Some wise guys in the Twin Cities have suggested that, in the end, the Timberwolves are better off for getting busted by the NBA in the Joe Smith salary-cap circumvention case last year.

The bottom line on the deal, they say, is that -- for the cost of a $3.5 million fine and four first-round draft picks who might not have panned out anyway -- the Wolves got out of the $86 million they offered Smith in the illegal contract. Instead, they got him for $34 million over six years and won't be obligated to hand out three-year guaranteed deals to those draft picks.