What: An 11-day, 24-team summertime tournament featuring mostly rookies and second-year players, both drafted and free agents.

When: Friday through July 20.

Where: Las Vegas, the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus.

TV: All 67 games will be televised on NBA TV, some of them tape-delayed. ESPN also will provide coverage on "SportsCenter," and ESPN3 will carry six games live as well. You can get every game on your cellphone, laptop or tablet for a $14.99 subscription.

Format: All 24 teams will play a three-game qualifying schedule. The top 16 teams advance to a single-elimination tournament that crowns a champion on the final day.

About the Timberwolves: No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns, fellow first-round pick Tyus Jones and second-year players Zach LaVine and Adreian Payne will participate, as will former training-camp invitees Lorenzo Brown, Brady Heslip and Othyus Jeffers. Andrew Wiggins and Shabazz Muhammad might attend to support their teammates but aren't expected to play. Wolves assistant Ryan Saunders will coach the team.

Wolves schedule

Friday, 7:30 p.m.: vs. Los Angeles Lakers.

Saturday, 5:30 p.m.: vs. Chicago.

Monday, 9:30 p.m.: vs. Utah.

All are Central times. All three games will be carried live on NBA TV and played in Thomas & Mack Center, UNLV's basketball arena.

Top story lines

• The NBA scheduled the Wolves-Lakers game on opening day because it features the June draft's top two picks, which turned out to be Towns and Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell. The two are represented by the same agency and worked out together near Los Angeles in the weeks leading to the draft.

• Other high draft picks scheduled to play: Philadelphia's Jahlil Okafor (third overall), New York's Kristaps Porzingis (fourth), Sacramento's Willie Cauley-Stein (sixth), Denver's Emmanuel Mudiay (seventh) and Miami's Justise Winslow (10th).

• San Antonio assistant coach Becky Hammon will become the first female to be a summer-league head coach.

• Lakers forward Julius Randle – the 2014 draft's seventh overall pick – is expected to play Friday against the Wolves, his first game since he broke his leg in last October's season opener.

On the web

Visit nba.com/summerleague.

From the Star Tribune

Staff writer Jerry Zgoda will be in Las Vegas through Wednesday providing coverage.

JERRY ZGODA