Two huge parts of the Minnesota Timberwolves lineup are expected to arrive in town for the start of preseason camp, Olympic gold medalist Kevin Love and flashy guard Ricky Rubio.
Love will be in the Minneapolis-area in time for his basketball camp this week in Eden Prairie, and Rubio will be coming in from Vail, Colo., where he was undergoing rehabilitation for knee surgery in March. Rubio was cleared to run for the first time since that surgery.
The Timberwolves will rely heavily on contributions from these two players in 2012-2013.
Love, one of the premier big men in the NBA, has averaged double figures in points and rebounds in each of his first three seasons in the NBA. He scored 26 points and grabbed 13.3 rebounds a game last season, and his average minutes per game has gone up each year.
Rubio, from Spain, had his rookie season cut short last year, but he averaged 10.6 points and 8.2 assists per game for the Wolves.
For more on the Wolves, visit Canis Hoopus or stick with SB Nation Minnesota. For more news, notes and analysis from around basketball, head over to SB Nation's NBA news hub.