Eddie Griffin is ready to begin again as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, more than 18 months after the book seemed to close on his promising NBA career.

After serving a three-game league suspension for a drug conviction, Griffin should make his debut with the Timberwolves this week instead of watching them play on television. Coach Flip Saunders plans to rotate Griffin into the front court Tuesday when the Wolves play the Indiana Pacers at the Target Center.

It would be Griffin's first regular-season game since April 16, 2003, when he finished his second year with the Houston Rockets. The personal demons that have haunted Griffin since college derailed his career, though, and now he finds himself at a crossroads in Minnesota.

"I'm definitely excited about it. This is what I worked hard for all summer, to get back to play in the NBA," Griffin said after practicing Sunday at the Target Center. "It definitely did a lot by making the team. But you've still got to prove that I'm going to get through the season, do the right thing on and off the court."

Rebounding and shot blocking are natural assets for Griffin, 6 feet 10 and 232 pounds. Discipline has been more elusive. The seventh overall draft pick out of Seton Hall in 2001 has been convicted of marijuana possession, was indicted for assault, jailed for violating curfew, and treated in the past year for alcohol dependency and depression.