Until the Wizards (0-7) win their first game, the attraction at Verizon Center is as much about who they’re playing as it is them. That would fit the bill perfectly today with the Minnesota Timberwolves (2-5) in town, a team that Wizards coach Flip Saunders still has a close affinity for – it’s the one he lives closest to at his offseason home – and they’re inextricably linked to the Wizards’ recent history, since it was the No. 5 pick in the 2009 NBA draft that Washington sent to Minnesota in return for Mike Miller and Randy Foye.
The Wizards were convinced back then that they were poised for a push into the top of the Eastern Conference. How wrong they were. With Ricky Rubio here for the first time – the player that the Wolves chose with that 2009 pick – it’s worth asking Saunders if the Spanish point guard was in the discussion.
“There was a lot of talk and a lot of things,” Saunders said. “Who knows. If it would’ve been Rubio, John Wall might not have been here. We don’t know. There was a lot of things that went into that whole equation at that time. The biggest thing was where we were at that time, and the team that we had, we were ready to make that – we thought Gil [Arenas] was going to come back and be healthy, have some healthy players and be able to go at it from that standpoint, and everyone pretty much knew that Rubio wasn’t going to be over here for a couple years.”
Meanwhile, the Wizards are throwing rookie Chris Singleton into the starting lineup for the first time in place of Rashard Lewis, who is going to miss this afternoon’s game with a sore right knee. The change should also pave the way for rookie Jan Vesely’s NBA debut.
“We’re going to try to get him some time today,” Saunders said. “I think there’s a good opportunity because they play basically one big guy and then they play some fours at other times…More than anything, it’s tougher because he hasn’t had any practice time. He’s played some 2-on-2, 3-on-3, but he’s had no competitive play. When you’re a team trying to get your first win, and if those guys go in and play well, it’s tough to just change that because you’re stressing to our players that we want guys that are going to go and compete and play well, and if guys are, you don’t want to just take them out for no reason.”
It shouldn’t come as news that the Wizards need to be cognizant of Wolves forward Kevin Love, who is shooting 42 percent from 3-point range and tearing up the glass, averaging 14.9 rebounds to go with 26.1 points per game. D.C. native Michael Beasley is out with a right midfoot sprain.
“Love is the most unique player in our league,” Saunders said. “I think a lot of people thought he was going to be a guy that could get double-doubles in this league. I don’t think anyone envisioned he was going to be 26-15.”
Love, in his fourth season, is the longest-tenured player for Minnesota, which has been in rebuilding mode longer than the Wizards. The comparisons between the probably end there.
“We’re both young,” Saunders said. “I think they’re more athletic. They’re a little bit more offensive polished than we are at this point.”
