Fresh from a holiday weekend spent at the ocean or in a parade through downtown Apple Valley by horse-drawn trailer, newest Timberwolves Karl-Anthony Towns and Tyus Jones went to work Monday, their first real day as professionals on the NBA job.
Towns spent time with college coach John Calipari and relaxed at the New Jersey shore not far from his childhood home over the weekend, while Jones rode on a parade entry that bore a banner declaring him a 2015 NCAA champion at Duke as well as "Apple Valley's Favorite Son."
Ten days after Jones led Towns on a tour of Minneapolis' skyway system, the two 19-year-olds olds went about the business of getting to know each other as teammates on the court.
"The chemistry is built already," Towns said. "We're very tight already. Ever since the draft, we've always stayed in contact, texted every day, just really hanging out a lot. It helps that we also had great high-school careers and we were able to play with and against each other in all-star games. I think the chemistry is already built. On the court, you'll see the chemistry is already built. We're seeing each other like we've never seen each other."
Each player reported Monday for the first day of summer-league play with a Wolves team that will scrimmage Wednesday in a free "Summer Showcase" at Target Center and begin Las Vegas play Friday there against D'Angelo Russell, the draft's No. 2 overall pick, and the Los Angeles Lakers.
They will be joined by Andrew Wiggins, Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng — each missed Monday's first workout because of flight delays — for practices this week at the team's new Mayo Clinic Square facility and by Zach LaVine and Adreian Payne for both Minneapolis practices and Las Vegas games.
Monday's work started the process of adapting to a game that's played at a faster pace, with bigger and stronger players.
"I'm a rookie," said Towns, the first player selected in last month's NBA draft. "This is my first practice as an NBA player, ever. You want to get as much knowledge as you can … a lot of knowledge for me to be the player I want to be and the player I need to be."