(My Sportsbook) - Given their selection order in the draft, it was hard for the Minnesota Timberwolves to make much of a splash. With the 26th overall pick, Minnesota selected forward Ndudi Ebi, a 6-9 high school senior. With such a low pick, the team's best bet was to search for a diamond in the rough. That is exactly what the Timberwolves hope they found.

Minnesota also had the 55th overall selection, and it used it on Rick Rickert, a 6-10 sophomore out of Minnesota.

The Timberwolves have been active tweaking their roster. Minnesota acquired guard Sam Cassell and center Ervin Johnson from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for forward Joe Smith and guard Anthony Peeler.

In 78 games this past season, the 34-year-old Cassell averaged 19.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists per outing. He recorded his first career triple- double on December 9 at Cleveland when he poured in a season-high 39 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out 10 assists.

The 10-year veteran has participated in 662 career regular-season contests with Houston, Phoenix, Dallas, New Jersey and Milwaukee and has averaged 15.9 points, 3.3 boards and 6.1 assists per game. Cassell captured NBA titles with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995, his first two seasons in the league.

Johnson, 35, averaged just 2.2 points and 4.3 rebounds over 69 games with the Bucks in 2002-03. The 10-year veteran has also spent time with Seattle and Denver and has career averages of 4.6 points and 6.7 boards per contest.

But the Timberwolves weren't done, and in fact they were right in the middle of the summer's first blockbuster deal.

A six-player deal involving four NBA teams, and players Latrell Sprewell, Glenn Robinson and Keith Van Horn, became reality in late July.

The Philadelphia 76ers acquired Robinson, a forward, from the Atlanta Hawks and center Marc Jackson from the Timberwolves, who obtained Sprewell from the New York Knicks. Meanwhile, the Sixers shipped the 6-foot-10 Van Horn to New York, while the Hawks received guard Terrell Brandon from the Timberwolves.

Philly also dealt the rights to forward Randy Holcomb, a future-protected first-round draft pick and an undisclosed amount of cash to Atlanta. Additionally, the Sixers regained their own 2006 second-round pick from Atlanta originally dealt to the Hawks as part of a draft-night deal in 2002.

Robinson was acquired by Atlanta from Milwaukee on August 2, 2002 in exchange for Toni Kukoc, Leon Smith and a 2003 first-round draft choice. Last season, he led the Hawks in scoring with a 20.8 points-per-game average and also pulled down 6.6 boards per outing over 69 games.

The 30-year-old Robinson spent his first eight NBA campaigns with the Bucks and has career averages of 21.1 points and 6.2 rebounds in 637 games.

Sprewell spent the last five seasons with the Knicks after being obtained via a trade with Golden State in January of 1999. The Warriors received John Starks, Chris Mills and Terry Cummings in that deal.

"Latrell gives us a very athletic swing player, something that we have said since the end of last season that we needed," Timberwolves vice president of basketball operations and general manager Kevin McHale said. "He will give us a tremendous defensive effort every time he steps on the court."

In 2002-03, the 32-year-old Sprewell played in 74 contests for New York and averaged 16.4 points, 4.5 assists and 3.9 boards per game. The 11-year veteran has averaged 19.1 points, 4.3 assists and 4.2 rebounds over 751 career contests.

Van Horn, 27, came to Philadelphia in the summer of 2002 along with center Todd MacCulloch from New Jersey in exchange for center Dikembe Mutombo.

Last season, Van Horn appeared in 74 games for the 76ers and posted averages of 15.9 points and 7.1 boards per outing. He spent his first five NBA campaigns with the Nets and has career averages of 17.7 points and 7.5 rebounds over 388 games.

Jackson is a Philadelphia-area product who played his high school basketball in the city before spending two years at Temple University. The 6-foot-10 center has averages of 7.6 points and 4.4 rebounds in 164 career games with the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota.

Brandon, 33, was forced to sit out the 2002-03 season because of injuries. He was also limited to just 32 games during the 2001-02 campaign for Minnesota and averaged 12.4 points and 8.3 assists per contest. He underwent arthroscopic surgery in February, 2002 to repair a cartilage fracture on the surface of his left femur.

The deal provides Atlanta with some immediate salary cap room to pursue other possibilities, creating long-term flexibility for the team.

"We feel strongly that we need to make some fundamental changes to our team and this will enable us to do just that," Hawks director of basketball operations and interim general manager Billy Knight said. "Whether it's the rest of this summer or next season, we will now have more options than we would've had had we not pursued this opportunity."

Brandon has also spent time with Cleveland and Milwaukee during his NBA career and has averaged 13.8 points and 6.1 assists over 724 contests.