wolves/nba

Randy Wittman has been in the NBA as a player or a coach since 1983. He has seen good teams and bad, but he's never seen anything quite like this. Tonight his Timberwolves will open the 2007-08 season against Denver at Target Center with eight players 24 years old or younger. Another, Ryan Gomes, just turned 25.

"I've not been associated with a group that has totally went this way," Wittman said. "You've [usually] gone in with some key veterans as your starters, and you added some youth."

In the first season post-Kevin Garnett the Wolves are hoping for a successful present but are planning for a bigger future.

Garnett, of course, is gone. So are veterans Mark Blount, Ricky Davis, Trenton Hassell and Troy Hudson. Juwan Howard never really was here, it seems. He was acquired by a team looking to dump Mike James' long-term deal, then his contract was bought out.

There is a veteran presence but a youthful feel. Starting tonight nine young players with varying degrees of experience will be thrown into the deep end by a team planning two years down the road. Since the team came to the realization that the Garnett trade had to happen, the Wolves have worked to stockpile draft picks and create future cap flexibility so that the decisions this coming season will dictate can be made next summer.

And, especially, the summer after that.

"Well, the most important part is right now," said Wolves vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale. "But flexibility was a big part of things. We're trying to position ourselves to do things in the future."

That was why the team bought out Troy Hudson's contract last summer. And why the team decided to buy out -- rather than trade -- Howard's deal this week.

Even with the extension signed by Al Jefferson on Wednesday -- a five-year, $65 million deal that will pay him $11 million next season with a $1 million bump in each of the next four years -- the Wolves have created cap room.

The Wolves have $52 million in guaranteed money for the 2008-09 season. With a salary cap that could be as high as $58 million, that will give the Wolves the money to keep the young players who prove this season they belong. That could mean extensions for Randy Foye or Rashad McCants, or re-signing players such as Ryan Gomes, Craig Smith or Sebastian Telfair.

"By the nature of the NBA, you're not going to have nine guys 24 or under, or whatever we have, and have them all fall into your little pyramid scheme," McHale said. "It doesn't work that way -- some guys overachieve, some underachieve. But we have enough young guys that I really feel confident we'll get that group of three, four or five to emerge."

Even by McHale's estimation, it is the 2009-10 season where the big moves could occur. As of right now, the Wolves have only $32 million on the books for that season.

And then there are draft picks. The Wolves still owe the Clippers a first-round pick, but they'll keep it next summer if it turns into a top-10 selection. They should also get Miami's pick as part of the Davis-Blount trade, unless the Heat finishes with a lottery pick. In 2009 the Wolves should get Boston's first-round pick as part of the Garnett trade.

"We've tried to position ourselves where we can have our key guys under contract, and then have salary cap room to be a player in the free-agent market two years from now," Wolves General Manager Jim Stack said.

The process starts tonight. The young Wolves, almost to a man, have said they plan on opening people's eyes this season. For the organization, this season is already being watched closely, but so is the future.

Kent Youngblood • kyoungblood@startribune.com