The Timberwolves have acquired 24-year old power forward Darko Milicic from the Knicks for 32-year old forward Brian Cardinal. Milicic was deep in Mike D’Antoni’s Dog House in New York but the T-Wolves will give him a fresh start and another opportunity to prove himself in the NBA. Milicic has played in only 8 games (0 starts) this season for the Knicks and he averaged 8.9 minutes, 2.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. He has now played in 345 games (98 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 17.0 minutes, 5.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Brian Cardinal was looking like a player nearing the end of the line in his NBA career this year for the T-Wolves. He played in 27 games (0 starts) for the Timberwolves this season and he averaged 9.0 minutes, 1.7 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. The T-Wolves really had nothing to lose in making a trade like this one.

The Timberwolves all of a sudden have 2nd year power forward Kevin Love coming off the bench despite him putting up great numbers. It’s no wonder that the Timberwolves are losers as they almost never start their best five players for some reason. Love has played in 33 games (20 starts) for the T-Wolves this season and he is averaging 29.7 minutes, 14.9 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. The Timberwolves usually have an advantage inside when Kevin Love and Al Jefferson are playing together so why wouldn’t you want that right from the start of the game?

3rd year shooting guard Corey Brewer is finally stepping up this season for the T-Wolves. He has played in 51 games (all starts) for the Timberwolves this season and he is averaging 31.1 minutes, 13.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Brewer is also shooting 43.7% from the floor this year and if he keeps it up it will easily be the best shooting season of his NBA career.

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.