1995–96 Minnesota Timberwolves season

The 1995–96 NBA season was the Timberwolves' 7th season in the National Basketball Association.[1] This season is most memorable when the Timberwolves selected high school basketball star Kevin Garnett with the fifth overall pick in the 1995 NBA draft.[2] The team also signed free agent All-Star guard Terry Porter,[3] and re-signed former T-Wolves forward Sam Mitchell during the off-season. The Timberwolves got off to a bad start losing nine of their first ten games, as head coach Bill Blair was fired after a 6–14 start and was replaced with Flip Saunders, while Michael Williams was out for the rest of the season with a left heel injury after just nine games. Midway through the season, Christian Laettner and Sean Rooks were both traded to the Atlanta Hawks for Andrew Lang and Spud Webb,[4] as the team re-acquired second-year guard Darrick Martin after a brief stint with the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies. Despite posting an 8–8 record in March, the Timberwolves lost their final six games, and finished fifth in the Midwest Division with a 26–56 record, missing the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.[5]

1995–96 Minnesota Timberwolves season
Head coach
General managerKevin McHale
Owner(s)Glen Taylor
ArenaTarget Center
Results
Record26–56 (.317)
PlaceDivision: 5th (Midwest)
Conference: 12th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKARE
KLGT
Midwest Sports Channel
RadioKFAN

Isaiah Rider continued to lead the T-Wolves in scoring with 19.6 points per game, while Tom Gugliotta provided the team with 16.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game, and Mitchell contributed 10.8 points per game. In addition, Garnett averaged 10.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, and Porter contributed 9.4 points and 5.5 assists per game.[6] Following the season, Rider, who dealt with off-the-court troubles, was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers,[7] while Lang signed as a free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks, Martin signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, and Webb was released to free agency.

Offseason

NBA Draft
Main article: 1995 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 5 Kevin Garnett SF/PF  United States
2 48 Mark Davis SG/SF  United States Texas Tech
2 49 Jerome Allen PG  United States Pennsylvania

Kevin Garnett

In Garnett's rookie season, the Timberwolves were in the midst of a transition phase; they replaced Bill Blair with Flip Saunders as head coach early in the season and made several trades. Garnett initially came off the bench in his rookie year, but moved into the starting lineup soon after Saunders became head coach. In his rookie year, Garnett and fellow newcomer Tom Gugliotta carried the scoring load. Garnett did not immediately leap to stardom as later prep-to-pro prospects such as Amar'e Stoudemire, LeBron James, and Dwight Howard would, but he did have a very respectable rookie year. He averaged 10.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game and was voted into the All-Rookie Second Team.[8] Despite having some promising players, the Timberwolves suffered through their seventh consecutive sub-30 win season and failed to make the playoffs. At the time Garnett was the youngest NBA player in history at 19 years and 11 months of age.

Roster
1995–96 Minnesota Timberwolves roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
G 53 Allen, Jerome 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 184 lb (83 kg) –– Pennsylvania
F 33 Bragg, Marques 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) –– Providence
F 7 Davis, Mark 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) –– Texas Tech
F 21 Garnett, Kevin 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) –– Farragut Academy HS (IL)
F 24 Gugliotta, Tom 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) –– North Carolina State
C 28 Lang, Andrew 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) –– Arkansas
G 15 Martin, Darrick  5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) –– UCLA
F 42 Mitchell, Sam 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) –– Mercer
G 30 Porter, Terry 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) –– Wisconsin-Stevens Point
G 34 Rider, Isaiah 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) –– UNLV
C 40 Riley, Eric 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) –– Michigan
G 4 Webb, Spud 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) 133 lb (60 kg) –– North Carolina State
G 5 West, Doug (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) –– Villanova
G 4 Williams, Micheal  6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) –– Baylor
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Regular season

Season standings
Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-San Antonio Spurs5923.720–33–826–1519–5
x-Utah Jazz5527.671434–721–2014–10
x-Houston Rockets4834.5851127–1421–2015–9
Denver Nuggets3547.4272424–1711–3013–11
Minnesota Timberwolves2656.3173317–249–3210–14
Dallas Mavericks2656.3173316–2510–3110–14
Vancouver Grizzlies1567.1834410–315–363–21
Western Conference
# Team W L PCT GB GP
1 c-Seattle SuperSonics *6418.780–82
2 y-San Antonio Spurs *5923.720582
3 x-Utah Jazz5527.671982
4 x-Los Angeles Lakers5329.6461182
5 x-Houston Rockets4834.5851682
6 x-Portland Trail Blazers4438.5372082
7 x-Phoenix Suns4141.5002382
8 x-Sacramento Kings3943.4762582
9 Golden State Warriors3646.4392882
10 Denver Nuggets3547.4272982
11 Los Angeles Clippers2953.3543582
12 Minnesota Timberwolves2656.3173882
13 Dallas Mavericks2656.3173882
14 Vancouver Grizzlies1567.1834982

Record vs. opponents
1995-96 NBA Records
Team ATL BOS CHA CHI CLE DAL DEN DET GSW HOU IND LAC LAL MIA MIL MIN NJN NYK ORL PHI PHO POR SAC SAS SEA TOR UTA VAN WAS
Atlanta —4–03–10–43–11–11–12–21–11–11–32–00–22–22–21–14–02–12–22–10–22–02–00–20–24–01–12–01–3
Boston 0–4—2–20–31–30–21–12–10–21–10–42–00–23–13–12–02–20–41–34–01–10–22–00–20–23–10–21–12–2
Charlotte 1–32–2—1–33–12–02–01–30–20–21–31–12–02–23–11–10–33–00–43–12–01–11–10–20–23–11–12–03–1
Chicago 4–03–03–1—4–02–01–14–02–02–02–22–02–03–14–02–03–03–13–14–01–12–02–02–01–13–12–02–04–0
Cleveland 1–33–11–30–4—2–01–12–22–01–12–22–02–01–34–02–01–23–11–24–02–01–11–10–20–23–10–22–03–1
Dallas 1–12–00–20–20–2—2–20–22–21–30–22–20–40–21–10–41–10–21–10–21–30–42–22–22–21–11–34–00–2
Denver 1–11–10–21–11–12–2—1–12–21–30–21–32–20–21–14–00–21–11–12–03–10–40–40–41–32–03–13–11–1
Detroit 2–21–23–10–42–22–01–1—2–01–12–22–00–21–32–21–14–00–41–34–02–02–01–12–01–14–00–22–01–2
Golden State 1–12–02–00–20–22–22–20–2—2–21–13–11–31–11–13–12–00–20–22–01–31–31–31–30–41–11–34–01–1
Houston 1–11–12–00–21–13–13–11–12–2—2–04–03–10–22–02–22–00–20–22–03–12–22–21–30–42–02–24–01–1
Indiana 3–14–03–12–22–22–02–02–21–10–2—2–01–13–03–11–11–31–32–23–11–11–10–21–12–04–00–22–03–0
L.A. Clippers 0–20–21–10–20–22–23–10–21–30–40–2—0–41–11–13–11–11–10–22–03–12–22–21–30–40–21–33–11–1
L.A. Lakers 2–02–00–20–20–24–02–22–03–11–31–14–0—2–02–03–12–01–11–11–13–12–23–11–32–22–02–24–01–1
Miami 2–21–32–21–33–12–02–03–11–12–00–31–10–2—3–01–15–01–31–33–11–10–21–11–10–22–10–21–12–2
Milwaukee 2–21–31–30–40–41–11–12–21–10–21–31–10–20–3—1–11–32–21–32–10–22–00–21–10–22–20–21–11–3
Minnesota 1–10–21–10–20–24–00–41–11–32–21–11–31–31–11–1—1–10–20–21–11–30–43–11–30–41–11–32–20–2
New Jersey 0–42–23–00–32–11–12–00–40–20–23–11–10–20–53–11–1—2–20–42–20–21–11–10–20–22–20–22–02–2
New York 1–24–00–31–31–32–01–14–02–02–03–11–11–13–12–22–02–2—1–33–10–20–20–21–11–14–01–11–13–1
Orlando 2–23–14–01–32–11–11–13–12–02–02–22–01–13–13–12–04–03–1—4–02–01–11–11–11–12–11–12–04–0
Philadelphia 1–20–41–30–40–42–00–20–40–20–21–30–21–11–31–21–12–21–30–4—0–20–20–20–20–23–11–11–11–3
Phoenix 2–01–10–21–10–23–11–30–23–11–31–11–31–31–12–03–12–02–00–22–0—2–22–21–30–42–01–34–02–0
Portland 0–22–01–10–21–14–04–00–23–12–21–12–22–22–00–24–01–12–01–12–02–2—1–31–31–32–01–32–20–2
Sacramento 0–20–21–10–21–12–24–01–13–12–22–02–21–31–12–01–31–12–01–12–02–23–1—1–30–42–00–42–20–2
San Antonio 2–02–02–00–22–02–24–00–23–13–11–13–13–11–11–13–12–01–11–12–03–13–13–1—2–22–03–14–01–1
Seattle 2–02–02–01–12–02–23–11–14–04–00–24–02–22–02–04–02–01–11–12–04–03–14–02–2—1–13–13–11–1
Toronto 0–41–31–31–31–31–10–20–41–10–20–42–00–21–22–21–12–20–41–21–30–20–20–20–21–1—0–21–13–1
Utah 1–12–01–10–22–03–11–32–03–12–22–03–12–22–02–03–12–01–11–11–13–13–14–01–31–32–0—4–01–1
Vancouver 0–21–10–20–20–20–41–30–20–40–40–21–30–41–11–12–20–21–10–21–10–42–22–20–41–31–10–4—0–2
Washington 3–12–21–30–41–32–01–12–11–11–10–31–11–12–23–12–02–21–30–43–10–22–02–01–11–11–31–12–0—

Player statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Jerome Allen
Marques Bragg
Mark Davis
Kevin Garnett
Tom Gugliotta
Christian Laettner
Andrew Lang
Darrick Martin
Sam Mitchell
Terry Porter
Isaiah Rider
Eric Riley
Sean Rooks
Charles Smith
Spud Webb
Doug West
Micheal Williams

Awards and honors

References
  1. 1995-96 Minnesota Timberwolves
  2. "PRO BASKETBALL; Underclassmen Rule Atop N.B.A. Draft Board". New York Times. June 29, 1995. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  3. "Transactions". New York Times. October 15, 1995. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  4. "Laettner, Rooks traded to Hawks". UPI Archives. February 22, 1996. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  5. "1995–96 Minnesota Timberwolves Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  6. "1995–96 Minnesota Timberwolves Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  7. "Rider traded to Blazers for 2 players". UPI Archives. July 24, 1996. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  8. Kevin Garnett Statistics - Basketball-Reference.com
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