After playing a vital role in the Olympics for Team USA, gold medalist Kevin Love had high expectations for the Timberwolves and their revamped roster for the upcoming season. Unfortunately for him and the team, those expectations took a major hit on Wednesday afternoon when Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports tweeted and broke the news that Love has suffered a broken hand. Chris Bernucca has the details of the situation.
This really is a tough break for a franchise finally hoping to get out of a funk that has lasted far too long – the team last made the playoffs in the 2003-2004 campaign. With point guard Ricky Rubio already out with a torn ACL, the team will now have to begin the season without the two cornerstones of the franchise for several weeks.
This marks the second time that Love will miss time in the NBA due to a broken hand. He broke his hand almost exactly three years ago in a preseason game during the 2009-2010 season on Oct. 16, forcing him to miss the first 18 games of that season.
This is not to say that Minnesota’s season is already ruined: they still have formidable pieces in Nikola Pekovic, Andrei Kirilenko, a hopefully-resurgent Brandon Roy and more. It also gives 2nd overall pick of last season in Derrick Williams a chance to better establish himself – provided Rick Adelman is willing to commit to the second-year forward. But certainly, it puts the team more in a position to have to fight for a playoff spot than to establish themselves as one of the better teams in the Western Conference.
Bad news aside, there were plenty of other items of note around the league from Wednesday, as you will see below:
- Are you going to bet on basketball this season? Then you should read this sportsbook review.
- You’ll also want to check our latest poll: Chris Sheridan is going into his wallet for a hefty wager.