Every Wednesday, FOX Sports North's Phil Ervin tracks the progress of the Timberwolves' young core (players on the first or second year of their rookie contract).
NOTE: With the season winding down, this will be the last 2014-15 edition of the Tracker.
ANDREW WIGGINS (age 20, first season)
Statistical averages, this week (season): 41.6 minutes (35.7), 23.8 points (16.2), 5.3 rebounds (4.4), 3.0 assists (1.9), 0.8 steals (1.1), 0.5 blocks (0.6), 44.4 FG% (43.6), 40.0 3PT% (32.5)
Advanced stats, season: 13.40 player efficiency rating (based on 15.0 league average), 51.2 true shooting percentage (accounting for free throws and 3-pointers), 20.6 usage rate (possessions used per 40 minutes)
Quote: "There's no question that he's rookie of the year. Anyone that throws anything else out, they're dreaming. " -- Timberwolves coach and president Flip Saunders
Noted: Some numbers to substantiate Saunders' claim (which appears necessarily stated only because it's the season's dog days and some pundits have foolishly scraped the bottom of the analytics barrel to try and make an argument for the Nerlens Noels and Eflrid Paytons out there): Wiggins leads all rookies in scoring (16.2 points per game), fifth in rebounding (4.4), eighth in assists (1.9) and fourth in steals (1.1). Payton is the only other rookie in the top eight in those four major categories, but he hasn't gotten there with the esoteric aplomb Wiggins has. The latter also leads the entire league in minutes played since the beginning of December.
Oh, and he also does this.
ZACH LAVINE (age 20, first season)
Statistical averages, this week (season): 42.8 minutes (23.0), 16.8 points (8.8), 4.5 rebounds (2.4), 5.0 assists (3.2), 0.5 steals (0.7), 0.3 blocks (0.1), 32.8 FG% (41.1), 26.3 3PT% (34.6)
Advanced stats, season: 10.02 player efficiency rating (based on 15.0 league average), 50.3 true shooting percentage (accounting for free throws and 3-pointers), 21.2 usage rate (possessions used per 40 minutes)
Quote: "You have to fight it out. You have seven people going to war with you. That's your crew. You've got to make sure you protect them, try not to get anybody in foul trouble, just don't do anything wrong." -- LaVine on playing so shorthanded
Noted: With him starting at shooting guard alongside Lorenzo Brown lately, it appears LaVine's most suitable position remains the two -- even after a rookie season's-worth of Saunders trying to turn him into a combo guard. LaVine's facilitation has improved, but only slightly. His defense needs work, too. With the offseason approaching, he continues to look like more of a slashing swingman than a floor general.
GORGUI DIENG (age 25, second season)
Statistical averages, this week* (season): 26.7 minutes (30.0), 9.3 points (9.7), 6.0 rebounds (8.4), 1.7 assists (2.0), 0.7 steals (1.0), 2.0 blocks (1.7), 61.1 FG% (50.6), 0.0 3PT% (16.7)
Advanced stats, season: 17.28 player efficiency rating (based on 15.0 league average), 57.3 true shooting percentage (accounting for free throws and 3-pointers), 14.4 usage rate (possessions used per 40 minutes)
Quote: "Just confirm that I can play in this league. I think there is a lot of doubting. I just need to keep improving and at the end of the season I'll see with the coaches, ask them what they think I need to work on, and I will talk to my agent. We just going to work as a team. I think I've got a chance to get better. Hopefully I can be a great basketball player in this league." -- Dieng on the next step of his career
Noted: After taking a hit to the head Sunday at New Orleans, Dieng missed Monday's game against Utah with concussion-like symptoms. Even so, he's been one of Minnesota's most durable players; Monday marked the first game he's missed all season, and only Wiggins has played in more contests.
*Dieng played in only three games the past week because of his head injury.
ADREIAN PAYNE (age 24, first season)
Statistical averages, this week (season): 30.0 minutes (22.6), 8.3 points (7.0), 5.0 rebounds (5.6), 1.8 assists (0.8), 0.8 steals (0.6), 0.0 blocks (0.2), 39.5 FG% (41.3), 0.0 3PT% (12.5)
Advanced stats, season: 9.68 player efficiency rating (based on 15.0 league average), 44.7 true shooting percentage (accounting for free throws and 3-pointers), 16.6 usage rate (possessions used per 40 minutes)
Quote: "Tough games. It was winning time. It's the best part of the season. Atmosphere, excitement of the games, that's what you live for. It's really fun. The crowd is amazing. ... Everybody's watching." -- Payne, a Michigan State product, on March Madness
Noted: Payne's past two games offer the perfect microcosm of his limited NBA action to date. Sunday at New Orleans, the rookie shot 50 percent from the floor and had a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double. The next day against the Jazz, he went 0-for-7 with zero points and five rebounds.
ANTHONY BENNETT (age 22, second season)
Statistical averages, this week (season): 9.0 minutes (15.6), 3.5 points (5.1), 0.5 rebounds (3.7), 1.5 assists (0.8), 0.5 steals (0.4), 0.0 blocks (0.3), 33.3 FG% (41.6), 50.0 3PT% (31.6)
Advanced stats, season: 11.13 player efficiency rating (based on 15.0 league average), 45.4 true shooting percentage (accounting for free throws and 3-pointers), 16.5 usage rate (possessions used per 40 minutes)
Quote: ""He's not ready yet. ... He hasn't been able to run, he hasn't run for six weeks. He started really running in the last week, so he's not really conditioned." -- Saunders on Bennett
Noted: Bennett returns to the Tracker after an 18-game hiatus because of a sprained right ankle. As Saunders alluded to, though, he's far from 100 percent and might not be by the end of the season. All in all, Bennett -- the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 draft -- has been only marginally better than he was during a highly disappointing rookie campaign in Cleveland.
*Bennett played in just two games this past week after returning from his injury.
Did not play due to injury
SHABAZZ MUHAMMAD (age 22, second season)
Muhammad is done for the season after undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured ligament in his left middle finger.
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