-Joseph Horner

Answer: I don't think so.

I checked the Timberwolves' training camp roster and it includes 20 players. Ten of them are either centers or power forwards, including Calvin Booth, Brian Cardenal, Jason Collins, Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Mark Madsen, Nikola Pekovic, Chris Richard, Craig Smith and Araujo.

I admit that, not counting Jefferson, that is not the most imposing group of "bigs" in NBA history. But Love was a first-round draft pick while Booth, Cardenal, Collins, Madsen, Richard and Smith all have at least some NBA experience.

Because of all the competition, it looks to me like Araujo is fighting long odds to earn a place on the Timberwolves' roster, even if they decide to carry the NBA maximum of 15 players.

Araujo, of course, played at BYU for two years and with the Jazz for one.

After his senior season, his stock soared in the days leading up to the 2004 draft and he was taken by Toronto with the eighth pick in the first round. But he never got much of a chance to prove himself with the Raptors.

In his rookie season, Araujo averaged 3.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game. In 2005-06, he averaged 2.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11.6 minutes.

After only two seasons, Toronto management gave up on its one-time lottery pick and started shopping him around the league.

There was minimal interest, but in Utah, the Jazz were searching for a center to replace the recently-retired Greg Ostertag. So on June 8, 2006, they agreed to send 'tweener forward Kris Humphries and can't-play center Robert Whaley to the Raptors for Araujo.

In his only season with the Jazz, Araujo rarely got onto the court. He averaged 2.6 points and 2.4 rebounds in only 28 games.

In Utah's frontcourt, he played behind starters Memo Okur, Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko, as well as veteran Jarron Collins and surprising rookie Paul Millsap.

More than anyone, Millsap sealed Araujo's fate with the Jazz. A second-round pick, he played so well from the moment he arrived in training camp that Jerry Sloan was forced to use him as a member of his regular rotation.

Araujo became the odd-man out and, during a season when Okur, Boozer, Kirilenko, Collins and Millsap missed a combined total of 22 games, his chance to contribute (and establish himself in the NBA) was severely limited.

I will remember two things about Araujo's only season with the Jazz.

No. 1, Araujo's best game came in one of the Jazz's biggest games of the regular season. In January, Utah visited division rival Denver, which had just acquired Allen Iverson and, presumably, had made the bold move it needed to overtake the front-running Jazz in the Northwest Division.

I helped covered the game at the Pepsi Center and the Jazz were severely shorthanded because of injuries and foul trouble to Okur, Boozer and Kirilenko. Araujo stepped in, played over 30 minutes, nearly finished with a double-double and helped the Jazz win, 96-84.

My second memory of Araujo came courtesy of Sloan.

During an interview about him after that game, I asked Sloan about Araujo's play. I still remember him telling me that Araujo was one of the hardest-working players he had ever coached.

When I laughingly mentioned Karl Malone, whose work ethic remains legendary, Sloan didn't smile and said Araujo was in the Mailman's neighborhood when it came to a willingness to work.

I was impressed.

If I recall correctly, the Jazz wanted Araujo to come to camp before the 2006-07 season, but without any guarantees. So he signed a one-year, $500,000 contract with Spartak St. Petersburg in the Russian League.

This year, I'm guessing Araujo will end up going back and playing for Spartak or some other team in Europe. I can't see him sticking with the Timberwolves.