#-1: Timberwolves (Re-Entry!). I wouldn't call it a home run; I would reserve that for last year, when the Woofie Dogs finally got the first overall pick in a draft and got Karl-Anthony Towns, someone many experts predicted is good enough to be a great if not excellent player in the league. (Based on what I've seen his rookie year, they're right; he's the man to build this team around.)
But based on the cards the squad were dealt, they did as fantastically as they could. The Timberwolves selected Point Guard Kris Dunn out of Providence. He is a tough-nosed defender, which is something Head Coach Tom Thibodeau likes. And he has shown the ability to run the point and score, which is something Ricky Rubio can't do. It is worrisome that he is so old, a senior. (And by the way, it is perverse to think that people who stay all four years in college and get their degree -- maybe -- is somehow a bad thing when it comes to playing in the Association. But from the meager evidence that has been offered, it is.) But if he is as scrappy as he might be, he could supplant Rubio as this team's PG. And be an improvement.
Nevertheless that didn't tap down blazing rumors that he was going to be traded to Chicago in exchange for Jimmy Butler. There was a lot of heat that Dunn and either Zach LaVine or Andrew Wiggins was going to the Bulls. From what I have heard, the Wolves would give away Rubio or Nikola Pekovic's contract, but Chicago said no. Well, thank goodness for that. The T-Wolves should have forced the Bulls to take a millstone away (either Rubio or Pek's contract), and this team has been too downtrodden for too long to give away a piece of their young nucleus (although I have nagging doubts about Wiggins). Good on the Wolves for not mortgaging a future that has not been this bright in years, if not a decade.
#-2: Twins (Last Week: -1). I got the feeling the Twinks had another awful week. Turns out they finished .500 -- they got bullied by the Yankees again, avoiding a sweep only on the Sunday game, then failed to sweep Philadelphia yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.
The latest bugaboo with this club now (besides the awful pitching) are the injuries. Miguel Sano is out, although he'll be back soon. Trevor Plouffe got hurt yesterday ... or is that Brian Dozier? I can't tell between the two anymore. Is Byron Buxton back in the minors? Oh, who cares.
The home-laden portion of their schedule is done. This weekend they travel to the Bronx to get their heads bashed in by the Yanks again, then they go to Comiskey to play the White Sox for three starting on Tuesday.
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