Kevin Martin still adjusting to pain and brace, not yet ready to return

One injured player at a time, Minnesota Timberwolves fans.

With injured center Nikola Pekovic having returned from injury Wednesday and injured point guard Ricky Rubio slowly on the mend, there was some hope the team would also get sidelined sharpshooter Kevin Martin back this week.

That no longer seems in the cards, with Martin saying Friday that he's not yet ready to play. Martin, who had wrist surgery in November, is still working to get comfortable with a brace on his shooting wrist and learning to play through some pain caused by the pins inserted in the wrist.

That means no Martin on Friday. His status for the remainder of the road trip, which wraps on Monday, is still unclear.

In nine games before the injury, the 31-year-old Martin was averaging 20.4 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 48.1 percent on 3-point attempts. If healthy, he's an intriguing piece on the trade market, even if the two years and $14.4 million owed to him beyond this season could be onerous for some teams.