I think we have an outside shooter. Maybe.

Over the past couple weeks, Wayne Ellington has made his presence felt in the Minnesota Timberwolves rotation, ripping the net for 10 three-pointers in seven games (up to 1/6/09). Finally, after half a season of erratic minutes, our late first-round pick is getting a chance to show what he can do.

Oh wait… never mind. His minutes are erratic again. Rambis dropped him down to 13 in Monday’s game (Granted, Brewer was pretty solid – 10-for-18 FG). Stink. Way to jerk around the rookie’s minutes in favor of Corey Brewer. I hate that move, because as a rule I hate any roster decision that favors Brewer over other scorers. In the games I’ve watched, it’s very clear that Ellington is smooth around the basket, can get his shot off, and wants to be a difference-maker in the lineup. Unfortunately, Rambis is too stuck on Brewer to give him a real opportunity. I suppose the only thing we can hope for is a continued effort to work Ramon Sessions and Ellington into the rotation for solid backup minutes.

The good news is that Ellington is up to 8.3 points a game in the month of January, which is by far his highest per-game total in a month thus far. Hopefully he’ll continue making a case for himself as we move forward.

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Just wanted to quickly respond to the rumors about possibly trading/moving Al Jefferson for a shooting guard or a center or something good. To be brief, it makes perfect sense to me. Kevin Love is establishing himself as an excellent power forward option… he shoots, passes and rebounds better than Big Al. Unfortunately, he’s not as refined a scorer at the moment, so that’s something to work on. And don’t get me wrong, Jefferson is one of my favorites. I love the up-fakes, the rebounding, and the increased confidence with which he’s shooting from 12-18 feet. All good stuff. I just don’t know if he’s different enough from Love to be on the roster. I’d love to get something like Chris Kaman and Craig Smith for Jefferson, but that just won’t happen because of the Blake Griffin thing. Like, how he plays for LAC and is the young power forward they need. Also, I’ve heard things like a possibility of Kevin Martin being swapped for Jefferson too. Martin would be awesome in a Wolves uniform, but isn’t really known for defense. Of course, he’s an elite scorer, so his flaws would probably be glossed over to some degree.

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Over the past eight games, Jonny Flynn’s assist-to-turnover rate has returned to disturbing levels. If you can believe it, he’s lost the ball 16 times compared to dropping just 26 dimes in an average of 29.1 minutes a game. Ramon Sessions, playing just 20 minutes a game, has committed 11 turnovers compared to 25 assists. Hopefully you see the horror here. If not, I’ll break it down.

When Sessions plays, he helps the team more because he’s more efficient and has better court vision. Flynn may be a more “dynamic” point guard, but with a guy like Sessions, you can win more because he’s looking to make other people better. I feel like a broken record.