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Last Season: 31-51 (Finished 12th in the Western Conference)
Prediction: 42-40
Key Losses: PG Luke Ridnour
Notable Free Agent Signings: PF Ronny Turiaf, SF Corey Brewer, SF Shabazz Muhammed (signed after being picked in the 2013 NBA draft), SG Kevin Martin, and C Nikola Pekovic (re-signed).
The Minnesota Timberwolves have a very interesting, talented, and injury-prone roster. They had potential to go far last season, but injuries to stars Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love prevented them from doing so.
As far as anyone knows, everyone on the Timberwolves roster will be entering training camp at full health, which means the Timberwolves are the wildcard for the upcoming season. They could make a deep run in the playoffs, or they could fail to play in the postseason altogether.
I really liked all the moves that the Timberwolves made this offseason; they improved their team defence and secured a dependable scorer in Kevin Martin while re-signing talented big man Nikola Pekovic. Without losing any players of major significance, the Timberwolves will enter the 2014 season with a much-improved roster.
What we are looking at is a core of Pekovic, Love, and Rubio. Nikola Pekovic emerged last year as the perfect complement to all-star power forward Kevin Love. A brick wall on defence, Pekovic is also an excellent rebounder at close to nine boards a game.
Pekovic was Minnesota’s go-to scorer after the team was decimated by injuries last season, and he has proved he is no slouch on the offensive end either, averaging a career high of 16.3 points per game.
While his overall numbers are expected to slightly dip with the return of Love, Pekovic will anchor Minnesota on the defensive end this upcoming campaign and prove to be an invaluable asset to the Timberwolves (if giving him a $60 million contract doesn’t prove that the ‘Wolves know that already).
The health of Love and Ricky Rubio is the key to Minnesota’s success this year. When healthy, Love is a rebounding machine. Just a couple of seasons ago, Love was averaging around 15 rebounds per game. That’s fifteen. Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum weren’t averaging anything close to that.
Love has a soft touch around the rim and a deadly one beyond the arc. However, the hand injury he suffered last season forced him to miss 65% of the shots he took so it remains to be seen if he was able to rehabilitate it properly this past offseason.
Ricky Rubio
On the other hand (pun intended), Rubio has improved steadily since his entrance into the league. His ACL recovery hampered him last season, but he is still one of the, if not most, creative passers in the league. His court vision is phenomenal, and he always seems to fool the defence with his nifty passes. He needs to work on his defence and bulk up a little, but there are high expectations for the Spaniard coming into the 2014 season.
The addition of Kevin Martin should help one of the league’s worst offensive teams. Ranked 20th in points per game (95.7), Martin is a pure scorer. Although his ability to draw fouls has waned, Martin can easily drop 20 points a game.
He’s an excellent outside shooter and finishes wonderfully at the rim. His defence is below league-average, but his offensive capabilities far outweigh any defensive lapses he brings onto the court.
The arrival of Ronny Turiaf and Corey Brewer, on the other hand, should shore up Minnesota’s defence. They were right at league average on points allowed (98.1) last season, but Turiaf and Brewer should do well to lower that number.
Brewer is a great perimeter defender and fast break “leaker” (meaning he starts running down the court after an opposing player shoots the shot regardless of who gets the rebound).
He is, however, a glorified shot chucker. Brewer left the Denver Nuggets to mixed reactions. Some fans thanked their lucky stars that Brewer wasn’t going to suit up as a Nugget next season solely because he misses so many threes (he shot 29% from beyond the arc while taking close to four threes a game).
However, as Minnesota runs a much slower-paced offence than Denver did, I think Brewer’s shot attempts will go down and he will be used more as a defensive stopper.
Turiaf’s value is completely on the defensive end. Don’t expect many points from Turiaf on a nightly basis, but expect excellent rim protection. Turiaf is a great shot blocker and enthusiastic teammate. He’ll fill the role on every bench as the overly enthusiastic clown that jumps up and down every time the ‘Wolves make a great play.
Overall, I’m excited to watch Minnesota play in October. With Rubio at the helm, the Timberwolves will be a well-oiled offensive machine that plays solid defence. I have them going slightly over .500, but it wouldn’t be surprising at all if they put up a better record.
With big leapers in Derrick Williams, Chase Budinger, and Chris Johnson, prepare to see the ‘Wolves featured on the Top Plays of the Night channel regularly as well.
