Timberwolves Announce 2016-17 Training Camp Roster

Minneapolis/St. Paul – The Minnesota Timberwolves today finalized the team’s 2016-17 Training Camp roster by signing forward Rasual Butler and guards John Lucas III and Toure’ Murry.

Butler, 37, has appeared in 809 games over his 13-year NBA career, averaging 7.5 points and 2.4 rebounds. In 2015-16, he played in 46 games for the San Antonio Spurs, averaging 2.7 points and 1.2 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per game. Butler, the 53rd overall selection in the 2002 NBA Draft by Miami, has played with the Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards and Spurs. Butler played six games under current Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Tom Thibodeau in Chicago during the 2010-11 NBA season.

In his eight-year NBA career, Lucas III, 33, has averaged 4.8 points, 1.5 assists and 12.3 minutes in 237 games. The 5-11 guard most recently played in the NBA with the Detroit Pistons in 2014-15, averaging 4.7 points and 2.9 assists in 21 games. Lucas has enjoyed NBA stints with the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz and Pistons. Lucas III played under Thibodeau from 2010-12 in Chicago. He is the son of former NBA player John Lucas Jr., who played 14 years in the NBA from 1976-90.

Murry, 26, has played in 56 games with three teams between two NBA seasons, including appearing in 51 contests with the Knicks in 2013-14 where he averaged 2.7 points. Originally undrafted in the 2012 NBA Draft out of Wichita State, the 6-5 guard spent 2015-16 in the NBA D-League, starting the season with the Texas Legends before being acquired in a trade by the Sioux Falls Skyforce late in the season. Murry played in 45 games between the two stops, averaging 11.5 points, 4.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 31.3 minutes per game. Murry played for the Timberwolves entry in the 2016 Summer League, averaging 6.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals in eight games.

Butler will wear No. 12, Lucas III will wear No. 11 and Murry will don No. 23.

2016-17 TIMBERWOLVES TRAINING CAMP ROSTER

NO	PLAYER	POS	HT	WT	BIRTHDATE	PRIOR TO NBA/FROM	YRS
45	Cole Aldrich	C	6-11	245	10/31/88	Kansas/USA	6
88	Nemanja Bjelica	F	6-10	234	05/09/88	Fenerbahce Ulker/Serbia	1
12	Rasual Butler	F	6-7	215	05/23/79	La Salle	13
5	Gorgui Dieng	C	6-11	233	01/18/90	Louisville/Sénégal	3
3	Kris Dunn	G	6-4	210	03/18/94	Providence/USA	R
27	Jordan Hill	C	6-10	245	07/27/87	Arizona/USA	7
1	Tyus Jones	G	6-1	190	05/10/96	Duke/USA	1
8	Zach LaVine	G	6-5	183	03/10/95	UCLA/USA	2
11	John Lucas III	G	5-11	165	11/21/82	Oklahoma State/USA	7
15	Shabazz Muhammad	F	6-6	227	11/13/92	UCLA/USA	3
23	Toure’ Murry	G	6-5	200	11/08/89	Wichita State/USA	2
33	Adreian Payne	F	6-10	240	02/19/91	Michigan State/USA	2
14	Nikola Pekovic	C	6-11	295	01/03/86	Panathinaikos/Montenegro	6
9	Ricky Rubio	G	6-4	192	10/21/90	FC Barcelona/Spain	5
4	Brandon Rush	F/G	6-6	220	07/07/85	Kansas/USA	8
32	Karl-Anthony Towns	F/C	6-11	250	11/15/95	Kentucky/USA	1
22	Andrew Wiggins	F	6-8	199	02/23/95	Kansas/Canada	2

HEAD COACH: Tom Thibodeau (Salem State)
ASSISTANT COACHES: Andy Greer (Brockport), Ryan Saunders (Minnesota), Rick Brunson (Temple)
HEAD ATHLETIC TRAINER: Gregg Farnam (St. Cloud State)

NUMERICAL ROSTER

1	Tyus Jones	11	John Lucas III	27	Jordan Hill
3	Kris Dunn	12	Rasual Butler	32	Karl-Anthony Towns
4	Brandon Rush	14	Nikola Pekovic	33	Adreian Payne
5	Gorgui Dieng	15	Shabazz Muhammad	45	Cole Aldrich
8	Zach LaVine	22	Andrew Wiggins	88	Nemanja Bjelica
9	Ricky Rubio	23	Toure’ Murry

PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

Nemanja Bjelica	nay-MON-yah bee-ELL-leets-zah
Rasual Butler	rah-sue-uhl
Gorgui Dieng	GOR-ghee Jeng
Zach LaVine	Luh-VEEN
Shabazz Muhammad	Shuh-BAHZ
Toure’ Murry	tu-RAY
Nikola Pekovic	NEE-koh-lah PEK-oh-vitch