Timberwolves experience record week in ticket sales

Optimism in Minneapolis appears to be high as the completion of the long-rumored trade that sent Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers is working wonders for the Minnesota Timberwolves' box office.

Although the Timberwolves haven't made the playoffs in 10 seasons and lost an MVP-caliber player, fans are seemingly excited about the arrival of Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, and Thaddeus Young. The franchise has sold 300 full season-ticket packages in the last week, beating the previous record that was set in 2011 when Ricky Rubio announced he was heading to Minnesota from Spain.

"The organization, from president-level on down has just been re-energized," Timberwolves senior vice-president and chief revenue officer Ryan Tanke told ESPN. "Part of it is hope, and you have this great new hope.

"But then there's also the reality, which is it was a long, though summer. For it to come to the head that it came to and have it be the outcome that we had, I think it creates this perfect storm environment for us."

Throughout the chaotic summer that the Timberwolves have endured, the franchise had seen their season-ticket base drop from 7,400 to fewer than 6,000. But, as evidenced by the 500,000 page views and 200,000 visitors to timberwolves.com when their new players were unveiled at the Minnesota State Fair on Tuesday, there's a renewed deal of excitement entering the upcoming season.