Minnesota Timberwolves NBA Preview

Roster and Coaching Staff Overview

Key Additions: Thaddeus Young, Mo Williams, Anthony Bennett
Key Departures: Kevin Love, Dante Cunningham, Alexey Shved, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, A.J. Price, Othyus Jeffers
Rookie Class: Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Glenn Robinson III

Head Coach: Flip Saunders (638-526 career record (.548%) as head coach, first year with Timberwolves, coached Minnesota to 411-326 record (.558%) from 1996 to 2005)

Legendary coach Rick Adelman is gone after mutually parting ways with the Timberwolves after a frustrating and disappointing three-season stint as the head man on the bench.

Back is the winningest coach in Wolves history, Flip Saunders. He’s beginning his second year in charge of basketball operations after returning to Minnesota, but this will be his first year on the bench since being fired mid-season by the 2011-12 Washington Wizards, and first with the Wolves since being canned during the 2004-05 campaign.

David Adelman is the only holdover from his father’s staff, as the other assistants were all allowed to seek employment elsewhere after Rick’s retirement. Saunders brought in a host of old friends in Sidney Lowe, Sam Mitchell, and his son, Ryan Saunders. It’s a staff featuring two former head coaches (and Timberwolves players) in Lowe and Mitchell, and two coaches’ sons in Adelman and Saunders.

The core f the roster remains largely unchanged, outside of the obvious departure of Kevin Love. Six of the top-eight in minutes played for last year’s team are back: Rubio, Corey Brewer, Kevin Martin, Nikola Pekovic, J.J. Barea, and Gorgui Dieng. Throw in Budinger, who was injured much of the last two years but should play a lot in 2014-15, and there are a pretty clear top-seven rotation players that will hold similar roles under Saunders.

It looks like a lot of names have changed, but the main difference is that Love was replaced by Young, who is a solid starting power forward in his own right, and the rotation players are younger, more athletic, and hold a whole lot of promise.

Because of the loss of Love, the roster is obviously worse than a year ago. It’s shallow at the power forward spot, as Bennett was historically bad as a rookie number-one overall draft pick a year ago, and the only other potential fours are Robbie Hummel and Budinger as small-ball options.

The combo guard/point guard spot is a logjam, with Rubio and Martin slated to start and be backed up by Williams, LaVine, and Barea. Budinger, Wiggins, and Brewer also play the two-guard, so there are a ton of options for minutes at only two positions.

Depth on the wing is much better than what the Wolves have historically trotted onto the floor, as Wiggins should be able to hold his own immediately with his defensive ability. Budinger adds outside shooting, although that is the one trait that the Wolves will still need to shore up moving forward.