1989–90 Minnesota Timberwolves season

The 1989–90 NBA season was the Timberwolves' first season in the National Basketball Association.^[1] Nearly 30 years after the Lakers left Minneapolis for Los Angeles, California, the NBA returned to Minnesota with an expansion team known as the "Timberwolves"; the Orlando Magic also joined the NBA in 1989 via expansion.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The team revealed their inaugural logo of a blue wolf with green eyes in front of a silver basketball,^[7] and new uniforms with the color scheme of blue, green, white, and silver.^[8][9]

1989–90 Minnesota Timberwolves season
Head coach	Bill Musselman
Owners	Harvey Ratner Marv Wolfenson
Arena	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Results
Record	22–60 (.268)
Place	Division: 6th (Midwest) Conference: 13th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	KSTP-TV/KITN-TV (Kevin Harlan, Len Elmore, Tom Hanneman)
Radio	WDGY (Kevin Harlan, Dave Shea)
1990–91 >

In the 1989 NBA Expansion Draft, the Timberwolves selected veteran players like Rick Mahorn, Tyrone Corbin, Steve Johnson, Brad Lohaus and Scott Roth.^{[10][11][12][13][14]} The team also signed free agents Tony Campbell, who won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1988 NBA Finals,^[15][16][17] and rookie forward Sam Mitchell out of Mercer University; Mitchell was drafted by the Houston Rockets as a third-round draft pick in the 1985 NBA draft, but was released to free agency during the preseason, and previously played overseas in France and in the Continental Basketball Association.^[18][19][20] Other free agents included Tod Murphy, who previously played overseas in Spain, and Sidney Lowe.^[21][22] However, Mahorn never played for the T-Wolves due to a contract dispute, and was later on traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.^{[23][24][25][26]} The Timberwolves received the tenth overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft, and selected point guard Pooh Richardson out of UCLA.^{[27][28][29][30]} The team hired Bill Musselman as their first ever head coach.^[31][32]

The Timberwolves made their regular season debut on November 3, 1989, losing to the Seattle SuperSonics on the road, 106–94.^[33][34] Five days later, they made their home debut at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, losing to the Chicago Bulls, 96–84.^[35] Just two nights later, the T-Wolves would get their first win, defeating the 76ers in overtime, 125–118, on November 10.^[36][37][38] At mid-season, the team traded Lohaus to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Randy Breuer.^[39][40][41] The Timberwolves struggled in their first season, posting two nine-game losing streaks, and finishing sixth place in the Midwest Division with a 22–60 record.^[42]

Campbell led the team in scoring, averaging 23.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game, and finishing in third place in Most Improved Player voting,^[43] 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 per game. In addition, Richardson contributed 11.4 points, 6.8 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, and was named to 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.^[44]

The team's inaugural logo and uniforms both remained in use until 1996.

Draft picks

Main article: 1989 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	10	Pooh Richardson	PG	United States	UCLA
2	34	Gary Leonard	C	United States	Missouri
2	38	Doug West	SG	United States	Villanova

Roster

1989–90 Minnesota Timberwolves roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From C 45 Breuer, Randy 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1960–10–11 Minnesota G/F 19 Campbell, Tony 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1962–05–07 Ohio State G/F 23 Corbin, Tyrone 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1962–12–31 DePaul C 52 Leonard, Gary 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1967–02–16 Missouri G 35 Lowe, Sidney 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1960–01–21 NC State F 42 Mitchell, Sam 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1963–09–02 Mercer C 4 Murphy, Tod 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1963–12–24 UC Irvine G 24 Richardson, Pooh 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1966–05–14 UCLA F 3 Roth, Scott 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 212 lb (96 kg) 1963–06–03 Wisconsin F 15 Royal, Donald 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1966–05–22 Notre Dame F/C 2 Sellers, Brad 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1962–12–17 Ohio State G/F 5 West, Doug 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1967–05–27 Villanova

Head coach Bill Musselman Assistant coach(es) Tom Thibodeau Bob Zuffelato Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

NBA expansion draft

Main article: 1989 NBA expansion draft

Prior to the 1989 NBA draft, the NBA held a coin toss between the Timberwolves and the other new expansion team, the Orlando Magic, 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 and Miami Heat, were not involved in this year's expansion draft and did not lose any player.

Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Previous Team
2	Rick Mahorn	F/C	United States	Detroit Pistons
4	Tyrone Corbin	G/F	United States	Phoenix Suns
6	Steve Johnson	F/C	United States	Portland Trail Blazers
8	Brad Lohaus	F/C	United States	Sacramento Kings
10	David Rivers	G	United States	Los Angeles Lakers
12	Mark Davis	G/F	United States	Milwaukee Bucks
14	Scott Roth	F	United States	San Antonio Spurs
16	Shelton Jones	F	United States	Philadelphia 76ers
18	Eric White	F	United States	Los Angeles Clippers
20	Maurice Martin	G/F	United States	Denver Nuggets
22	Gunther Behnke	C	West Germany	Cleveland Cavaliers

Regular season

Standings

Midwest Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-San Antonio Spurs	56	26	.683	–	34–7	22–19	19–9
x-Utah Jazz	55	27	.671	1	36–5	19–22	21–7
x-Dallas Mavericks	47	35	.573	9	30–11	17–24	17–11
x-Denver Nuggets	43	39	.524	13	28–13	15–26	15–13
x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	15	31–10	10–31	13–15
Minnesota Timberwolves	22	60	.268	34	17–24	5–36	6–22
Charlotte Hornets	19	63	.232	37	13–28	6–35	7–21

#	Western Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Los Angeles Lakers	63	19	.768	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	56	26	.683	7
3	x-Portland Trail Blazers	59	23	.720	4
4	x-Utah Jazz	55	27	.671	8
5	x-Phoenix Suns	54	28	.659	9
6	x-Dallas Mavericks	47	35	.573	16
7	x-Denver Nuggets	43	39	.524	20
8	x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	22
9	Seattle SuperSonics	41	41	.500	22
10	Golden State Warriors	37	45	.451	26
11	Los Angeles Clippers	30	52	.366	33
12	Sacramento Kings	23	59	.280	40
13	Minnesota Timberwolves	22	60	.268	41
14	Charlotte Hornets	19	63	.232	44

Record vs. opponents

1989–90 NBA records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHA	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	LAC	LAL	MIA	MIL	MIN	NJN	NYK	ORL	PHI	PHO	POR	SAC	SAS	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	–	1–3	2–0	0–5	2–3	0–2	1–1	3–2	2–0	2–0	2–3	1–1	0–2	4–0	3–2	1–1	2–2	1–3	5–0	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–2
Boston	3–1	–	2–0	2–2	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	2–0	1–3	1–1	0–2	5–0	2–2	1–1	5–1	4–1	4–0	3–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–3
Charlotte	0–2	0–2	–	0–2	1–1	1–3	3–2	0–2	2–2	1–4	1–1	2–2	0–4	1–1	0–2	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–3	0–4	1–3	0–5	0–4	0–5	0–2
Chicago	5–0	2–2	2–0	–	5–0	2–0	1–1	1–4	2–0	1–1	2–3	1–1	1–1	4–0	4–1	2–0	3–1	3–1	3–2	2–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–1
Cleveland	3–2	1–3	1–1	0–5	–	0–2	0–2	1–4	1–1	0–2	3–2	1–1	1–1	4–0	3–2	1–1	4–0	2–2	4–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–1
Dallas	2–0	1–1	3–1	0–2	2–0	–	2–3	1–1	3–1	4–1	2–0	3–1	0–4	2–0	1–1	4–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–3	0–4	3–1	3–2	2–2	1–3	1–1
Denver	1–1	1–1	2–3	1–1	2–0	3–2	–	0–2	2–2	4–1	0–2	2–2	0–4	2–0	1–1	5–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–3	2–2	4–0	1–3	2–2	0–4	1–1
Detroit	2–3	2–2	2–0	4–1	4–1	1–1	2–0	–	1–1	1–1	4–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	3–2	2–0	4–0	4–0	5–0	1–3	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–0
Golden State	0–2	1–1	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–3	2–2	1–1	–	2–2	1–1	3–1	1–4	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–5	2–2	3–2	1–3	2–3	2–2	1–1
Houston	0–2	0–2	4–1	1–1	2–0	1–4	1–4	1–1	2–2	–	1–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–2	1–3	4–0	2–2	2–2	3–2	1–1
Indiana	3–2	3–1	1–1	3–2	2–3	0–2	2–0	1–4	1–1	1–1	–	0–2	0–2	3–1	3–2	1–1	4–0	1–3	4–1	0–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–1
L.A. Clippers	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–3	2–2	1–1	1–3	2–2	2–0	–	1–4	0–2	1–1	3–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–4	0–5	2–3	0–4	3–2	0–4	1–1
L.A. Lakers	2–0	2–0	4–0	1–1	1–1	4–0	4–0	1–1	4–1	2–2	2–0	4–1	–	2–0	1–1	4–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–3	5–0	2–2	4–0	2–2	1–1
Miami	0–4	0–5	1–1	0–4	0–4	0–2	0–2	1–3	0–2	1–1	1–3	2–0	0–2	–	2–2	1–1	1–4	1–5	3–1	0–5	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–3
Milwaukee	2–3	2–2	2–0	1–4	2–3	1–1	1–1	2–3	1–1	1–1	2–3	1–1	1–1	2–2	–	2–0	4–0	2–2	5–0	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	3–1
Minnesota	1–1	1–1	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–4	0–5	0–2	1–3	2–2	1–1	1–3	0–4	1–1	0–2	–	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–4	1–3	2–2	1–4	1–3	0–5	1–1
New Jersey	2–2	1–5	1–1	1–3	0–4	0–2	0–2	0–4	0–2	1–1	0–4	0–2	0–2	4–1	0–4	1–1	–	1–4	1–3	1–4	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–3
New York	3–1	1–4	1–1	1–3	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–4	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–0	0–2	5–1	2–2	1–1	4–1	–	2–2	2–3	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	5–0
Orlando	0–5	0–4	1–1	2–3	1–4	0–2	0–2	0–5	0–2	0–2	1–4	0–2	1–1	1–3	0–5	1–1	3–1	2–2	–	2–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–4
Philadelphia	2–2	2–3	2–0	2–2	2–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–1	1–1	4–0	2–0	1–1	5–0	3–1	1–1	4–1	3–2	2–2	–	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	5–1
Phoenix	2–0	1–1	3–1	0–2	1–1	3–1	3–1	0–2	5–0	2–2	1–1	4–0	1–3	2–0	1–1	4–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	–	2–3	5–0	0–4	3–2	3–1	2–0
Portland	1–1	2–0	4–0	1–1	1–1	4–0	2–2	1–1	2–2	3–1	1–1	5–0	3–2	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	3–2	–	4–0	3–1	3–2	2–2	1–1
Sacramento	1–1	0–2	3–1	1–1	0–2	1–3	0–4	0–2	2–3	0–4	1–1	3–2	0–5	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–5	0–4	–	0–4	2–2	1–3	1–1
San Antonio	1–1	1–1	5–0	1–1	1–1	2–3	3–1	1–1	3–1	2–2	1–1	4–0	2–2	2–0	1–1	4–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–0	1–3	4–0	–	3–1	3–2	2–0
Seattle	1–1	0–2	4–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	3–2	2–2	1–1	2–3	0–4	2–0	0–2	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–3	2–3	2–2	1–3	–	1–3	2–0
Utah	1–1	1–1	5–0	2–0	1–1	3–1	4–0	1–1	2–2	2–3	1–1	4–0	2–2	1–1	2–0	5–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–3	2–2	3–1	2–3	3–1	–	2–0
Washington	2–2	3–2	2–0	1–3	1–3	1–1	1–1	0–4	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	3–2	1–3	1–1	3–2	0–5	4–0	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	—

Game log

Player statistics

Ragular season

Player	POS	GP	GS	MP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Tony Campbell	SG	82	81	3,164	451	213	111	31	1,903	38.6	5.5	2.6	1.4	.4	23.2
Tyrone Corbin	SF	82	80	3,011	604	216	175	41	1,203	36.7	7.4	2.6	2.1	.5	14.7
Tod Murphy	C	82	59	2,493	564	106	76	60	680	30.4	6.9	1.3	.9	.7	8.3
Pooh Richardson	PG	82	48	2,581	217	554	133	25	938	31.5	2.6	6.8	1.6	.3	11.4
Sidney Lowe	PG	80	38	1,744	163	337	73	4	187	21.8	2.0	4.2	.9	.1	2.3
Sam Mitchell	PF	80	30	2,414	462	89	66	54	1,012	30.2	5.8	1.1	.8	.7	12.7
Scott Roth	SF	71	3	1,061	112	115	51	6	486	14.9	1.6	1.6	.7	.1	6.8
Donald Royal	SF	66	0	746	137	43	32	8	387	11.3	2.1	.7	.5	.1	5.9
Doug West	SG	52	0	378	70	18	10	6	135	7.3	1.3	.3	.2	.1	2.6
Randy Breuer†	C	51	47	1,325	290	84	33	75	518	26.0	5.7	1.6	.6	1.5	10.2
Brad Lohaus†	PF	28	24	590	110	62	14	22	210	21.1	3.9	2.2	.5	.8	7.5
Gary Leonard	C	22	0	127	27	1	3	9	32	5.8	1.2	.0	.1	.4	1.5
Brad Sellers†	PF	14	0	113	19	1	6	3	47	8.1	1.4	.1	.4	.2	3.4
Adrian Branch	SF	11	0	91	20	4	6	0	65	8.3	1.8	.4	.5	.0	5.9
Steve Johnson†	C	4	0	17	3	1	0	0	0	4.3	.8	.3	.0	.0	.0

• ^† Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Timberwolves only.

Awards and honors

• Pooh Richardson, NBA All-Rookie Team

Transactions

References

1. 1989-90 Minnesota Timberwolves
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