To add veteran presence, the young Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to terms with point guard Andre Miller, according to Shams Charania of RealGM. The deal is for one year, worth the veteran’s minimum of $1.49 million.
The seasoned veteran will make the Timberwolves his eighth team in his 16-year career. Last season, Miller split time between the Washington Wizards and Sacramento Kings. He was traded to the Kings for Ramon Sessions at the deadline.
As a member of the Kings, the 39-year-old ironman played 30 games and averaged 5.7 points and 4.7 assists in 20.7 minutes per contest.
The Timberwolves could surely use his veteran leadership off the bench. Miller figures to play the same role as Kevin Garnett, an experienced player who could mentor the young studs on the team.
Miller will be the ideal backup for Ricky Rubio and Tyus Jones. Not only will he rub some of his knowledge on to those young guys, but he could sufficiently fill in for any of them in case of injury. Rubio has after all dealt with numerous injuries throughout his short career, including a severe ankle sprain last year and a torn ACL in his second year.
Miller, on the other hand, is currently the most durable player in the league. Out of 1296 possible games in his career, he has played in 1265 of them. To put that in perspective, Miller has played in 97.6 percent of games throughout his career and has missed just 31 games in 16 years, and some of those missed games were due to suspension.
The Timberwolves have created a foundation of young talent and are now mixing in a couple of veterans to their youthful core to maintain good balance. With the addition of 2015 number one overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns and veteran pieces in Garnett and Miller, Minnesota has established a competitive team for the upcoming season.