When is an injured player who may never play again a valuable trade asset? In the luxury tax era of the NBA. Robbi Pickeral of the Pioneer Press reports that the Timberwolves are looking to deal injured point guard Terrell Brandon even though his knee may force him to retire.

Officially, the Wolves say that they are not shopping Brandon. Owner Glen Taylor said that trading the 32-year old point guard is "not part of our plans at the current time. Right now, he's either going to play next year or he's not going to play next year.''

But Pickeral writes that team sources said that there are teams interested in Brandon and his contract. The reason? If he retires because of the injury, the team that holds his contract will save money against the cap. While the Wolves would love to lower their team salary, they would also welcome the chance to trade Brandon for a player or players that could help them win now.

If Brandon retires and is deemed physically unable to perform by an independent NBA doctor, his team could apply for and receive salary cap relief two years after the injury, which in this case was February 2002.

Players mentioned as possible trade targets: Atlanta?s Theo Ratliff and Heat starters Eddie Jones or Brian Grant.

"I do believe there's trade value, and you could probably get a fairly good player, a player that could contribute, but a player that's overpaid,'' said TNT analyst Danny Ainge, a former NBA player and coach.

Minnesota's point guard woes don't seem to be stemming with the news yesterday that Rod Strickland will now miss the next three to four weeks with a groin injury, Steve Aschburner of the Star Tribune is reporting.

The injury happened in the Wolves win over the San Antonio Spurs, Strickland now joining starting point guard Terrell Brandon on the sidelines.

The Wolves do not plan on bringing in a replacement, with coach Flip Saunders claiming "It would be tough to bring anyone to get acclimated with what we're doing [before the All-Star break]."

"I'm getting comfortable up around 30 minutes," he said. "The team is winning and I'm helping make a big contribution, so that's what I've been really focused on."

Kevin Garnett has done almost everything for the Minnesota Timberwolves over the years, yet he cannot seem to drag the franchise out of the first round of the playoffs.

While Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley have both taken turns in stating how Garnett should play, according to a report by Steve Aschburner in the Star Tribune it is now Trailblazers guard Scottie Pippen's turn to voice his opinion.

"I don't mean to be negative about him, because his numbers are great," Pippen told the Portland Tribune. "But what exactly is he doing for them? They aren't winning enough games, that's the point. His numbers ain't measuring to wins. He has to find a way to make his team win. When you are getting big numbers like he is and still losing, I call it padding your stats."

Pippen believes that Garnett should play shooting guard, which would be quite a sight for the 7-1 monster.

"He has the ability," the former Bulls star said. "Kevin could allow his team to get bigger if he plays [shooting guard], and his defensive presence would be immense out there. It would allow them to play four 'bigs' at a time.

"I know he's trying to do what's best for his team right now, but he could ask for a little more responsibility -- maybe take on the challenge of guarding a guy like Kobe [Bryant] to be more effective overall."

Luckily for the Minnesota the injury to point guard Troy Hudson is not serious.

With Terrell Brandon already on the sidelines with knee problems the Timberwolves lost their starting point guard with an ankle injury which resulted in him being taken to a nearby hospital having his left ankle X-rayed.

When his backup, Rod Strickland, was on the bench trying to catch his breath after playing most of the first quarter the Timberwolves were forced to play his backup, rookie Igor Rakocevic, who is short on experience.

"Every team goes through injuries," Saunders said with a shrug.

But according to Chip Scoggins of the Star-Tribune it is not all bad news for the Wolves.  Hudson had only minor swelling in his ankle and might be ready to play by the end of the Wolves' three-game West Coast trip, the best case scenario according to Saunders.

Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News reports on the Denver loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Nuggets are looking forward to this summer and Marc J. Spears of the Denver Post reports that they are drawing up their free agent wish list. Denver is expected to have enough cap room to sign two maximum salary free agents.  

Of course the names at the top of their list are Tim Duncan, Michael Olowokandi and Elton Brand, but another name will get a lot of consideration as well. Minnesota center Rasho Nesterovic is seen as an effective, affordable option.

Nesterovic is averaging a career high 11.4 points and 5.9 rebounds in a career-high 29.9 minutes this season and with a lack of talented big men in the league, he could end up a coveted free agent. "I try to just put that aside and concentrate on the games," Nesterovic said about his upcoming free agency. "I don't think about it, I just think about the rest of season. It's too far ahead."

The Nuggets may be looking to reload their frontcourt as Juwan Howard, Donnell Harvey, Mark Blount, Mark Bryant and Chris Andersen are all free agents this summer. "We have to be concerned with that," Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "We have to explore all our options available to us at any number of positions."

Marc Spears writes a preview of the Nuggets @ T-wolves game set for tonight.