Restricted free-agent center Greg Stiemsma was born, raised and educated in Wisconsin, but he still considers the contract agreement he reached Saturday with the Timberwolves a homecoming.
Never mind the border issues.
"There's still reciprocity, isn't there?" asked Stiemsma's agent, Mike Naiditch.
The Wolves signed Stiemsma to his first NBA contract in April 2010, even though he never played in a regular-season game for them.
When the Celtics played at Target Center in March, the evening was something of a home game for him after more than 100 friends and family from Wisconsin and South Dakota -- where he had played for the Development League's Skyforce -- attended and serenaded him afterward with a Britney Spears song he once was forced to sing on a Boston radio station.
Naiditch said "Minnesota is always where Greg wanted to be," both because of his history with the franchise and because the team called at 11:01 p.m. on July 1, one minute into the NBA's free-agency period.
The Wolves also need a backup center to starter Nikola Pekovic after waiving Darko Milicic last week to clear salary-cap room.
The 26-year-old Stiemsma, who played for the University of Wisconsin from 2004 to '08, signed with Boston in December when the lockout-delayed season began. He played 55 games during his rookie NBA season and played 19 games during the playoffs despite battling injuries to both feet.
