Timberwolves roster finalized

Just in case anybody but me was keeping track, the Timberwolves have cut their roster down to 15 players by agreeing to a buy-out with forward Juwan Howard (formerly of the University of Michigan Fab Five).  The Wolves traded for Howard earlier in the off-season with the belief that he'd give Kevin Garnett some help in the paint, and with KG off to Boston a 34-year old Howard didn't fit into their long-term plans and also really didn't want to play for a rebuilding team.  They gave up so little for him, two guys who'd done virtually nothing in Wolves uniforms, it's really no big loss, and I'm glad the Wolves cut Howard when they couldn't trade him to a contender like he requested.  Also unbeknownst to me, the Wolves told Wayne Simien not to bother reporting to the team, and despite rumors he would be re-traded five minutes after being acquired, Antoine Walker is still listed on the roster, so the final result of the Ricky Davis trade may be the Wolves get a draft pick, Walker to provide some scoring from both forward positions, and to swap back-up centers, Mark Blount for Michael Doleac.  Now they don't have too many high salaries (only Ratliff, Walker, Jaric, and Buckner make more than $3m), and plenty of playing time for the players with upside.

Likely starters (from what I'm hearing):
Theo Ratliff   C
Al Jefferson   F
Antoine Walker   F
Rashad McCants   SG
Randy Foye   PG

I like Ratliff, although he'll slip down the depth chart as he moves further into his mid-30's so that will be a potential hole in the roster in a couple years, and the team lacks a legitimate 7-footer.  Al Jefferson looks great, and Walker has been a great scorer in the past and Wittman claims he can play the 3, so that should be fun.  Our recent draft picks McCants and Foye certainly have potential, especially Foye, so we'll see in the next year what they can do in a team where most touches don't go through the MVP.  The potential weak spot is shooting guard, where McCants isn't the world's greatest defender, so he may not start and there are a lot of guys pushing for time at that spot.

Bench:
Michael Doleac  C
Mark Madsen  PF
Ryan Gomes  F
Craig Smith  PF
Corey Brewer  F
Chris Richard  F
Greg Buckner  GF
Marko Jaric  GF
Gerald Green  GF
Sebastian Telfair  PG

For big men offf the bench they'll have Michael Doleac at center, Mad Dog is the veteran hard man, a great defender and rebounder but not so great with the ball in his hands (although I have seen him score on Shaq), and Ryan Gomes looks like a great all around bundle of energy, I'm really impressed with him.  Craig Smith in his second year should continue to develop in the same mold as Madsen but adds a wicked offensive move to top it off, and Corey Brewer has this long frame and a lot of talent, but like KG ten years ago he needs time to bulk up to handle the NBA, and I don't know what our second round pick Chris Richard has to offer yet.  Greg Buckner and Marko Jaric are both swingmen, Buckner is supposed to be a defensive stopper while Jaric shows some flashes of brilliance as a creative player when he can pull his head out and can run the point depending on match-ups.  Sebastian Telfair actually looks like he might work out as a point guard to the point were Randy Wittman is claiming he may occasionally Foye at shooting guard with Telfair in the game.  That may not be a lot of depth at point guard, if Telfair isn't reliable and Jaric filling in can't handle speedy guards.  At the end of the bench, Gerald Green is another swingman with some scoring ability, but right now just looks lost on the court, and I assume second round pick Chris Richard is going to be coming to games in a suit this year.  In addition to Richard and Green, one more player is going to have to show up to the games in a suit rather than a uniform, and I believe Madsen is currently injured.  When he comes back, it will be interesting to find out who's considered superfluous.