<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> <div class="bi">Plan Includes New Deals</div> <div><span style="font-style: italic">Sep 28</span> - GM Jim Stack, who carefully monitors the salary cap, has crunched the numbers and said the team is projected to be more than $10 million under the cap next summer. Stack said the final numbers depend on variables he didn't want to divulge, but he projects the team will have a payroll in the $40 million-$45 million ballpark. That's a stark contrast to the team's reported payroll of more than $66 million last season, which was about a million in excess of the NBA's luxury tax threshold.</p> The Wolves' low payroll probably won't last long because they hope to sign forward Al Jefferson, the key to the Garnett trade, to a long-term extension. Jefferson could command a near-maximum contract after averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds in 2006-07, his third season in the league.</p> The Wolves also are expected to pursue a new deal with forward Craig Smith, who was a steal in the second round of the 2006 draft. -- <u><font color="#000000">St. Paul Pioneer Press</font></u></p></div></div>
