When Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau was bringing in the final players to round out the roster going into his first training camp with the Wolves, he had a certain mold of a player in mind.

It’s not a coincidence that both point guard John Lucas III and forward Rasual Butler both spent time with Thibodeau during their careers.

Lucas played with the Rockets from 2005-2007 when Thibodeau was an assistant for Jeff Van Gundy. He also played for the Bulls from 2010-12 when Thibodeau was head coach.

Butler, on the other hand, spent a half season with the Bulls in 2011, a season in which the Bulls advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.

“I’ve had a relationship with him,” Butler said on what attracted him to Minnesota after Wednesday’s practice. “One of my favorite coaches to play for. He’s a winner and I believe he can turn this organization in a hurry.”

Butler, 37, is a guy who has grinded out a very successful NBA career. He has been in the league every year since 2002 besides the 2012-13 season. In 46 games for the Spurs last season, he averaged 2.7 points per game.

Most importantly for Thibodeau, it's that Butler knows how to play the right way and is a good teammate.

“He’s had a great career. He’ll make training camp good. He knows how to execute; he can shoot the ball,” Thibodeau said. “You always feel like you can never have enough shooting. I think he compliments our best players very well. He knows when to shoot, he knows when to pass. Those things are important. Playing smart is important.”

Butler is a career 36.2 3-point shooter, something the Wolves could use heading into the 2016-17 season.

Lucas, on the other hand, did not play last season, but his best season came under Thibodeau during the 2011-12 season, when he averaged a career-high 7.5 points per game.

With both players having played for Thibodeau at one point, some of the players who weren’t quite familiar with what Thibodeau was asking of them or what kind of scheme they should be in, asked for advice from the vets. Lucas was impressed by the improvements that were made in the first two practices.

“They’re buying into it already,” Lucas said. “Like today was so much better. Yesterday was great, but today, so much better… They’re buying in and getting mad at themselves when they’re not doing it right and they’re recognizing it.”

These two bring plenty to the table in terms of play. Butler can shoot and Lucas is a gritty point guard. But they also have tons of value in teaching the rest of the team the ways of Thibodeau.

Muhammad looking to improve defensively

Timberwolves wing Shabazz Muhammad said his main focus this offseason was improving his defense and that’s carried over into training camp. And that’s certainly no surprise with a coach like Thibodeau.

“That’s the main thing, about defense,” Muhammad said. “It’s crazy. I feel like I’ve already gotten way smarter on defense, just the things coach is explaining to us and attention to detail and his defensive schemes. I feel like we’re getting them pretty quick.”

Muhammad said that he’s watched plays defensively from last season where he knew he wasn’t doing something exactly right. Thibodeau has faith that the fourth-year player can improve on those mistakes and become one of the team's better defenders.

“The first step is to know what you have to do,” Thibodeau said. “He’s done a good job with that… He’s a terrific athlete. He’s strong. There’s no reason why he can’t be a great defender.”

Thibodeau also hinted that we could see Muhammad at the two, three and four this season. He likes guys to be versatile.

Quick hits

Shooting guard Zach LaVine said his time with the US Select Team this summer really helped him out. Thibodeau, who was an assistant coach for Team USA, helped LaVine out even though the two were going up against each other in most of the practices: “He was coaching me up,” LaVine said. “… Whenever we practiced against them or played against them, he’ll be telling me little things to do, this and that. Kind of joking with me, so it was really good.”