--The Wolves will start the season without backup point guard Sebastian Telfair, who was suspended by the NBA for the first three games after he pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an April 2007 arrest when he played for Boston.
That arrest for speeding, driving without a license and handgun possession came three months before the Wolves acquired him from the Celtics. If he remains healthy and eligible, he will miss the first three regular-season games against Sacramento, Dallas and at Oklahoma City. Coach Randy Wittman called Telfair "nothing but a model citizen" since he joined the Wolves. "This was something in his past and now we have to deal with it," Wittman said. "It happened so long (ago), I lost track of it, to be honest with you. It's unfortunate he's going to miss the first three games. We can put it to rest and he can finally put that behind him, a chapter in his book."
--Four years into an NBA career that quite possibly could go no further, David Harrison, the newest and biggest Timberwolf, has reached a crossroads with so much to prove.
At age 26, he intends to display a newfound maturity in what he calls perhaps a last chance to "resurrect" his professional life.
Oh, and he wants to demonstrate one other thing, too.
"That I'm not a pothead, I guess," he said.
The Wolves signed the 7-footer to a one-year, nonguaranteed contract, a low-risk move that provides legitimate center size on a roster lacking it.
The move also takes a chance on a prospect who was involved in a famous basketball brawl his rookie season with Indiana and was suspended for five games by the NBA last season for violating its anti-drug policies after testing positive for the third time.
Big questions remain four years after the Pacers made him the 29th player selected in the 2004 NBA draft. Harrison said he looks back and sees a pattern of "almost childish anger" that caused Indiana to finally give up on him last summer.
"Almost everything," he said when asked what angered him. "My draft position ticked me off, but at the end of the day, I was still a first-round draft pick. I saw opportunities at Indiana that I wasn't getting and I was impatient. If you look at the Pacers now, if I had been patient and kept my head, I'd probably be their starting center.
"But I didn't do that. That's what I have to prove here, that I'm willing to play and lose myself in the team."
MAIN REASON THE WOLVES CAN WIN: The addition of veteran Mike Miller and rookie Kevin Love makes a team that finished last season 17-26 considerably more talented. If second-year swingman Corey Brewer's offensive confidence, which completely left him last season, continues to blossom as it has in preseason play, he could transform the team with his athleticism and defensive versatility.
MAIN REASON THE WOLVES CAN LOSE: The frontcourt of the future -- Al Jefferson and Kevin Love -- will allow more points than even they can score because they both are the same size (6-9) and both arguably limited athletically.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I'm kind of shocked, like, 'Wooo...' We can be pretty good, let's put it like that. Don't put too much in the paper, but we're going to be all right." -- Wolves point guard Randy Foye, on the team's prospects for improvement in the second season after the Kevin Garnett trade.
