There will be changes to the Minnesota Timberwolves' rotation.
At least for their first preseason game – which might not mean a whole lot.
Interim head coach Sam Mitchell announced that Ricky Rubio (strained right quad) will not play tomorrow. Rubio has been in-and-out of practice the last few days and missed Tuesday’s practice.
“He did some stuff on the side,” Mitchell said after practice. “But I’m going to hold him out tomorrow because if you’re not practicing, it doesn’t make sense to play him in a preseason game.”
The Wolves would love to have Rubio on the court, but a positive is that it’s not his ankle. Minnesota has already taken the injury-prone train with Nikola Pekovic – and it’s not a fun ride.
Mitchell revealed to SiriusXM NBA Radio after practice that Wolves rookie Tyus Jones would get the start for the Wolves in tomorrow’s preaseason opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
His first matchup? Russell Westbrook. Oh, fun.
Jones looked good in Monday night’s scrimmage, hitting three 3-pointers and looking more comfortable running the offense – something he struggled a bit with during Summer League.
“Man, he’s mature. I mean, he’ll get the opportunity to go out there tomorrow and just be himself,” veteran point guard Andre Miller said about his understudy. “He’s way ahead of the game. He’s got a lot of smarts. Just try to help out as much as I can and hopefully I can rub off a little bit.”
It’s also worth noting that Miller was the last to leave practice today. Maybe to avoid the media members, which he wasn’t able to do. He’s a vet. He knows how the game works.
Chances are he’ll teach Jones a thing or two before the end of the season.
And In Another Lineup Change…
Tough to say exactly what this means. It’s probably safe to call it a competition at this point and with the first start of preseason, LaVine looks to have the edge.
Certainly an intriguing storyline as camp continues.
Damjan Rudez Says…
That he’s already feeling extremely comfortable with the Wolves. The second-year forward said that he’s play more power forward this season than he did last year in Indiana, but he doesn’t see that becoming a problem.
“Throughout my career (overseas) I would have seasons where I played only 4 or only 3,” Rudez said. “… It’s not that big of a difference because I know my advantage is (my) shot.”
Rudez hit three 3-pointers on Tuesday and is fighting for playing time. One thing that he showed during the scrimmage is that he also has the ability to be a very good passer when the offense is rolling.
Quick Hits
- Jackie MacMullen of ESPN and Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated were in town today. Both are writing stories on Kevin Garnett and Karl-Anthony Towns. I was able to chat with MacMullen today and I hope to have something up in the next week on that. A few pretty interesting KG stories. A few that I haven’t heard before. Hopefully I’ll be able to chat with L-Jenks tomorrow.
- Every player besides Rubio and Pekovic will be available tomorrow, but Mitchell said it’s unlikely everyone will get in the game.
- The Wolves and Thunder will shootaround tomorrow. Expect a shootaround piece up. It will be our first time chatting with new Thunder coach Billy Donovan.