Andrew Kasmarek, Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler are getting you ready for the NBA season. The previews feature all sorts of information to get you ready for the start of the season.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have never reached the NBA Finals in their 24 years of being a team in the National Basketball Association. They've been a bit of a laughing stock, mainly due to the decisions made by former president of basketball operations, David Kahn, from the moment he was hired in 2009 until he was let go just a few months ago.
They've brought former Timberwolves head coach, Flip Saunders, to right the ship in the Twin Cities. Fans in Minnesota are hoping that Saunders' NBA experience and winning pedigree will help with the process of building around stars Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love.
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| Love in action. |
The X-Factor: The health of Kevin Love - Last year, the Wolves took a flyer on the comeback attempt from the prematurely retired Brandon Roy and they looked to nearly be a lock to sneak into the postseason, assuming Love continued his great play from the 2011-2012 season. That didn't happen because Love broke his hand early in the year, tried to come back too soon and then re-fractured his hand on January 3rd and didn't play the rest of the year. If he can stay healthy, he's got the ability, along with Rubio to make this team competitive each night.
The Big Question: Can/Will Derrick Williams shake the "bust" label? - The T-Pups made Williams the second overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Since then, he hasn't done much to prove why they did so. The Wolves are hoping he can become that third star but he hasn't found his groove in the NBA. Many wonder if he's one of those "tweener" guys that are too big to stay with NBA small forwards and too small to guard NBA power forwards. He improved statistically in nearly every category. If he can make yet another leap and build on some of that promise he showed toward the end of last year, the Wolves could have a growing Big 3.
Key Additions: G/F Corey Brewer, G Kevin Martin - The Wolves made a pretty generous contract offer to Kevin Martin in the offseason and he'll be their starting shooting guard, whom Rubio might thrive next to. Brewer is the quintessential three and D man that is a solid role player for a team that has two established stars.
Key Departures: PG Luke Ridnour, C Greg Stiemsma - These are a stretch as "key" departures but they are also nice complimentary players that know their role and can contribute off the bench.
Wolves Draft: G/F Shabazz Muhammed, C Gorgui Dieng, G Lorenzo Brown, C Bojan Dubljevic - The Wolves were not looking to draft a point guard in the 2013 NBA Draft but that's the hand they were dealt and took the best player available in PG Trey Burke. They then traded him to the Utah Jazz for a picks #14 and #21, who turned out to be Muhammed and Dieng. Muhammed was the best player in the country coming out of high school. As a certain one and done guy, he did nothing to maintain his near-lock to be the #1 overall pick in the draft and slid all the way to #14. Dieng will probably be a solid backup/fringe starting center in the NBA for years. Brown will also have value as a backup to Rubio this year. If nothing else, he can look from one of the best.
Prediction: The Wolves are an interesting team because of Love and Rubio but I'm not sure they have enough to get into the postseason in a loaded Western Conference. I see them finish third in the Northwest in a dream season but most likely will battle with Utah for last in the division.
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