The Timberwolves have three intriguing point guards on their roster and just tried to trade for the modern-day Steph Marbury. For all of their organizational changes, the perpetually struggling local basketball team still is trying to find the right player to run their show, same as it ever was, Wolves without end.
The two best players in franchise history are power forwards named Kevin, but the franchise history of point guards explains why the Timberwolves have ended all but one season without winning a playoff series.
The first draft pick in Wolves history landed UCLA point guard Pooh Richardson, and he would establish a trend. He would be good enough to market, good enough to keep the job, good enough to play in every Wolves game for seasons, but not good enough to elevate the franchise. So it would go.
As part of a larger deal, the Wolves traded Richardson for point guard Micheal Williams, a dynamic player whose career was ruined by injuries, bolstering the theory that Target Center is built on a burial ground or haunted by the same demons that would cause Wally Szczerbiak to forget instructions between huddle and inbounds play.
Then came the point guard open tryouts. Winston Garland. Darrick Martin. Terry Porter. Spud Webb!
The drafting of Marbury promised to alter the NBA landscape as well as Wolves history. But he finished his career having played fewer games with Minnesota than with New York, New Jersey or Phoenix.
Marbury's pouty departure destroyed Minnesota's chance to become an annual power, but Kevin Garnett's greatness gave the Wolves a chance to win in the short term. Terrell Brandon took over and played well for two full seasons before injuries ended his career. He also mentored Chauncey Billups.
Minnesota was Billups' fifth team and he emerged as a promising pro in his second season with the Wolves while taking over for Brandon. The Wolves let Billups leave in free agency and he became an NBA champion with Detroit.