Wolves to call Greg Smith up from D-League

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota Timberwolves coach Sam Mitchell spoke frankly about the team's lack of frontcourt depth after a blowout loss in Dallas on Sunday.

Two days later, the Timberwolves gave their coach some help to ease some of the burden on young big men Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgu Dieng.

The Timberwolves plan to call up forward Greg Smith from Raptors 905 of the D-League for a 10-day contract, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the move has not been announced.

With Kevin Garnett, Nikola Pekovic and Nemanja Bjelica all injured, considerable playing time has fallen to Towns and Dieng, and they have been playing well together. But Adreian Payne has been inconsistent and Mitchell said he could tell his starters were worn out on the second night of a back-to-back on Sunday.

Mitchell spoke after practice Tuesday about the need to reduce the chance for injury to Dieng, who has blossomed under Mitchell, and Towns, the front-runner for rookie of the year.

"Those back-to-backs are hard because those guys are playing a lot of minutes," Mitchell said before the agreement was reached with Smith. "They're giving up size and weight and banging. ... We put a lot on our bigs to help our basketball team. It's hard for them. But you have to do what you have to do."

The 6-foot-10 Smith played parts of three seasons with the Houston Rockets and played 42 games for the Dallas Mavericks last year. He has averaged 12.4 points in 16 games for Raptors 905.

With five games in eight nights starting Wednesday at home against Washington, Smith will get a chance right away to step in and play.