MINNEAPOLIS -- While Kevin Martin packed for a sojourn to Tampa, Fla., and Nikola Pekovic pondered where, when and whether he could make his annual All-Star weekend ice-fishing trip, four of the Timberwolves' veterans younger, greener teammates got up bright and early Thursday and hopped on a flight bound for LaGuardia Airport in New York City.
This weekend, Rising Stars Challenge entrees Andrew Wiggins, Shabazz Muhammad, Zach LaVine and Gorgui Dieng will endure a gauntlet of All-Star-related activities -- practices, media scrums, youth clinics, Friday's 8 p.m. game itself at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and so on -- that have their coach thankful the NBA extended its midseason respite to accommodate them and the rest of this weekend's centerpiece celebrities. They'll rub elbows with LeBron. KD. Dirk. 'Melo. Steph. Guys whose first names, initials or adopted monikers require no further elaboration.
And if all goes as planned, they'll come back next week salivating to fulfill the expectations placed upon them to star in a Twin Cities resurgence.
"You get a little taste of what it's like, and you hope what it does is it makes you thirsty for more," head coach and president Flip Saunders said. "What you hope to do now is not just be in a dunk contest or be in a rookie game, but to get into the regular game."
Said LaVine, who also will take part in Saturday's Slam Dunk Contest: "It's All-Star weekend, man. You've been looking at it since you were a little kid. I never in a thousand years think my first year I would be participating in it."
The latest rookie-sophomore clash will pit Wiggins and Dieng against their LaVine and Muhammad in a new USA vs. World format. Minnesota is the first team to send four players to the event, which began in 1994 as the "Rookie Challenge."
With the league moving to a weeklong break, the quarter will still get some time to rest between Sunday's All-Star Game and returning to practice Wednesday.
"This weekend is more fun," said Wiggins, the 2014 No. 1 overall pick who leads the league in minutes per game since Jan. 1 and is the odds-on favorite for rookie of the year. "Games here, it's fun, too, but also a lot more physical, competitive and stuff like that. This weekend, I'm looking forward to it."
Wiggins and his mates' credentials have been enhanced by a season that's seen veterans either injured -- Martin, Pekovic, Ricky Rubio -- or traded -- Corey Brewer, Mo Williams -- as Saunders seeks to rebuild. Wiggins leads all rookies in scoring, Muhammad is one of the league's most improved players, Dieng has become a rebounding and shot-blocking fiend, and LaVine shows occasional flashes of the upside that saw him picked 13th overall this past summer.
It's a nice compliment to the young core Saunders and general manager Milt Newton have built. Big-picture, it's a chance for its members to ramp up their personal expectations.
"That's my main goal," LaVine said. "I think you guys all know about my personality and my mindset, to be a very, very good young player. I definitely have aspirations for that."
All four of them do. In some ways, they're already there. But the success of an organization that now has six first-round draft picks from the past two years after trading for Adreian Payne on Tuesday is hinged upon this group's ability to germinate into stars.
And seeing so many of them this weekend can play a part in that process.
"I think that's definitely going to motivate me, going and seeing that and experiencing that," Muhammad said. "You always want to be in the game on Sunday.
"Now is a really big stepping stone for us."
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