The Minnesota Timberwolves have hired former Wolves guard Fred Hoiberg and former Toronto general manager Rob Babcock as assistant GMs on Thursday.

A heart ailment forced Hoiberg to retire in April after 10 years in the NBA, including his last two in Minnesota. He had surgery in 2005 to correct an enlarged aortic root and briefly contemplated a comeback last season before calling it quits and joining the team's front office.

Babcock spent the last two years as general manager of the Raptors. He was fired in January and replaced by Bryan Colangelo after a series of highly criticized trades and draft picks. This will be Babcock's second stint with the Timberwolves. He spent 12 seasons from 1992-2004 rising up the ranks from scout to vice president of player personnel.

"For Fred, he is doing a tremendous job in transitioning from being a player to a front office executive. Hopefully, he will continue to grow and learn in this new role," vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale said in a statement. "Rob is someone who is very knowledgeable about the NBA, and has been here before so he knows what we do. Both of them were a great help in our preparations for this year's draft."

Stephon Marbury said Wednesday he would embrace playing for the Timberwolves if he were traded to Minnesota, but hopes he is a New York Knick for life.

"I would love to play with Kevin," Marbury said. "We would love for him to come to New York. If he wants to play with me in New York, that would be great. That's the only way it's going to happen, because I'm in New York.

"Kevin has had more success than I've had," he said. "I really can't put myself in his situation. My situation has been a lot more grueling. I've had to defend myself with the media as a person and as a basketball player."

Troy Hudson's status for the 2006-2007 season has been in question, as he has been sidelined by an ankle problem since the middle of last year.  

On Monday, he showed that he is close to 100 percent as he took part in a scrimmage of signed players and free agents.

"Hudson looks as good as I have seen him," said teammate Trenton Hassell. "Watching Hudson shoot the ball, he didn't look any different than he was last year when he was healthy."

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor could become a suitor for the Minnesota Wild of the NHL.

Insiders of the industry believe the current of the ownership of the Wild will begin listening to offers within the next year.

Latrell Sprewell won't face charges stemming from a woman's accusations that he choked her as they had sex on his boat, his lawyer said.

Attorney Jonathan C. Smith told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Wednesday that the former Knicks star will now seek "civil remedies" against the 21-year-old accuser.

"People need to know that this is something he and we take very seriously," said Smith, noting Sprewell also would seek a restraining order against the woman.

Police said the woman reported that she was assaulted Aug. 29 on Sprewell's boat at a marina on the Lake Michigan shore.

With Reggie Evans likely to re-sign with Denver, the Timberwolves have offered Andreas Glyniadakis a contract.

Glyniadakis, a 7-foot-1, 275-pound free agent from Greece, also has offers from Atlanta, Toronto and New Jersey.

With Reggie Evans all but re-signed by the Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves will wait until closer to the start of the season to sign another big man.

Evans has yet to respond to Minnesota.

Lawyers for former Knicks star Latrell Sprewell met with prosecutors yesterday to discuss a woman's allegation that he choked her during sex.

No decision on charges is expected until at least next week.

Police interviewed Sprewell and searched his $1.5 million yacht Wednesday after a 21-year-old woman accused him of throttling her while they had consensual sex there the previous night.

The woman's claims eerily echo Sprewell's most outrageous performance on the court, when he choked then-coach P.J.Carlesimo at a Golden State Warriors practice in 1997.