved into the T-Wolves’ starting lineup recently due to an injury to Darko Milicic and he’s doing a solid job. Pekovic has now played in 49 games (6 starts) for the Timberwolves so far this year and he is averaging 13.5 minutes, 5.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He is also shooting 51.3% from the floor so far this year as he has nice touch around the basket. 24-year old SG/SF Lazar Hayward has had a rough go of it so far this year for the Timberwolves. Hayward has played in 31 games (0 starts) for the T-Wolves so far this year and he is averaging 11.1 minutes, 3.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. But, he is only shooting 33.6% from the floor and that’s nowhere near good enough to earn him P.T.

23-year old shooting guard Wesley Johnson has been replaced in the starting lineup by Corey Brewer and it might be hard to get his starting job back unless he starts picking up the pace, especially on defense. Johnson has played in 42 games (35 starts) for the T-Wolves so far this year and he is averaging 27.0 minutes, 8.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. 25-year old center Nikola Pekovic is also seeing his playing time starting to dwindle. Pekovic has played in 28 games (0 starts) for the T-Wolves so far this year and he is averaging 12.9 minutes, 5.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. 24-year old Lazar Hayward has not got much P.T. to show what he can and can’t do so far this year. Hayward has played in 18 games (0 starts) for the Timberwolves so far this year and he is averaging 7.1 minutes, 1.9 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. The Timberwolves need their rookies to start stepping up because they could use the help.

23-year old SG/SF Wesley Johnson has been solid so far this year for the Timberwolves. He has played in 29 games (25 starts) for the T-Wolves so far this year and he is averaging 28.2 minutes, 9.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Johnson needs to improve on his three point shooting as he is only hitting 66% from the charity stripe so far this year. The return of Martell Webster from injury is sure to cut into Johnson’s P.T. going forward. 24-year old center Nikola Pekovic has also been solid so far this year for the T-Wolves. He has played in 18 games (0 starts) for the T-Wolves so far this year and he is averaging 12.7 minutes, 5.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. 24-year old small forward Lazar Hayward is buried on the depth chart right now. He has played in 17 games (0 starts) for the T-Wolves so far this year and he is averaging 7.2 minutes, 1.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Hayward has had issues with his shooting so far in his NBA career as he is only hitting 22.5% from the floor and 25% from the three point line so far this year. That’s no way to get your butt off the bench.