NBA: Grading each team’s 2014-2015 season

C-. <p>No one was hit harder by injuries than the Wolves this season.</p> <p>Ricky Rubio (22 games), Kevin Martin (38 games), Shabazz Muhammad (38 games) and Nikola Pekovic (31 games) all had severe trouble staying on the floor, and given that Minnesota was in desperate need of available veteran talent, their absence was felt. Yes, the Wolves do have Andrew Wiggins, the presumptive Rookie of the Year on the roster, but no one can win without established talent in the NBA, and the Wolves simply don’t have much of it.</p> <p>Flip Saunders deserves unending credit for fleecing the Cavaliers out of the number one pick (Wiggins) in the Kevin Love trade, but there are real concerns about his ability as a head coach in 2015. Minnesota plays an old school style that doesn’t exactly fit around their young nucleus that includes Wiggins, Zach LaVine and (hopefully) Rubio, and it is fair to say that the Wolves probably have more talent than their 65 losses indicate.</p> <p>Being the worst team in the Western Conference isn’t a prize that any franchise desires, but an argument can be made that it was better for Minnesota to be <em>this</em> bad than to win 30 games given draft position. At any rate, expectations (or lack thereof) must be weighed, and the Wolves were supposed to be bad. Remember that.</p>. 5th. Northwest Division, Western Conference. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES