The 1994–95 Minnesota Timberwolves season was the sixth season for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the National Basketball Association.
Season summary
Off-season The Timberwolves received the fourth overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft, and selected small forward Donyell Marshall from the University of Connecticut. During the off-season, the team acquired Sean Rooks from the Dallas Mavericks, and signed free agents Winston Garland, and undrafted rookie point guard Darrick Martin in February. The team also hired Bill Blair as their new head coach.
Regular season Under Blair and with the addition of Marshall, Rooks and Garland, the Timberwolves continued to struggle losing 13 of their first 14 games of the regular season, including a seven-game losing streak, as Micheal Williams suffered a season-ending left heel injury after only just one game. In December, the team signed free agent Greg Foster, who was previously released by the Chicago Bulls. At mid-season, Marshall was traded to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Tom Gugliotta. The Timberwolves held an 11–36 record at the All-Star break, lost nine of their final ten games of the season, and finished in last place in the Midwest Division with a 21–61 record, setting a dubious record in becoming the first team ever to lose 60 or more games in four consecutive seasons. The team missed the NBA playoffs for the sixth consecutive year.
Second-year star Isaiah Rider led the Timberwolves with 20.4 points per game and 139 three-point field goals, while Christian Laettner averaged 16.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, and Gugliotta provided the team with 14.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game in 31 games after the trade. In addition, Doug West contributed 12.9 points per game, while Rooks provided with 10.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, and Martin contributed 7.5 points and 3.9 assists per game in 34 games. Meanwhile, Garland provided with 6.1 points and 4.4 assists per game, as the team's starting point guard in Williams' absence, Stacey King averaged 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, Chris Smith contributed 5.0 points per game, and Foster provided with 4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, Rider participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest for the second consecutive year, while before the mid-season trade, Marshall was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the White team. The Timberwolves finished 21st in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 603,518 at the Target Center during the regular season.
Aftermath Following the season, Martin signed as a free agent with the Vancouver Grizzlies expansion team, while Foster signed with the Utah Jazz, and Garland, King, Smith and Mike Brown were all released to free agency.
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 4 Donyell Marshall SF/PF Connecticut 2 30 Howard Eisley PG Boston College
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot
Game log Regular season
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | November 5, 19947:00p.m. CST | Houston | L 85–115 | Rider (18) | Marshall (7) | Smith (4) | Target Center16,578 | 0–2
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 35 | January 16, 19957:00p.m. CST | Houston | W 94–75 | Rider (24) | West (11) | Garland, West (6) | Target Center12,442 | 8–27 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 41 | January 28, 19957:30p.m. CST | @ Houston | L 93–114 | Eisley, Laettner (14) | Laettner (8) | Eisley, Rider (4) | The Summit16,611 | 10–31
|- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb"
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 57 | March 3, 19957:00p.m. CST | Houston | W 108–105 | Gugliotta (21) | Laettner (8) | Gugliotta, Laettner (6) | Target Center17,068 | 16–41 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 64 | March 16, 19957:30p.m. CST | @ Houston | L 97–104 | Rooks (21) | Laettner (8) | Gugliotta, West (5) | The Summit10,711 | 17–47
Player statistics
Regular season PlayerC81 80 2,770 613 234 101 87 1,322 34.2 7.6 2.9 1.2 1.1 16.3C 80 70 2,405 486 97 29 71 868 30.1 6.1 1.2 .4 .9 10.9SG 75 67 2,645 249 245 69 23 1,532 35.3 3.3 3.3 .9 .3 20.4PG 73 58 1,931 168 318 71 13 448 26.5 2.3 4.4 1.0 .2 6.1SG 71 65 2,328 227 185 65 24 919 32.8 3.2 2.6 .9 .3 12.9SG 64 17 1,073 73 146 32 22 320 16.8 1.1 2.3 .5 .3 5.0†PF 61 0 845 205 23 13 20 281 13.9 3.4 .4 .2 .3 4.6SF 59 2 852 94 53 36 32 302 14.4 1.6 .9 .6 .5 5.1PF 50 10 792 165 26 24 20 266 15.8 3.3 .5 .5 .4 5.3†SF 40 8 1,036 196 57 25 50 431 25.9 4.9 1.4 .6 1.3 10.8PG 34 9 803 64 133 34 0 254 23.6 1.9 3.9 1.0 .0 7.5†PG 34 4 496 42 77 18 5 113 14.6 1.2 2.3 .5 .1 3.3†SF 31 17 1,018 222 139 61 28 445 32.8 7.2 4.5 2.0 .9 14.4C 27 0 213 45 10 7 0 35 7.9 1.7 .4 .3 .0 1.3PF 21 2 239 67 8 8 6 94 11.4 3.2 .4 .4 .3 4.5PF 17 0 167 45 10 8 1 45 9.8 2.6 .6 .5 .1 2.6SG 11 0 139 11 16 6 0 45 12.6 1.0 1.5 .5 .0 4.1PG 1 1 28 1 3 2 0 6 28.0 1.0 3.0 2.0 .0 6.0
See also 1994-95 NBA season
References