Wolves' Young is a veteran with a scoring touch

A year ago Thaddeus Young was the old man on a Philadelphia 76ers team that, in full rebuild mode, posted the second-worst record in the NBA.

This season, acquired in a trade by the Wolves in the offseason, he is again on a team looking to retool after trading away Kevin Love.

But there is at least one very big difference. The Wolves might be going young, but the team still has a number of veterans.

"Things here are different," Young said after Thursday's practice. "Now you have some more veteran guys on the team along with the young guys that need to be groomed a little bit. It's just a different situation.''

Young still is committed to being a mentor. But he doesn't have to do it alone.

And he already has shown what he can do on the court. In just 18 minutes at power forward in Tuesday's exhibition at Indiana — coach Flip Saunders is taking care not to overwork the veterans — Young scored 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting with four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

"He has the ability to score," said Saunders, who likened Young's game to that of Antawn Jamison, who played in Washington when Saunders coached the Wizards.

"They're very similar in their ability to score from different angles and in different ways — floaters, under somebody's arms, different things. And he plays hard. He was third in the league behind Ricky [Rubio] last season in steals so he has the ability to get after it at both ends."

While it's just a preseason game, Young said he looks forward to seeing his old team. He still keeps in touch with some of the players.

"Coach just told me I'd better give the whole scouting report on them tomorrow," he joked.

Better shots

Upon further review, Saunders said that at least part of his team's 37.2-percent shooting Tuesday was because of good shots that just didn't fall. That said, he's still looking for his players to take better shots.

"We missed some easy shots," Saunders said. "If you look at most teams, they struggle in the preseason because you're going from two-a-days to three-hour practices. But we took some bad shots, too. I don't coach makes or misses, I coach shots.''

Part of the problem was young players trying to force the issue when the Wolves fell behind early, Saunders said.

Etc.

• This will be rookie Andrew Wiggins' home debut. Wiggins impressed Saunders on Tuesday with his ability to get to the free throw line, where he made eight of 10 attempts on the way to 18 points. That ability will serve him well as he acclimates to the NBA game.

"If things aren't going well, the best way to get started is to get to the free throw line," Saunders said. "He has the ability to put it on the floor and do that a little bit."

• Anthony Bennett, who missed the preseason opener because of a hip flexor injury, took part in practice Thursday and could play Friday.

"He was active," Saunders said. "We'll see how he feels [Friday]. Hopefully he can get some minutes.''

• Veteran guard Kevin Martin, dealing with a groin injury, will not play Friday.

• Friday's game will be carried on Fox Sports North.