Timberwolves Announce Five-Game 2012 Summer League Schedule

So the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder are set to play Game 2 of their highly anticipated and publicized on Thursday night. LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade vs. Russell Westbrook, and story line upon story line will dominate the basketball landscape for the next week-plus.

But when will we get to some basketball that Minnesotans actually care about?

If you're looking to get your Timberwolves basketball fix and are all mock-drafted out, there's a chance to see them in action sooner than you might think.

The Wolves are one of 24 teams that will be in Las Vegas next month for the NBA's annual Summer League contests. The amount of participating teams is a record for the league since its inception in 2004. Twenty-three NBA teams and a team consisting of D-League Select players will each play five games between July 13-22.

The Timberwolves have participated in the Summer League every year from 2006 to 2010 and have compiled an 11-14 all-time record. (There was no Summer League last year due to the NBA lockout.) The Summer League highlights the league's younger players and is the first chance to see the league's most recent draft picks in action. This year should be an especially good opportunity to see the newest batch of NBA rookies: 13 of the 14 teams drafting in the lottery later this month are slated to participate.

Here is the schedule for the Timberwolves according to their official site:

July 16: L.A. Clippers, COX Pavilion, 9:00 PM
July 17: Charlotte Bobcats, Thomas & Mack Center, 9:30 PM
July 19: Cleveland Cavaliers, COX Pavilion, 7:00 PM
July 21: NBDL Select team, COX Pavilion, 7:00 PM
July 22: Memphis Grizzlies, COX Pavilion, 7:00 PM

Ticketing information and the full rundown of teams playing in this year's Summer League are available on the NBA website here.

For more on the Minnesota Timberwolves, check out Canis Hoopus. You can also check out professional basketball news from around the league over at SB Nation’s NBA page.