Shaquille O'Neal and the Cavaliers travel to Minnesota to play a Wolves team that recently acquired Nathan Jawai, who is nicknamed 'Baby Shaq'.

"Don't call me that name again," Jawai said Thursday. "I hate that name. That's not my name. That guy is a future Hall of Famer, so why compare me to him? I don't know, people in Australia started calling me that. We don't have similar games. He's more of a scorer. He's a dominant force."

Timberwolves forward Al Jefferson will play in Wednesday's season opener despite an Achilles injury.

Minnesota coach Kurt Rambis says that the team will continue to monitor the injury, which kept him out of practice for roughly a week.

Jefferson scrimmaged at the Target Center on Monday without any issues.

"No doubt," he said when asked by the Star Tribune if he would play against the Nets on Wednesday.

He hasn't played in a regular season game since Feb. 8, when Jefferson tore the right anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Timberwolves forward Al Jefferson may not to ready for the team's season opener as he deals with a sore Achilles tendon.

He did not scrimmage with his teammates on Sunday.

"I have no idea," coach Kurt Rambis told the Star Tribune of Jefferson's status for Wednesday night's game. "His illness is a non issue. His Achilles is what we're addressing now and we're helping him work through that.

"We'll see how he is tomorrow. That's how we'll keep going. We'll keep evaluating him the following day, keep increasing his activity and see how he handles it."

Jefferson didn't talk to reporters following Minnesota's workout.

Timberwolves forward Kevin Love is hoping to return early from hand surgery.

He had three screws inserted into his left hand Tuesday during surgery to help repair a broken fourth metacarpal bone.

The official timetable for his recovery is four to six weeks, but he's shooting for earlier.

"After 3 1/2, four weeks, I'll send back an X-ray," Love told the Star Tribune. "The process is that you can start doing a little more each week. But we'll send the X-ray back and see how it looks and see how I feel and if the doctor is OK with it, I'll be good to go."

If Love returns after just four weeks, he'd miss 10 games and return on Nov. 21 against Portland.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have waived veteran guard Antonio Daniels.

He was acquired from New Orleans in September in order to save money for the franchise. The Timberwolves gave permission to Daniels to seek a trade and did not play him in the preseason.

Timberwolves forward Al Jefferson didn't miss the team's preseason game on Tuesday because of his Achilles injury.

While it's true that Jefferson is suffering from a sore Achilles tendon, he missed the game because of cold/flu-like symptoms.

Minnesota coach Kurt Rambis told the Star Tribune that he isn't concerned the Achilles will keep Jefferson out of the season opener.

The Dallas Mavericks have agreed to trade center Nathan Jawai to Minnesota for a future second-round pick, according to team sources.

The deal will be announced later Tuesday, sources said.

The Wolves were able to absorb Jawai's salary into open cap space.

Injuries to Kevin Love and Al Jefferson have created a need for Minnesota in the frontcourt.

The Timberwolves will be without forward Al Jefferson indefinitely because of an injured Achilles' tendon.

Minnesota is already without forward Kevin Love for six to eight weeks because of a broken bone in his hand.

Jefferson didn't practice on Monday because of a sore Achilles after the injury limited him to just six minutes against the Bucks on Saturday night.

"It all depends on ... the treatments and the medication and whatever they're doing for him," coach Kurt Rambis said of Jefferson. "It all depends how quickly it affects it."

Timberwolves forward Kevin Love is expected to undergo hand surgery on Tuesday.

Love will have the operation in New York to fix a fracture in the fourth metacarpal bone in his shooting hand.

He suffered the injury during a preseason game against the Bulls on Friday. Minnesota expects him to miss at least six weeks of action.

Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis sees opportunity in forward Kevin Love's hand injury.

"Absolutely, it's opportunity," Rambis told the Star Tribune. "My entire career was based on Mitch Kupchak blowing his knee out, so why wouldn't I think that?"

Love is expected to miss six to eight weeks after breaking a bone in his left hand.

Young teammates Ryan Hollins and Oleksiy Pecherov are expected to play more minutes than initially expected.