Steve Aschburner reports that the Minnesota Timberwolves have already began workouts for next season with strength coach Jay Schroeder.  A trainer who has worked with athletes in numerous sports, but got acclaim (and caught Saunders' eye) after his work with St. Louis Rams safety Adam Archuleta in 2001.

So the Wolves were eager to gauge the basketball value in his program, long on plyometric exercises intended to build explosive strength.

They were eager, too, simply to get on the court and focus on next season. Though the Wolves' 50-32 finish was solid, a 20-22 mark after Jan. 21 and another first-round playoff elimination were not.

Saunders said the plan is to hold as many as five more sessions this summer, either to work on conditioning or changes in his playbook. Under union rules, players cannot be required to attend.  "When you have a guy like Wally, who's an All-Star, make the effort to be here, that's a real credit to him," Saunders said.

Unfortunately one player noticeably missing was All-NBA Second Team Member, Kevin Garnett.  Although Andy Miller, agent for Garnett, said Wednesday the Wolves' leading scorer (21.2) and rebounder (12.1) planned to work on his game this summer.  "I've talked with Kevin about hiring a personal trainer for the first time," Miller said.

With the NBA playoffs reduced to four teams, the Timberwolves find themselves in the familiar position of spectator. As it stands, they will also be on the outside looking in when the NBA draft is held next month.

At this late date, there is nothing the Wolves can do about petitioning their way into the playoffs. Yet a working theory is that there might be a way not only to barge into the draft, but make the lottery.

Here's how it goes: The Bulls have the No. 2 pick in the lottery. The Bulls, tired of being in rebuilding mode, want a player who can step right into the lineup..

The Bulls have expressed their intrigue with Wolves All-Star Wally Szczerbiak on numerous occasions.

Bulls General Manager Jerry Krause calls Kevin McHale and offers the No. 2 pick for Szczerbiak.

With that pick, the Wolves take Duke All-America guard Jay (previously Jason) Williams. Point guard problem solved. Anti-Wally wing of locker room placated. Wolves head in a fresh new direction.

Of course, it's rarely that simple. The fatal flaw to this theory is that the Bulls, now committed to Jalen Rose, are no longer are as hot after Szczerbiak, another limited defender. Certainly not hot enough to give up the No. 2 pick in the draft if they choose to trade it.

There is also this complication: The Rockets, picking No. 1, might choose to trade the pick, and if they do, most of the teams moving up would want to take Williams.

Peter Vescey reports in his latest column for the New York Post that All-Star forward Wally Szczerbiak of the Minnesota Timberwolves is certainly available, but there is a catch.  To acquire the sharp shooter you must also take on the contract of Marc Jackson, all 5-years for $21.2 million.  Vescey reports that at least one dozen teams, including the Knicks, have been contacted regarding their interest.

In other news both the Knicks and Wolves are trying to acquire Suns point man Stephon Marbury, the latter of whom is dying to reunite him with Kevin Garnett.  The Suns meanwhile would love to re-acquire Antonio McDyess from the Nuggets but according to Vescey that is the last place Antonio would consider playing.  San Antonio remains an options.

Finally Vescey reports that the Knicks, Blazers, Warriors and Clippers are bombarding the Bulls and Rockets with all sorts of tempting offers for the draft's top two slots.  The Knicks have eyes for Yao Ming while the others all covet Jay Williams.  Both teams are expected to stand pat.

It looks like Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves will again be talking contract, the two parties expected to begin discussions on a new four year contract this summer according to Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press.

Garnett currently has two years remaining on his $126M six-year deal.  He will be paid $25.2 million next season and $28 million the following season.  Walters writes to look for the new deal to be worth about $75 million over four years.

In November 1999, the bold proclamation came from the grandest pro basketball pooh-bah of them all: David Stern.

The NBA commissioner said the Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings were two of the up-and-coming NBA franchises, part of a new wave of teams about to make their move.

OK, it also might have been a proclamation of marketing convenience: Stern was in Tokyo, and so were the Wolves and Kings to start the 1999-2000 season.

Yet Stern was not alone in believing that, if nothing else, the Wolves and Kings were about at the same place in their development.

During the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season, the Wolves finished 25-25 despite the Stephon Marbury trade, and reached the playoffs for only the third time in team history. The Kings finished 27-23 and made the playoffs for the second time in 13 years.

The Wolves had a young star in Kevin Garnett. The Kings had a young star in Chris Webber. The Wolves had a players' coach in Flip Saunders. The Kings had a players' coach in Rick Adelman.

Some even believed that even with the trade of Marbury for Terrell Brandon, the Wolves were a more solid, stable bet for the future than the flashier and more volatile Kings.

Almost three years later, this is the reality: Webber, Adelman and the more volatile Kings have homecourt advantage in the Western Conference Finals, and Garnett, Saunders and the more stable Wolves have been sitting in their well-worn Barcaloungers for almost a month.

Over the past week every media personality have gone out of their way to state that Kevin Garnett did all he could to help the Minnesota Timberwolves get out of the first round for the first time in six straight seasons, only to fall well short again.  It is true that Garnett was a major force while on the court, averaging 21.2 points and 12.1 rebounds, but as Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald reports it is his actions which are holding the Timberwolves back.

It is true, Garnett is a one man wrecking crew who needs help.  It is true he is one of the most versatile, young superstars in the game.  But it is also true that he is earning 60% of his team?s salary cap.  How is Minnesota?s management supposed to squeeze in a solid supporting cast for Garnett when so much of the team?s money is tied up in their superstar?

While it takes two to make a bad deal, and yes Garnett?s $121 million for six seasons was a bad deal, but he should know as much as anyone that what he takes with one hand the organization takes with the other.  Minnesota is a medium-sized market and the owner does not have unlimited resources, so it doesn?t take a genius to work out that the other 11 players on the roster are going to suffer.

It is also true that owner Glen Taylor should never have made Garnett that enormous offer, but giving him the benefit of the doubt he may have been operating under the incorrect assumption that Garnett would sign with the Bulls as a free agent if the Timberwolves didn't offer the monstrous contract extension.  After all that was Krause?s original plan, start over by signing both Garnett and McDyess in the same off season to avoid falling into NBA mediocrity.  How ironic.

In 1998 the Timberwolves had assembled their best ever squad, taking the Seattle Supersonics the distance before falling in Game 5.  That team had Stephon Marbury and Tom Gugliotta on it to offer help to Garnett, but both saw the fiscal opportunities and chose to leave.  Gugliotta left for Phoenix, while Marbury forced a trade ?home? to New Jersey before being shipped onto Phoenix for Jason Kidd, once again uniting with Gugliotta.

Of course management have done themselves no favors since then either.  Need we really need to bring back up the whole Joe Smith fiasco?  They sign him to an under-the-table contract, get found out, his contract is voided, he is forced to leave, Kevin McHale is forced to take a season off and they lose first round picks.  Smith signs with Detroit, plays out the season, then the Wolves sign him again!  Will they ever learn?

They are set to lose their first round selection again this season over that one.  Had they just let Smith be last year they could have had Jason Collins.  Surely he would have helped as much as Smith did this season, right?

As McGraw writes ?Garnett asked to be the man in Minnesota when he signed the NBA's largest contract. He should live with the consequences and not tell reporters to judge him based on what he could have done with Marbury as a teammate.?

?Here's another idea: When his contract expires in 2004, maybe Garnett should agree to be paid the minimum salary for a few years so the Wolves could add some players and the paying customers in Minnesota could enjoy a playoff run that lasts longer than a week.?

For months and months, I've been writing how KG was the greatest Second Banana of all-time, how he wasn't talented enough to carry his own team, how his pricetag ($20 million a year) made it nearly impossible for Minnesota to surround him with the supporting talent to help him in crunch-time (including a much-needed Go-To Guy). I even placed Dirk Nowitzki ahead of KG in my "Who has the highest trade value?" column last month, which generated a staggering amount of "What the hell were you thinking?" e-mails.

Glen Taylor and the Timberwolves are not asking for a new arena, but the Minneapolis City Council would be wise to spend some money to remodel Target Center so the building can compete with the luxurious Xcel Energy Center.

Taylor and the Timberwolves are not threatening to move unless they get a new stadium, like the Vikings continue to do.

And the Wolves are not the subject of contraction like the Twins were at the end of the 2001 season and will be at the end of this season unless a stadium gets built.

Those are all pluses for Taylor and the Timberwolves, who did win 50 games and finished with the seventh-best regular-season record in the NBA.

However, Taylor didn't become a billionaire by being satisfied with anything except top performance.

And Taylor was very unhappy when he stormed out of Target Center on Sunday afternoon after the Timberwolves' elimination from the playoffs. And when asked what he thought of the game, he answered: "We got outcoached."

Word within the National Basketball Association is the Cleveland Cavaliers have decided they can't afford both Andre Miller and Ricky Davis, who will be a free agent this summer. That means Miller could be available to the Timberwolves, who could trade former Miami of Ohio star Wally Szczerbiak for the point guard.

? A problem for the Wolves would be point guard Terrell Brandon, who is guaranteed $33 million for the next three years. Just before the 1999 NBA draft, Cleveland tried to trade its No. 8 and No. 11 picks to Minnesota to move up to No. 5 to take Szczerbiak, but the Wolves declined. The Cavs chose Miller with the No. 8 pick and Trajan Langdon with No. 11.