Last week, the Timberwolves sent separate letters -- one signed by coach Rick Adelman, the other by owner Glen Taylor -- to season-ticket holders. Each offered a perk to fans who already had renewed for next season and reminded those who hadn't done so to commit by Monday's deadline.
On Tuesday, bruising center Nikola Pekovic filmed a commercial that promotes a forthcoming campaign for new sales. In it, he discusses tattoos with a female season-ticket owner and then the man who has a bed of skulls engraved on his biceps draws a cute and cuddly teddy bear on the woman's forearm.
Either way, a franchise that promised the playoffs this season and in some cases is more than doubling ticket prices for next season -- after slashing them to bargain prices in recent years -- is asking fans to make yet another leap of faith.
On the court, the Wolves have two months to salvage this injury-ravaged season and demonstrate there truly is reason to hope about the proverbial next year.
That doesn't necessarily mean re-engaging in a playoff chase that has all but disappeared since the Wolves went 3-18 in their past 21 games without re-injured star Kevin Love.
It simply could mean generating some kind of momentum, any kind of momentum now that the NBA's annual All-Star break is over, preferably well before Love returns a month from now after breaking his hand not once but twice this season.
"It's very important," point guard Ricky Rubio said. "Right now, we have to build something here. We had it, and we have to forget about everything that happened with injuries and stuff. We just have to show we have something here."
The 19-31 Wolves trail Houston by five games in the loss column for the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff spot. But they trail the 29-26 Rockets by 10 games in the win column because they've played five fewer games.