Canada’s biggest up-and-coming basketball star and one of the NBA’s most well known and marketable franchises will be coming to Winnipeg in October, sources told the Winnipeg Sun.

As part of the NBA Canada Series, Winnipeg will once again be included in the Association’s pre-season schedule. Sources have told the Sun MTS Centre will welcome Andrew Wiggins and the Minnesota Timberwolves for an Oct. 10 clash with the six-time NBA champion Chicago Bulls.

Wiggins, the 6-foot-8 forward from Vaughan, Ont., is the NBA’s reigning rookie of the year, and is considered Canada’s next great star.

The appearance of Wiggins, however, isn’t a sure thing given that teams often sit star players during the pre-season tune-ups. But the Timberwolves also have Canadian Anthony Bennett, a former No. 1 overall draft pick, all-star dunk contest winner Zach LaVine, plus the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft, which is expected to be either Duke’s Jahlil Okafor or Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns, both considered future stars.

In the Bulls, Winnipeg will get a perennial playoff contender — and one of sports’ most iconic brands — with legitimate star power in Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah. Who will be coaching the Bulls remains in the air after Chicago fired head coach Tom Thibodeau earlier this week.

It remains to be seen who among the stars will make the trip. In the NBA’s last visit to Winnipeg, in 2012, Minnesota was without all-star Kevin Love and point guard Ricky Rubio in its win over Detroit.

There were 12,000 fans in the building for that game in 2012, which marked the NBA’s return to the city for the first time since a Portland-Toronto game in 2007.

Details of the game are expected to be released on Monday, according to a source.

Scott Brown, a spokesman for True North Sports and Entertainment, said he could not comment when reached by the Sun on Saturday.

david.larkins@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @LarkinsWSun