With the Northwest Division part of my NBA 2009 Season Prediction Series coming to a close, I end this chapter with the Minnesota Timberwolves. First, a brief history of the team.
The Minnesota Timberwolves entered the league in 1989 as one of the NBA's four expansion teams, along with the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, and Charlotte Hornets. The Timberwolves haven't won any Conference or NBA Titles, but have won their division once, in 2004.
In the offseason following the 2006-07 season, the Timberwolves sent their lone franchise player, Kevin Garnett, to the Boston Celtics for five players. These included: injury prone center Theo Ratliff, upcoming power forward Al Jefferson, flashy youngsters Rashad McCants and Gerald Green, and point guard Sebastian Telfair.
Since the trade, Ratliff and Green are no longer on the team.
The franchise is currently in a rebuilding stage, looking to advance out of the bottom half of the Northwest Division. The previous two drafts for Minnesota have been considered successful.
In the 2007 Draft the T-Wolves selected Corey Brewer and Chris Richard from the NCAA Champion Florida Gators. In the 2008 Draft they selected UCLA freshman PF Kevin Love.
Here is my projected starting lineup for the 2008-09 Minnesota Timberwolves:
PG: Randy Foye
Note: With Garnett gone, Foye is in place to become the Timberwolves' franchise player alongside Al Jefferson. With time and patience, he can become the NBA's next huge point guard.
SG: Rashad McCants
Note: Not exactly the best shooting guard in the league, but that's what everyone said about Martell Webster, and he's progressing nicely.
SF: Mike Miller
Note: One of the few veterans on this very young team. He provides stability to this shaky roster.
PF: Al Jefferson
Note: Even though he played mostly center last year, Jefferson could not compete with Jarron Collins of Utah or Greg Oden of Portland. Jefferson is like a duplicate of Zach Randolph.
He may be the go-to-guy in the post at the moment for Minnesota, but Minnesota can definitely find someone better for the long haul.
Also, if you are wondering why I didn't put Kevin Love in here, it's because he is not fast enough to compete with the veteran big men of the NBA.
C. Jason Collins
Note: The only true center on this team. It will be very interesting watching double doses of Stanford brother vs. brother games, with the Collins brothers playing in the same division, and the Lopez brothers with New Jersey and Phoenix.
Here is my projected second team:
PG: Sebastian Telfair
Note: Never going to be anything but a backup point guard. All his talent and potential died in Portland when bad coaching staffs couldn't make players better.
SG: Kirk Snyder
SF: Corey Brewer
Note: Currently injured, this is why I put him on the second team. In a couple of years he will be starting.
PF: Kevin Love
Note: Kevin Love should have stayed at UCLA longer. He was good in college, but that success made him think way too highly of himself, and propelled him into the draft. I cannot wait for him to be a bust.
C: Michael Doleac
Note: Another of the few veterans on the team.
So now that we've looked at the roster, and I've made my projected starting lineups, I can get to the prediction section of my article. For the most part, I believe the Timberwolves are well on their way to finish rebuilding their franchise.
I believe that it would have been better for the team to not have traded OJ Mayo because of the lack of point guards on the team, but it is what it is. I still think the front office has more work to do before the team can really start taking shape.
For this season I predict that the Timberwolves will do slightly better than last year, but this team is not quite ready to be a playoff contender this year.
16 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Adam Bernert 10 months ago
the kevin garnett tade actually sent them all the players you said except rashad mccants. I assume you meant ryan gomes. and speaking of ryan gomes, how could you have left him out of this prediction? he averaged about 13 points and 6 rebounds for this squad last season; he's not there all-star but he's an integral peice.
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Cameron Jerde 10 months ago
yeah, mistake by me, thanks for catching it though
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John Smith 10 months ago
Why the negative on Al Jefferson ("Minnesota can definitely find someone better for the long haul") who averages 20/10? Is there anyone in the NBA with a better post game? Underdog
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Cameron Jerde 10 months ago
Jefferson only averaged those stats because he was the best player on their injury filled roster. Everyone said the same thing about Zach Randolph when he was really the only bright spot on the roster. It doesn't say too much when you are the best player when others are injured.
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Dave Winters 10 months ago
I would move Love to the first team. There is no way Jason Collins will be starting over the first round draft pick. I think a love and Jefferson front court will be extremely formidable in some years to come.
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Cameron Jerde 10 months ago
Jefferson cannot compete at Center against Oden, Kaman, Camby, Nene, Pryzbilla, Bynum, O'Neal, Stodamire, or pretty much any other center in the league. He is a true power forward. He may have had some brief success with the team last year, but he is not the long term guy at center.
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Andy Lund 10 months ago
Also, Michael Doleac and Kirk Snyder will not even be on the team next year. Do you know anything about this team or basketball in general?
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jeremy johnson 10 months ago
There are so many errors in this garbage, it's hillarious.
"Jefferson could not compete with Jarron Collins of Utah or Greg Oden of Portland."
You do realize that Greg Oden was so bad last year, that Nate wouldn't even let him touch the floor. He led the league in DNP-CD.
Hey, if you can re-write history, so can I.
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Cameron Jerde 10 months ago
How can you call Greg Oden bad?
He missed the entire season due to microfracture knee surgery. Also, look at what he did in his one year of college. He played very well, with a broken hand, most of the season.
Yes a broken hand is quite playable, a huge knee surgery, not so much.
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John Clayton 10 months ago
Cameron you do realize he knows his statement is false and said he can re-write history as you have done with some of your comments above.
Such as, "Jefferson could not compete with Jarron Collins of Utah or Greg Oden of Portland." The statement applies that Al Jefferson has played against Greg Oden, which he has not. Which makes it as though you are re-writing history. That is what he is trying to get across.
On the other note, I see you are trying to get a start into writing and analyzing. But do a little more work, anyone that states Al Jefferson did not perform well playing the 5 position when I believe him and 2 others had a 20+/10+ season will not seem credible in anyway. I do agree, he is more of a 4. But, so is Stoudemire and for a few seasons Amare played the 5 and they did quite well.
On another note, Garnett at times played the 3. His first two seasons he played a good amount of the 3 when Tom Gugliotta and Dean Garrett or any other horrible center Minnesota had at the time were on the court. My point with this comment is, Garnett still performed at an all-star level even though he was out of position. Jefferson is the same.
Lastly, your profile states you being a blazer fan. Please do not make assumptions that since you saw Zach Randolph play and since Al Jefferson has the same general low post game that they will end up the same. Our star, has passion which Zach Randolph seems to lack. That alone, will make the difference between Zach being a plague when he played for Portland and NY atm. Where as Jefferson is the cornerstone of our team.
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John Clayton 10 months ago
Cameron you do realize he knows his statement is false and said he can re-write history as you have done with some of your comments above.
Such as, "Jefferson could not compete with Jarron Collins of Utah or Greg Oden of Portland." The statement applies that Al Jefferson has played against Greg Oden, which he has not. Which makes it as though you are re-writing history. That is what he is trying to get across.
On the other note, I see you are trying to get a start into writing and analyzing. But do a little more work, anyone that states Al Jefferson did not perform well playing the 5 position when I believe him and 2 others had a 20+/10+ season will not seem credible in anyway. I do agree, he is more of a 4. But, so is Stoudemire and for a few seasons Amare played the 5 and they did quite well.
Garnett at times played the 3. His first two seasons he played a good amount of the 3 when Tom Gugliotta and Dean Garrett or any other horrible center Minnesota had at the time were on the court. My point with this comment is, Garnett still performed at an all-star level even though he was out of position. Jefferson is the same.
Lastly, your profile states you being a blazer fan. Please do not make assumptions that since you saw Zach Randolph play and since Al Jefferson has the same general low post game that they will end up the same. Our star, has passion which Zach Randolph seems to lack. That alone, will make the difference between Zach being a plague when he played for Portland and NY atm. Where as Jefferson is the cornerstone of our team.
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John Clayton 10 months ago
Sorry for the double post, server is acting up at work :P.
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nolan young 10 months ago
two players are not even on the team are in your rotation. have you ever watched a minnesota timberwolves before or were did you get your information just wondering
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Cameron Jerde 10 months ago
nba.com
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Paul Cleary 10 months ago
Brewer injured? News to me. Where is your source?
At this point I wouldn't consider drafting Brewer as a "success" as you put it. Around the league he has been touted as not yet reaching his potential, and in hindsight should not have been picked so high.
Along with the other mistakes people have mentioned, this article needs a do over.
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Cameron Jerde 10 months ago
on the roster on NBA.com there was an asterisk next to his name. when i seached for what it meant, it said that he was injured. idk
maybe i miss read it, but that what i thought it said
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