Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said he is enjoying watching former coach Flip Saunders and ex-star player Kevin Garnett compete in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, and doesn't look back with regrets about the decisions that led to their departure.

"Well, not quite like that. I'm just saying my intent is always to get a championship, but it doesn't bother me to watch these games," Taylor said. "I still consider Flip a friend and KG a friend. So, to me, I enjoy just the competition. But I'm not envious or anything like that -- I enjoy watching them. They're just both in different environments now, and I wish them well.

"As you know, it's been really competitive so it's been just really interesting to watch it, but no, I don't have a favorite team in the playoffs at all."

Taylor said he does try to evaluate the decisions that resulted in Saunders being discharged and Garnett traded. And the decisions that were made to not keep Chauncey Billups, a big star with the Pistons, and Sam Cassell, who is with the Celtics.

"I do ... try to evaluate why we did what we did, and was there anything we could have done differently or we should have done differently -- businesswise I do that, but not envious or second-guessing or anything like that."

Draft to help The Timberwolves had a 17-25 record after injured guard Randy Foye returned to the lineup, and because of that, Taylor said he believes the current draft will improve the team over last season.

"That's one of the reasons that I have optimism, is if we can get Randy in there from the very beginning and doing what we felt he could do. We played pretty darn good," he said.

However, he said he doesn't believe the team will be a title contender until the 2009-2010 season, when they can wipe $20 million off the books being paid to Troy Hudson, Juwan Howard and Antoine Walker. Then that money will be freed up under the salary cap to sign some top free agents.

"That will provide a chance to also help our team next year after this, the one after that. Plus, we still have some good draft choices," Taylor said.

The Wolves will have the third pick in the draft, but Taylor has instructed his staff to look at all the options, including a trade, that would bring a player plus a draft choice to the team.

"We're considering everything but, at the end, my guess is we'll probably take the third pick," Taylor said. "But we certainly are looking at [options]," he said.

The Wolves also have their own second-round pick, plus another second-round pick from Miami (31st and 34th overall), and if all three players are capable of performing in the NBA, Taylor said he would sign all three.

The Wolves can't negotiate with their restricted free agents now, so nothing has been decided on who will be brought back. The only unrestricted free agent, center Michael Doleac, is not likely to return.

Taylor said he realizes it will be difficult to sell season tickets this season after last year's performance, but he is optimistic about the future.

"The main thing is, we've got to get a team on the floor," he said.

Despite the lack of success the past few years, Taylor says he still enjoys being an owner, and that he doesn't have any intention of selling the club, as has been rumored in the past.

Jottings Gophers football coach Tim Brewster and others in the Big Ten have been in favor of an earlier signing period for high school football seniors than the winter signing date used now. This week, the coaches in the SEC voted 9-3 to have the NCAA add an early signing date in November.

All of the Timberwolves' executives and coaches are in Orlando this week watching future draft choices work out. The Wolves will bring in as many as 10 draft-eligible players once the playoffs are over.

Roszell Gayden, the Robbinsdale Cooper High School offensive tackle, will attend College of the Siskiyous this fall in Weed, Calif., and might enroll later at Minnesota. ... The Gophers will welcome seven walk-ons when summer school starts in June, including defensive back Kim Royston, who transferred from Wisconsin. The others who will or have enrolled in school include: linebacker Mike Rallis and offensive lineman Curtis James, Edina; kicker David Schwerman and offensive lineman Austin Hahn of Hartford, Wis.; offensive lineman Jacob Glickstein of Brookfield, Wis.; and running back Jake Ferris of Arrowhead, Wis.

Pitcher Ramon Ortiz, who started the season with the Twins last year and was traded to the Colorado Rockies for infielder Matt Macri, now with the Twins, has a 6.38 ERA pitching for the Orix Buffalos in Japan.

Five members of the Gophers baseball team will play in the Northwoods League this summer: Derek McCallum (St. Cloud), Nate Hanson and Kyle Knudson (Mankato), A.J. Pettersen (Brainerd) and Nick O'Shea (Green Bay). Kyle Geason, who redshirted this season, will play in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. ... Jon Hummel of the Gophers, who is majoring in turf management, is interning this summer with the grounds crew at Boston's Fenway Park.

Deolis Guerra, a pitcher who came to the Twins from the Mets in the Johan Santana trade, is 5-1 with a 4.56 ERA for the Class A Fort Myers Miracle. Guerra's teammate, former Gopher Cole DeVries, is 4-4 with a 3.70 ERA. A third pitcher on that staff who also has great potential is former Notre Dame hurler Jeff Manship, who is 6-2 with a 3.11 ERA.

Gophers wrestlers Zach Sanders, Jake Deitchler, Ben Berhow and Brent Eidenschink will represent the United States at the Junior National Championships in Istanbul, Turkey from July 29 to Aug. 3. Sanders qualified by winning the 55 kg./121 lbs. freestyle division at last weekend's FILA Junior World Team Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Deitchler did the same in the 66 kg./145 lbs. Greco-Roman division. Berhow and Eidenschink are alternates.

Gophers baseball player Matt Nohelty was named to the first team Academic All American team. ... Former Gopher wrestler Brock Lesnar will fight Heath Herring in an Ultimate Fighting Championship match at Target Center on Aug. 9. Herring replaces UFC Hall-of-Famer Mark Coleman, who was forced to withdraw because of a knee injury.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on his Podcast twice a week at www.startribune.com/sidcast. shartman@startribune.com