The sense of anticipation is in the air. Wednesday will mark the season opener as the Wolves face New Jersey at the Target Center. The team practiced on Monday afternoon and a welcome sight was back inside the paint. Al Jefferson wore a sleeve on his left leg but looked strong while working on post moves against center Ryan Holllins.
“It’s up to coach,” Jefferson said in reference to how many minutes he will play on Wednesday. “I mean, I can go. I feel good.”
Head coach Kurt Rambis told reporters that Jefferson was “terrific” today at practice. Rambis expects to play the big man on Wednesday and the training staff will continue to monitor Jefferson’s Achilles tendonitis each day leading up to the season opener.
Jefferson vowed he’d play in Wednesday’s season opener against New Jersey and said he’d probably have to monitor his Achilles tendon for most of the season to make sure it doesn’t get inflamed like it did in the last week.
Flynn and Ellington will be evaluated daily. Their availability for the opener remains uncertain.
“I’m not going to let my Achilles keep me from playing,” Jefferson said. “I know the biggest thing for me is my minutes.”
Jefferson said Monday’s practice was the first time in two weeks he did not feel pain in his Achilles, a potential good sign in the five-year veteran’s ongoing attempts to get ready for the season. Jefferson dealt with his knee, Achilles tendinitis and the flu during the preseason.
• The Wolves set their 15-man roster by Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline: It includes veteran guard Jason Hart (for now) and veteran center Mark Blount, who wasn’t waived but who will never play for the team. The team waived Antonio Daniels last week because he agreed to a contract buyout so he could sign elsewhere (probably Cleveland). Blount will remain at home in Miami (where he has been all of preseason) and on the roster to maintain what basketball boss David Kahn calls roster “flexibility,” the option of trading his expiring $7.9 million salary slot before February’s trade deadline.
• Kahn indicated he will wait until near Saturday’s deadline to determine in one swoop the fate of contract options for Kevin Love, Corey Brewer and Oleksiy Pecherov. Love’s is what Kahn calls a “no brainer.” Brewer’s extension for the 2010-11 season is expected. Pecherov is going to be the interesting call, whether the 7-footer Rambis calls a “unique” player is unique enough to be guaranteed $2.4 million starting in 2010.
The Timberwolves will host a breakfast tomorrow morning (Wednesday, Oct. 28) in front of Target Center. Members of the Timberwolves staff, along with Crunch and the Timberwolves Dancers, will serve coffee, doughnuts and juice to the general public in honor of the start of the 2009-10 Timberwolves season. In addition, the crew from KFAN’s Power Trip Morning Show will be broadcasting live from the event.
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