Wolves notes: 'Shocked' Daniels makes his arrival with new team

At first the news stung.

Troy Daniels, the newest Wolves player, was talking before Sunday's game at Target Center about the trade that brought him here from Houston for Corey Brewer. It took him off a team that is vying for playoff position to one in full-blown rebuild mode.

"I was shocked," said Daniels, a second-year shooting guard. "I can't lie about that. But I just looked at it as a great opportunity for me to go out and do what I do. I get a better chance of playing. I'm just excited."

But it might take some time before he gets significant playing time. Daniels didn't get into the Twin Cities until late Saturday night and had only a brief walk-through Sunday. It will take a while to learn a new system and find a role within it.

"It will come with more time," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said. "Some of the assistants will work with him. We know what he can do.''

What he does best is shoot. Daniels is known as a catch-and-shoot player. And it doesn't appear he lacks for confidence. When asked where his sweet spot was on the floor, he said, "I feel pretty much like behind the [three-point] line is my sweet spot," he said. "Behind the line I'm really comfortable.''

Daniels hasn't played a lot this season, but he made some big threes for Houston in the playoffs against Portland last season, causing then-Blazer Mo Williams to attempt a little gamesmanship. Daniels joked about that Sunday, saying they were best friends now. "I'm going to take him out to dinner," he said.

"I say that because he came in under circumstances that this was going to be a playoff team in a playoff push," Saunders said. "The dynamics changed with all the injuries, and the trade of [Kevin] Love. … He wanted to be moved if it could be to a viable team where they could maybe win. We were able to do that. Did we want to see him go? Probably not.''

Saunders said Brewer had indicated that he would opt out of his contract after the season. "Based on the development of [Shabazz] Muhammad, based on [Andrew] Wiggins, he was probably going to look to go elsewhere," he said.

If the Pacers and Wolves have anything in common it is injuries. The Wolves have been pushed into total rebuild mode by a long list of injuries. The Pacers, meanwhile, lost star Paul George to a broken leg while he was playing with Team USA in the summer.

But Pacers coach Frank Vogel doesn't sound like a guy who is writing off the season, even though his team was 1-9 in December entering Sunday's game.

"It's not really hard," he said, when asked how he keeps his team positive. "These guys really want to win. We have a winning culture, a good system and a good group of guys who have executed it."