Minnesota Timberwolves 2014-15 Season Preview: Roster Check, Record Prediction
For the first time since the Kevin Garnett era, Minnesota Timberwolves fans finally have something to be excited about.
Kevin Love may have gone to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the Wolves received a promising future in return. This team has a young core filled with potential: Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Gorgui Dieng and many others.
But enough talk about the future, let's dig into the present.
What Should the Timberwolves Do with Their Highly-Paid Veterans?
Not everything is sunshine and rainbows in Minnesota. They may be stacked for the future, but right now the Wolves are filled with overpaid and aging veterans.
J.J. Barea and Kevin Martin are both decent players, but they have not lived up to their paychecks.
The best move for Flip Saunders would be to trade Martin and Barea for future draft picks.
Unfortunately, there is not much demand in the NBA for two aging players who are under high-paying contracts. According to ESPN, Barea and Martin are owed $4,687,000 and $6,500,000, respectively, in the upcoming season.
The Wolves are stacked with young guards who will probably get less playing time because of these two overpaid veterans. Players like LaVine, Ricky Rubio, Shabazz Muhammad and Andrew Wiggins would benefit from Barea and Martin leaving Minnesota.
Another veteran under a heavy contract is Nikola Pekovic. The 28-year-old power forward is currently in the prime of his career (he recorded a 20.7 Player Efficiency Rating in 2013), but the Wolves aren't built to win now. They need to plan for the future.
Pekovic would be a fairly easy piece to move, due to his age and efficient scoring ability, but getting rid of Barea and Martin will be a much tougher task.
Best Five:
Ricky Rubio, Kevin Martin, Andrew Wiggins, Thaddeus Young, Nikola Pekovic.
It was hard to choose Martin and Pekovic over Corey Brewer and Gorgui Dieng, but this team can't all be athleticism and defense—they'll need a few players who can score in a half-court offense.
Martin and Pekovic aren't nearly as athletic as their young counterparts, but these veterans know how to slow down the game and score efficiently. Also, the Wolves need someone to shoot consistently from long range, and that's Martin's forte.
Rubio is an obvious choice as the point guard, considering he has been ranked in the top 10 in assists per game for every year of his three-year NBA career, per ESPN.
The biggest change to this year's roster will be Young taking the spot that belonged to Love for the past six years. Young won't be able to score as often or as efficiently as Love, but he's more athletic and much better defensively.
Young is slightly undersized as a power forward, but he is usually able to compensate with his lateral quickness. Last season, he averaged an impressive 2.1 steals per game, which was also a career high.
Andrew Wiggins' Rookie Year
Wiggins may be the most hyped prospect since LeBron James, but at only 19 years old, how effective can he be as a rookie?
He's still raw offensively, but his lockdown defense and freakish athletic ability (as seen in the GIF below) will allow him to make an immediate impact.
Wiggins played solidly in the NBA summer league, averaging 15.5 points, 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, according NBA.com.
He also made noise this summer when he and fellow teammate LaVine participated in a Twitter dunk contest:
"challenge accepted @ZachLaVine. @tdot_ennis now I challenge you. https://t.co/18PDzF56bO #hoopsrookie
— andrew wiggins (@22wiggins) August 3, 2014"
If Wiggins can contribute on defense while continuing to improve offensively, he will have a great chance to win the Rookie of the Year Award.
Biggest Disappointment: Zach LaVine
The Wolves are filled with young, unproven players, which means there's bound to be at least one prospect who underperforms. That player will most likely be Zach LaVine.
LaVine can shoot from beyond the arc, and might be the best athlete from the 2014 NBA draft, but he is still years away from contributing to this team.
LaVine has struggled in both the NBA Summer League and in the NBA preseason.
According to NBA.com, this summer he shot 39.7 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from three-point range. He also averaged an ugly 3.33 turnovers per game.
His numbers this preseason are very similar. So far in October, he has shot 38.9 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from deep, per CBS.com.
LaVine has all the potential to be a future All-Star, but right now he's nothing more than a mere third-string guard.
When the Dust Settles...
The Timberwolves will be an exciting team to watch, but their lack of half-court offense will keep them from being above .500.
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders spoke optimistically about the Wolves' future:
"I think Minnesota could make the playoffs this year if things break their way. Orlando could win 40 games this year too… Not sure the 76ers or Bucks win 40 games combined in the next two years — I am joking of course. They are both in the early stages of a rebuild, so Wolves & Magic within five years… in seven or eight… Philly gets in the mix for me.
"
Unfortunately, this team only won 40 games last season—and now they've lost their best player, Love. The goal for the Wolves this year isn't to win games, their goal is to find out if their young prospects will pan out.
If this team has a losing record at the midpoint of the season, the Wolves will probably decide to dump a few of their aging players in order to create more playing time for LaVine, Muhammad and Dieng.
All in all, this team is still a few years away from potential success.
Predicted Record: 36-46
Predicted Western Conference Finish: 12th
All stats are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
Love the T-Wolves? Follow me on Twitter: @SupermanJZ
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