The Minnesota Timberwolves' best chance of reaching the Finals with Kevin Garnett came in 2004, but Sam Cassell injured his hip before the start of the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers defeated the Wolves and played the Detroit Pistons in the Finals.

"All the time," said Flip Saunders about Cassell's injury. "It was his hip. He made a shot out of the corner against Sacramento in Game 7 [of the conference semifinals], and he did his little Big Balls dance, and from that, he created a little avulsion fracture in his hip. No question, I think about that dance all the time. But that’s the NBA. I went to four straight conference finals in Minnesota and Detroit, and we had injury issues in each one. The team that wins the title is usually the healthiest team."

Kevin Garnett will start at power forward for the Minnesota Timberwolves to begin the 15-16 season.

"He’s gonna start," said Flip Saunders. "That’s who he is. KG is a starter. He’s the best power forward on our team, actually. No one rebounds better. He’s the best help defender. No one communicates better. He knows the offense, and he can pass it."

The Wolves also have Karl-Anthony Towns, Nikola Pekovic and Gorgui Dieng in their frontcourt rotation.

Flip Saunders was entirely prepared to keep Kevin Love as he entered free agency in 2015 until the Cleveland Cavaliers approached the Minnesota Timberwolves with the Andrew Wiggins' trade.

"I didn’t have a problem keeping Kevin into the final year of his deal and coaching him," said Saunders. "Guys just don’t turn down the extra year and $30 million. Even though he maybe wanted to leave, I thought we still had an opportunity to re-sign him. When you are patient, you can say, “This is what we need to get something done, and if we don’t get it, we’re keeping him.”

Then things kind of fell into place, with LeBron going to Cleveland and [Andrew] Wiggins becoming available. That’s when you can say 'lucky'."

Love had an uneven first season with the Cavaliers, but he decided to re-sign on a five-year deal.

"No, it wasn’t (bluster)," said Saunders. "People thought it was. Thoughts might have changed when I announced I would coach. Because what coach wouldn’t want to coach a guy who was All-NBA? Coaches want to win that night. I’m in a unique situation, because as the coach, I live in the present, but as the GM, I look into the future. I try to steer both courses. But people believed I would coach the guy."

Andre Miller has reached agreement with the Minnesota Timberwolves on a deal, league sources told RealGM.

Miller finished last season with the Sacramento Kings where he averaged 5.7 points and 4.7 assists in 20.7 minutes per game.

Miller is entering his 17th season in the NBA and turned 39 in March.

Karl Anthony-Towns maintained a 4.0 GPA in his spring semester even while Kentucky reached the Final Four.

"I take everything very serious," Towns said during an appearance at the Dick's Sporting Goods' Sports Matter panel Tuesday. "For me, making sure that I had great grades at Kentucky was a very key component of my freshman year. It's going to be every year. Just wanted to make sure I could play and be the best I could be, especially in the classroom, and I'm glad I came out with a 4.0 GPA."

Towns graduated from St. Joseph High School in Metuchen with a 3.96 GPA.

The Indiana Pacers have acquired forward Chase Budinger from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Damjan Rudez.

Budinger, 6-7, 218, has six seasons of NBA experience. He was originally drafted by Detroit in the second round (44th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft. He was traded on draft night to Houston where he played three seasons before being traded to Minnesota in 2012. He has averaged 8.5 points per game in his NBA career.

Rudez played one season with the Pacers after signing as a free agent last July. The 29-year-old Rudez had previously played professionally in Europe. He played in 68 games, starting twice, and averaged 4.8 points per game.

“We’re very glad to have Chase,” said Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird. “He’s a guy we think will fit in our rotation. He can shoot and drive to the basket, which works with how we want to play. Damjan was a special guy. He was great to have as part of our team. He will be missed by all.”

Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to a new two-year deal. 

Garnett returned to the Wolves in February in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets for Thaddeus Young.

"I'm incredibly excited and rejuvenated to be a part of this talented, committed team," said Garnett.