Flynn has something 'special'

Hope springs eternal with the arrival of another NBA season.

By JERRY ZGODA, Star Tribune

Last update: September 28, 2009 - 11:32 PM

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Hope springs eternal with the arrival of another NBA season.

Turns out, praise flows unfettered, too.

Timberwolves rookie point guard Jonny Flynn hasn't played a preseason game yet, let alone a regular season game. But already teammate Al Jefferson is smitten.

"Oh, man, I'm just going to say that kid's special," Jefferson said when asked about Flynn at the team's traditional media day Monday. "I don't want to hype him up right now, but I'm so happy that I got a chance to play with him. Just playing 5-on-5 with him these past two weeks, that kid's special. The way he sees the floor. I think he's got a chance to be just as good as Chris Paul.

"That's just my opinion. I know that's saying a lot. But I really believe that."

Chris Paul? The Hornets guard who was the NBA's Rookie of the Year in 2006 and the MVP runner-up to Kobe Bryant in 2008?

Oh, is that all?

"That means a lot coming from a guy like that," Flynn said when told about Jefferson's comments. "Chris Paul is a great player. Just to be compared to him before you play a game is kind of crazy. I'm not even going to comment on that. Hopefully, I can just be as valuable to this team as he is to the Hornets."

Hello, Mankato

The Wolves arrived in Mankato by bus Monday and begin the first of at least four days of two-a-day training camp practices today at the Taylor Center (hmmm, that's a coincidence) on the Minnesota State-Mankato campus.

Oleksiy Pecherov is the only player -- excused and soon-to-be-gone Antonio Daniels and Mark Blount excluded -- not expected to participated in the opening days of camp. Acquired from Washington in the draft-week trade that sent Mike Miller and Randy Foye to the Wizards, Pecherov broke his wrist a month ago while playing for the Ukrainian national team.

Pecherov, a young 6-11 perimeter-oriented forward, is expected to receive clearance Thursday to practice. Jefferson and Corey Brewer, both returning from surgery to repair torn anterior cruciate ligaments, are ready to practice.

"Doing great," Brewer said. "Feeling great."

The numbers game

The Wolves on Monday signed free agents Alonzo Gee, Devin Green, Jason Hart, Jack McClinton, Jared Reiner and Mustafa Shakur to give them enough players to conduct a real training camp. Until then, they had 12 players on their roster.

"We have enough guys coming to camp to be able to do the things we want to do, provided nobody gets hurt," new coach Kurt Rambis said. "Remember, I played in an era where we only had 12 guys on the roster. Maybe we'll end up with 14 eventually. We need to keep space on our roster so we can add somebody."

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