Timberwolves re-sign 'Mad Dog'

Updated: August 9, 2005, 5:10 PM ET
Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Timberwolves bolstered their bench on Tuesday, signing forwards Mark Madsen and Nikoloz Tskitishvili.

Madsen, a free agent who had spent the two previous seasons in Minnesota, signed a five-year contract. The terms of Tskitishvili's deal were not disclosed.

Madsen agreed to terms with the Timberwolves in July, but a deal couldn't be announced officially until Aug. 1. He carved a niche on the team with his tireless effort and boundless energy.

"Mark brings so much more to a team than just statistics," Timberwolves vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale said. "First and foremost, he brings energy, and a tremendous work ethic. Plus, he is a good teammate and a great guy to have in the locker room."

Madsen, 6-foot-9 and 245 pounds, is recovering from surgery in March to repair a ruptured ligament in his shooting wrist.

Madsen spent his first three NBA seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers after a standout career at Stanford. He averaged 2.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 14.7 minutes last season, appearing in only 41 games. A broken thumb sidelined him about six weeks and then the ruptured ligament kept him out the rest of the season.

"We really missed Mark when he was hurt," McHale said. "All of his intangibles are off the charts."

While the Timberwolves were adamant about wanting to re-sign Madsen for most of the offseason, McHale said the 7-foot Tskitishvili caught them by surprise.

Tskitishvili spent his first two-and-a-half seasons in the league with Denver before finishing last year with Golden State.

He averaged just 3.0 points and 1.8 rebounds in his NBA career, but impressed the Timberwolves at their summer camp before being injured.

"He was very, very hungry," McHale said. "I was very impressed with his desire not just to return to Europe and play, but to play in the NBA."

Tskitishvili turned heads with 25 points, including four 3-pointers, and 10 rebounds in 17 minutes against the Milwaukee Bucks. But he broke his right hand in the second game against New York and missed the remainder of the league.

"I thought the kid had tremendous, tremendous upside," McHale said. "He has very quick feet and he picked up things very quickly."

The Timberwolves aren't done yet.

McHale said the team is still in discussions with "a number of free agents." One of those figures to be forward Eddie Griffin, who enjoyed a solid season with the team last year.

"We have a list of things we're trying to accomplish," McHale said. "We're moving down the list."

Whatever happens, McHale said he is confident that missing the playoffs last season was a fluke.

"We're definitely a playoff team," McHale said. "We found unique and beautiful ways to lose games last year. I'm very confident things will be different this year."

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Jon Krawczynski can be reached at jkrawczynski(at)ap.org.


Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press

This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index

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