The 1989–90 NBA season was the Timberwolves' 1st season in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

. Nearly 30 years since the Lakers left for Los Angeles, the NBA returned to Minneapolis with an expansion team known as the "Minnesota Timberwolves". The Timberwolves, along with the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

, joined the NBA in 1989. The team revealed a new primary logo of a blue wolf with green eyes in front of a silver basketball, and added new uniforms with the color scheme of blue, green and silver. In the 1989 NBA Expansion Draft, the Timberwolves selected veteran players like

Rick Mahorn Derrick Allen Mahorn (born September 21, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player who played power forward and center for the Washington Bullets, Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, and the New Jersey Nets of the National Basket ...

Tyrone Corbin Tyrone Kennedy Corbin (born December 31, 1962) is an American former basketball player and assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets. He was first appointed the assistant coach of the Phoenix Suns, then was named the Utah Jazz’s head coach, on Fe ...

, Steve Johnson,

Brad Lohaus Bradley Allen Lohaus (born September 29, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Boston Celtics in the second round (45th pick overall) of the 1987 NBA Draft. A 6'11" center-power forward from the Univer ...

and

Scott Roth Scott Edward Roth (born June 3, 1963) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Tasmania JackJumpers of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). Early life Roth was born in Cleveland, Oh ...

, and signed free agents

Tony Campbell Anthony Campbell (born May 7, 1962) is an American former professional National Basketball Association (NBA) player. Campbell played prep basketball at Teaneck High School in Teaneck, New Jersey, graduating in 1980. A 6'7" small forward out of O ...

Tod Murphy Tod James Murphy (born December 24, 1963) is an American college basketball coach and retired professional basketball player. Since 2009, Murphy has been the head coach at Gordon College, leading the Fighting Scots to two Commonwealth Coast Confe ...

Sidney Lowe Sidney Rochell Lowe (born January 21, 1960) is an American former basketball player and coach. He is currently an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lowe played college basketball and served ...

, and undrafted rookie forward Sam Mitchell. However, Mahorn never played for the T-Wolves, as he was traded to the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

. The Timberwolves received the tenth overall pick in the

1989 NBA draft The 1989 NBA draft took place on June 27, 1989, in New York City. Despite eight of the top ten picks being considered busts, including the first two picks Pervis Ellison and Danny Ferry, the draft produced many talented players such as Shawn K ...

, and selected point guard

Pooh Richardson Jerome "Pooh" Richardson Jr. (born May 14, 1966) is an American former basketball player who played 10 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected in the first round of the 1989 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, th ...

out of

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. The team also hired

Bill Musselman William Clifford Musselman (August 13, 1940 – May 5, 2000) was an American basketball coach in the NCAA, the ABA, the WBA, the CBA, and the NBA. He was known for his trademark intensity, once being quoted as saying, "Defeat is worse than death ...

as their first head coach. The T-Wolves made their debut on November 3, 1989, losing to the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

, 106–94 on the road. Five days later, they made their home debut at the

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called the Metrodome) was a domed sports stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League ...

, losing to the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

, 96–84. Just two nights later, the T-Wolves would finally get their first win, beating the

76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

at home in overtime, 125–118 on November 10. In January, the team traded Lohaus to the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

in exchange for

Randy Breuer Randall W. Breuer (born October 11, 1960) is a retired American professional basketball player who was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round (18th pick overall) of the 1983 NBA draft. A 7'3" center from the University of Minnesota, ...

. However, the Timberwolves struggled in their first season, posting two nine-game losing streaks, finishing sixth place in the Midwest Division with a 22–60 record. Campbell led the team in scoring averaging 23.2 points, contributing 5.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, and finishing in third place in Most Improved Player voting, while Corbin averaged 14.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game, and Mitchell provided the team with 12.7 points and 5.8 rebounds. In addition, Richardson contributed 11.4 points, 6.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and was selected the NBA All-Rookie First Team, while Murphy provided with 8.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, and Lowe contributed 2.3 points and 4.2 assists per game, only shooting just .319 in field-goal percentage. The team's primary logo and uniforms both remained in use until 1996.

Draft picks

Roster

NBA Expansion Draft

Prior to the

, the NBA held a coin toss between the Timberwolves and the other new expansion team, the

, to determine their order for the NBA Draft and the expansion draft. The Magic won the coin toss and chose to have the first pick in the expansion draft and pick 11th in the NBA Draft, while the Timberwolves picked second in the expansion draft and 10th in the NBA Draft. The previous season's expansion teams, the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

and

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

, were not involved in this year's expansion draft and did not lose any player.

Regular season

Standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

, - , * , 82 , , 81 , , 38.6 , , style="background:#000000;color:#01A951;", .457 , , style="background:#000000;color:#01A951;", .167 , , .787 , , 5.5 , , 2.6 , , 1.4 , , 0.4 , , style="background:#000000;color:#01A951;", 23.2 , - , , 82 , , style="background:#000000;color:#01A951;", 80 , , 36.7 , , .481 , , .000 , , .770 , , 7.4 , , 2.6 , , 2.1 , , 0.5 , , 14.7 , - , * , 80 , , 30 , , 30.2 , , .446 , , .000 , , .768 , , 5.8 , , 1.1 , , style="background:#000000;color:#01A951;", 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 12.7 , - , , 82 , , 48 , , 31.5 , , 461 , , .277 , , .589 , , 2.6 , , 6.8 , , 1.6 , , 0.3 , , 11.4 , - , , 51 , , 47 , , 26.0 , , .416 , , .000 , , .662 , , 5.7 , , 1.6 , , 0.6 , , 1.5 , , 10.2 , - , , 82 , , 59 , , 30.4 , , 471 , , .372 , , .709 , , 6.9 , , 1.3 , , 0.9 , , 0.7 , , 8.3 , - , , 28 , , 24 , , 21.1 , , .465 , , .063 , , .808 , , 3.9 , , 2.2 , , 0.5 , , 0.8 , , 7.5 , - , , style="background:#000000;color:#01A951;", 71 , , 3 , , 14.9 , , .397 , , .356 , , .696 , , 3.0 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .7 , , 9.0 , - , * , 66 , , 0 , , 11.3 , , .379 , , 346 , , .746 , , 1.6 , , 1.6 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 6.8 , - , , 73 , , style="background:#000000;color:#01A951;", 73 , , 11.3 , , .470 , , .417 , , .850 , , 2.1 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 5.9 , - , , 14 , , 0 , , 8.1 , , .469 , , .000 , , .557 , , 5.2 , , 1.5 , , .8 , , style="background:#000000;color:#01A951;", 2.0 , , 8.8 , - , , 52 , , 0 , , 7.3 , , .517 , , .000 , , .763 , , 3.0 , , .4 , , .3 , , .5 , , 5.5 , - , * , 80 , , 38 , , 21.8 , , .498 , , .000 , , .703 , , 5.2 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , .7 , , 11.7 , - , , 22 , , 0 , , 5.8 , , .468 , , .440 , , style="background:#000000;color:#01A951;", .883 , , 2.8 , , style="background:#000000;color:#01A951;", 5.4 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 11.8 , - , , 4 , , 0 , , 4.3 , , .402 , , .359 , , .733 , , 1.5 , , 3.0 , , .7 , , .1 , , 7.2 * – Stats with the Timberwolves.

Awards and honors

, NBA All-Rookie Team

Transactions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1989-90 Minnesota Timberwolves Season Minnesota Timberwolves seasons

Timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

Monnesota