The 1993–94 Minnesota Timberwolves season was the fifth season for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the National Basketball Association. The city of Minneapolis, Minnesota hosted the NBA All-Star weekend at the Target Center this season, which featured the 1994 NBA All-Star Game.

Season summary

Off-season The Timberwolves received the fifth overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Isaiah Rider from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. During the off-season, the team acquired Mike Brown from the Utah Jazz.

Regular season Despite the addition of Rider and Brown, the Timberwolves continued to struggle losing their first five games of the regular season, then posted two seven-game losing streaks in December and February, holding a 14–32 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Luc Longley to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Stacey King. The Timberwolves posted an eight-game losing streak in March, and lost their final ten games of the season, finishing in fifth place in the Midwest Division with a 20–62 record; the team missed the NBA playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.

Second-year star Christian Laettner averaged 16.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.2 blocks per game, while Rider finished second on the team in scoring with 16.6 points per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, and Doug West provided the team with 14.7 points per game. In addition, Michael Williams contributed 13.7 points, 7.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game, while King averaged 11.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game in 18 games after the trade, and Chuck Person provided with 11.6 points per game, and led the Timberwolves with 100 three-point field goals. Meanwhile, Thurl Bailey contributed 7.4 points per game, second-year guard Chris Smith provided with 5.9 points and 3.5 assists per game, and Brown averaged 3.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Rider won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and was also selected for the inaugural NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Phenoms team. The Timberwolves finished ninth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 733,419 at the Target Center during the regular season.

Aftermath Following the season, Person signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs, while Bailey retired, and head coach Sidney Lowe was fired. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves were nearly sold to a group of investors that would have moved the team to New Orleans, Louisiana, despite the stellar attendance at the Target Center. However, the NBA Board of Governors vetoed the sale, and new owner Glen Taylor promised to keep the team in Minneapolis.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 5 Isaiah Rider SG Nevada-Las Vegas 2 29 Sherron Mills F Virginia Commonwealth

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Game log

Player statistics

Ragular season PlayerC82 40 1,921 447 72 51 29 299 23.4 5.5 .9 .6 .4 3.6PG 80 16 1,617 122 285 38 18 473 20.2 1.5 3.6 .5 .2 5.9SG 79 60 2,415 315 202 54 28 1,313 30.6 4.0 2.6 .7 .4 16.6PF 79 3 1,297 215 54 20 58 583 16.4 2.7 .7 .3 .7 7.4SF 77 37 2,029 253 185 45 12 894 26.4 3.3 2.4 .6 .2 11.6SG 72 61 2,182 231 172 65 24 1,056 30.3 3.2 2.4 .9 .3 14.7PG 71 66 2,206 221 512 118 24 971 31.1 3.1 7.2 1.7 .3 13.7PF 70 67 2,428 602 307 87 86 1,173 34.7 8.6 4.4 1.2 1.2 16.8SF 68 3 374 55 22 16 4 131 5.5 .8 .3 .2 .1 1.9PF 67 11 959 220 57 35 35 188 14.3 3.3 .9 .5 .5 2.8PF 55 2 626 199 10 16 33 248 11.4 3.6 .2 .3 .6 4.5†C 49 29 989 295 46 35 58 324 20.2 6.0 .9 .7 1.2 6.6†C 18 15 516 109 19 13 30 213 28.7 6.1 1.1 .7 1.7 11.8SG 17 0 92 27 16 5 0 38 5.4 1.6 .9 .3 .0 2.2C 5 0 33 16 2 0 1 15 6.6 3.2 .4 .0 .2 3.0PG 4 0 46 6 6 2 0 11 11.5 1.5 1.5 .5 .0 2.8

Awards and records Isaiah Rider, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

Transactions

Additions Player Signed Former team Brian Davis Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez

References