JOTTINGS

• Sam Mitchell, fired after serving as Timberwolves interim coach last season, told Sirius XM Radio he believes the firing could persuade Kevin Garnett, who was close with Mitchell and assistant Sidney Lowe, to retire. "To be honest with you, I don't know how he's going to deal with that," Mitchell said. "Kevin takes that stuff personally and it's going to be interesting to see ultimately what he decides to do. It's a shame that if he doesn't come back and play, that his last year in Minnesota ended the way it did."

• I've been waiting for either the Twins or the Gophers to change the time of their Sept. 1 home game so as to not compete with the Vikings that night. Yes, it's only a preseason game, but the Vikings' 7 p.m. game with the Rams will be only their second game at U.S. Bank Stadium. That same night the Gophers open their season against Oregon State at 8 p.m. and the Twins open a homestand vs. the White Sox at 7:10 p.m.

• This December, the Vikings will play on Christmas Eve and the Timberwolves will play on Christmas Day, a first for the franchise. It's a big get for the Wolves, who will play at Oklahoma City, as there are only five NBA games on Christmas and it has become a big event for the league. The other Dec. 25 matchups are Boston at New York, Golden State at Cleveland in an NBA Finals rematch, Chicago at San Antonio and the L.A. Clippers at the L.A. Lakers.

• Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was asked if he'd like to do a preseason scrimmage every year like the Vikings did against the Bengals last week in Cincinnati before the preseason opener. "Definitely, this is a great environment, great atmosphere for the guys," he said. "They're a 12-4 team last year, it was just a great experience, and it's something I'd be interested in doing [again]."

• Chaska High School product Brad Hand is having a career year pitching out of the Padres bullpen after five seasons with the Marlins. He is 3-3 with a 2.86 ERA with 75 strikeouts over 63 innings.