FanHouse Kurt Rambis

MINNEAPOLIS -- A look of disbelief crosses Bill Laimbeer's face. After all, he spent years perfecting such expressions for NBA referees.

"I don't know what you're talking about,'' Laimbeer said when asked if he's teaching those on the young Minnesota Timberwolves to flop.

When it comes to flopping, Laimbeer made Manu Ginobili's moves today look rather amateurish. The former Detroit Pistons center was the all-time master.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Al Jefferson wasn't even born when the incident happened in 1984. But he's seen the old footage.

"The only thing I knew about Kurt (Rambis) from him playing is the highlight of Kevin McHale knocking him out,'' said the Minnesota forward.

Jonny Flynn wasn't born when Rambis won the last his four titles with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1988. But Flynn has seen the highlights as well.

"I remember he had the high socks, the thick glasses and the short shorts,'' said the Timberwolves point guard. "That was my first impressions about him. I said that when we first talked on the phone, and we got a good laugh about it.''

DENVER -- Big Al's health is no big concern.

At least that's the word from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Minnesota star center Al Jefferson missed Tuesday night's 129-100 preseason loss to Denver at the Pepsi Center. But Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis said the primary reason was Jefferson being under the weather rather than the sore left Achilles that kept him out of practice Monday.

"Yes, he would of if this was an important game,'' Rambis said when asked if Jefferson would have been able to play Tuesday had he not taken ill and been left at the team hotel in Denver.

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Things went from bad to worse for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, when Al Jefferson joined Kevin Love on the sidelines due to an injury. Jefferson sat out practice with a sore Achilles' tendon, which limited him to just six minutes during the second half of the team's preseason game against the Bucks on Saturday.

While Love's broken hand is expected to have him back in six to eight weeks, there's no timetable yet for Jefferson, and you can bet the team is going to be extremely cautious when it comes to green-lighting his return to the court.

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When new Minnesota GM David Kahn made a play for free agent point guard Ramon Sessions, there were two ways to look at it. On the surface, the Sessions deal (four years, $16 million) is a fair price for a solid young playmaker. Given how bad Minnesota's backcourt has been, Sessions can't hurt, right?

But Kahn famously selected two high-profile point guards within the top six picks of the June draft, Spaniard Ricky Rubio and Syracuse's Jonny Flynn. Rubio stayed in Barcelona, all while Kahn insisted the plan was for the pair to play together in Minnesota. When Kahn signed Sessions, the plan was to play him and Flynn together. The problem, which I noted at the time of the signing, is that neither Sessions nor Flynn has any business playing off-guard.

It seems Wolves coach Kurt Rambis has now arrived at the same conclusion.

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

For the Timberwolves, this year is likely going to go down as the year Ricky Rubio didn't come to Minnesota. The only way that's not going to be the case is if first-year coach Kurt Rambis can get his young and unproven team to overachieve and contend for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Like we said, this will end up being remembered as the year Rubio didn't come to Minnesota.

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Corey Brewer used to think of himself as a winner. He isn't so sure anymore.

Brewer, 23, will be going into his third season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, still trying to establish himself in the NBA and still struggling with the weight of losing game after game on a team going through a painful rebuilding process.

"This is a big year for me, for the team,'' he said earlier this week after a workout at the IMG Training Center in Bradenton. "This (transition) has been tough. I went from a team that didn't know how to lose -- we took losing real hard -- to a team where we just lose and you get used to it. Things have got to change.''

Bouncin' Around is NBA FanHouse's weekly insider notebook.

There is a good reason the Orlando Magic don't seem too concerned over losing Rashard Lewis for the first 10 games of the regular season because of his suspension for violating the NBA's Anti-Drug Agreement.

They won't need him.

Of those 10 games, only two will be against teams with a record last season that was better than .500. Yes, it would have been great to have your best shooter in the lineup for that one ESPN game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they could beat New Jersey and Oklahoma City with Dwight Howard and four Summer League players.

Even by the standard of patience required by unglamorous assistant coaches, Lakers bench jockey Kurt Rambis has waited a long time. We wonder why Tom Thibodeau can't get a head coaching job after decades learning the craft of defense, but T.T. just started interviewing for top jobs three years ago. Rambis has been trying to get a head coaching gig since 1998!

Finally, the Wolves have agreed to make Rambis their man, according to Don Seeholzer of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. The annual salary ($2 million) won't be much more than it was for the Kings gig he scorched away, but Rambis apparently has the security of four years. That mean $8 million guaranteed, versus the $3 million the Kings had been ready to offer.

Shortly after the Lakers' championship run, Phil Jackson admitted that he'd like to return to the sidelines for the final year of his contract but couldn't commit until doctors put him through a series of medical tests. He did so this week, and he was given the thumbs up.

"After consulting with Lakers team internist Dr. John Moe, I feel confident that I can gainfully pursue an NBA season with another long playoff postseason. All things point to go!" Jackson said in a statement posted on the Lakers official site.