Most of what qualify as roots in life -- home ownership, job seniority, friends and neighbors, a spouse, a child, a couple of dogs, community involvement, a longterm financial commitment from his bosses -- sneak up on a fella little by little, until one day he looks up and realizes, whoa, this really is home after all.

That's where Timberwolves swingman Wally Szczerbiak finds himself these days, more a part of things in Minnesota than ever before.

Then there is the basketball part, where Szczerbiak's place still is very much to be determined.

On the brink of his fifth NBA season, Szczerbiak already has played more games with the Wolves than Christian Laettner, logged more minutes than Tony Campbell and scored more points than Tom Gugliotta. He, his wife, Shannon, and their infant daughter, Annabella, are back in their downtown Minneapolis condo, with Szczerbiak's six-year, $63 million contract extension about to trigger for 2003-04.

This weekend, as a sign of the bond he's developing with the Twin Cities, Szczerbiak will host a two-day youth basketball camp at the Lindbergh Center in Hopkins. The event on Saturday and Sunday, limited to 300 players, will offer 100 scholarships to underprivileged applicants. A charity golf event and dinner today at Rush Creek Golf Club in Maple Grove precede the camp, with proceeds split between the Animal Humane Society and the Timberwolves Community Foundation.

"It's just a thing where kids can come out, meet me, and we'll work on some drills," Szczerbiak said Thursday morning, after playing in an informal scrimmage at Target Center with a few Wolves players (Troy Hudson, Mark Madsen, Fred Hoiberg) and a few Wolves hopefuls.

"It's a way to give back, now that I'm going to be here longterm," he said. "Now that I've signed a big contract, I wanted to do some things to benefit good causes."