NBA: Where do the Timberwolves go from here?
By Eric Saar
The Minnesota Timberwolves no longer have a superstar. With the blockbuster trade that sent Kevin Love to Cleveland, the Wolves no longer have that dominant player to win games for them.
What they have is potential. But potential is just that… potential. Nothing is for certain. The last two number one overall picks Anthony Bennett (2013) and Andrew Wiggins (2014), along with the hyper-athletic Zach LaVine have the skills to be good in the NBA. We just don’t know for sure.
The Starters
The Timberwolves lost by far their best player in the trade, but gained some depth on the bench.
The starting lineup, as of right now, would be Ricky Rubio (PG), Kevin Martin (SG), Corey Brewer (SF), Thaddeus Young (PF) and Nikola Pekovic (C).
There was so much hype around Rubio before he got drafted, and even in his first couple seasons, but his porous defense and lack of a consistent outside shot have certainly suppressed the hype. Martin and Brewer are average players with okay shot making and defense, but are much better served playing alongside a superstar so their role is consistent with their skill level and they aren’t asked to do too much.
Young is a pretty good player, who was stuck in Philadelphia as the best player, with practically no help. Now he’s sort of in the same situation, but with a better supporting cast. Pekovic is one big guy. He dominates the paint, grabs rebounds and puts the ball in the basket, but his upside is limited.
The Bench
Headlining the bench is Andrew Wiggins, a freakishly athletic player with the upside of a LeBron James or a Kevin Durant. His shot has to become more consistent, but he has all the tools to become an all-time great. Only time will tell.
Also in the second and third string lineups are young guys Anthony Bennett, Zach LaVine, Gorgui Dieng, and Shabazz Muhammad and Glenn Robinson III, surrounded by veterans Mo Williams, Ronny Turiaf, J.J. Barea, Chase Budinger and Robbie Hummel.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The Wolves really lost some scoring and rebounding with the departure of Love compared to Thaddeus Young, his replacement. As both players were the first option on offense for their respective teams, Love still averaged 26.1 to Young’s 17.9 points per game. What’s an even bigger discrepancy is the rebounding. Love was playing alongside a good rebounder in Pekovic and Love still had 12.5 rebounds compared to Young’s mediocre 6.0 boards per game.
Armed with this information, it seems to follow Minnesota’s ranking as the third-best scoring (106.9) and sixth-best rebounding (44.7) team is over. They’ll probably end up in the middle of the pack in those categories, which combined with their 26th best defense (points against) last year could make them a cellar-dweller this season. The only good thing for Minnesota is they’ll keep the ball moving as the fifth-best passing team with 24 assists per game, which will stay the same or go slightly up in 2014-15.
If Wiggins shows any flashes of amazing talent in the preseason or start of the regular season, he’ll vault into a starter –giving them more athleticism and defense.
Attitude
The Timberwolves aren’t contending for a championship anytime soon. They are aiming for smaller, more reasonable goals. They’re going to try to get better individually and as a team incrementally every day and hope they can score a superstar wherever they land in the draft lottery next summer.
They will get discouraged when, not if, they hit that seven to ten game losing streak in 2014-15, but they have to try and reclaim the winning attitude from the Kevin Garnett era.
Minnesota never made the playoffs during Love’s six-year tenure with the team. Love was still out of this world stat-wise, but as a team they could never get over the hump. Each and every player needs to keep their attitude about getting better with a winning mindset, maybe not for this year, but for the future if their careers. You can’t be a “give enough effort just to keep getting a paycheck” guy, because up to a certain point, if you aren’t getting better you could be getting worse.
Outlook
With only a few decent scorers and no great defensive players, the 2014-15 season looks pretty bleak for the Minnesota Timberwolves. At the very best, the Timberwolves are the tenth-best team in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. They are clearly behind the Spurs, Thunder, Clippers, Suns, Trailblazers, Warriors, Rockets and the Grizzlies. Then you can debate between the Lakers, Jazz, Kings, Pelicans and Nuggets who is better or worse than the Wolves. I would say the Kings, Pelicans and Nuggets will be better, making Minnesota the third-worst team out West.
Losing Kevin Love to Cleveland was a real hit to the trajectory of the team, but every team can always bounce back with proper management. You can always improve.