Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) -
There will be no "Love" in Minneapolis, at least not for the next six-to-eight weeks. Second-year forward Kevin Love, is scheduled to have surgery today on the broken fourth metacarpal bone of his left hand.
Love, who averaged 11.1 ppg and 9.0 rpg last season, joins teammate Al Jefferson (23.1 ppg, 11.0 rpg) on the sidelines (tendonitis) which leaves the Timberwolves frontcourt in disarray.
"That's part of the game," said Love. "You hope it doesn't happen to you, but sometimes things don't go your way."
The gaping hole, might give Ryan Gomes or Brian Cardinal an opportunity to be "fantasy-worthy" at least for a few weeks. Gomes averaged 13.3 ppg and 4.8 rpg last season.
From a fantasy standpoint, I'd be afraid to draft any players on this team. Jefferson's problems from last year seem to be ongoing and we don't know how reliable he'll be. Now Love is out for two months. That means the young backcourt will have to lead them and I'm not sure Ramon Sessions (12.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 5.7 apg with Milwaukee) and Syracuse rookie Jonny Flynn are up to the task.
2008 Minnesota Timberwolves Frontcourt Statistics
Player
GM
MIN
PPG
RPG
APG
FG%
3PT%
FT%
Al Jefferson
50
36
23.1
11.0
1.6
49.7
0.0
73.8
Ryan Gomes
82
31
13.3
4.8
1.6
43.1
37.2
80.7
Kevin Love
81
25
11.1
9.0
1.0
45.9
10.5
78.9
Damien Wilkins
41
15
7.6
2.6
1.5
36.2
37.5
80.4 - A
Corey Brewer
15
20
6.2
3.3
1.7
41.1
41.7
73.7
Oleksiy Pecherov
32
8
3.6
2.4
0.1
36.7
30.1
73.3 - B
Brian Cardinal
64
14
3.0
2.2
1.2
38.5
32.6
85.7
Ryan Hollins
27
9
2.9
2.3
0.1
52.5
0.0
51.5 - C
A = with Oklahoma City, B = with Washington, C = with Dallas
