Minnesota Timberwolves: Martell Webster and Wesley Johnson Evaluation

I want to make the Timberwolves fans very well aware of something. With the simple addition of Wesley Johnson and Martell Webster, they have almost made themselves twice as good as they were before.

Let's look at the wing players from last year's Timberwolves team.

Corey Brewer, Wayne Ellington, Damien Wilkins, Sasha Pavlovic, Alando Tucker and Ryan Gomes.

Only Brewer and Wayne Ellington remain, seeing as they were the a combination of the most dynamic and skilled guards that the Wolves had.

The wings the Wolves had the season before were Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Rashad McCants, etc.

Look at the wing players for this upcoming season.

Corey Brewer, Wesley Johnson, Lazar Hayward, Martell Webster, Wayne Ellington, and possibly Nemanja Bjelica.

The hugest thing that has changed over the years? Size, length and the biggest thing of all, defense.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were absolutely horrific on the defensive end, with the most atrocious perimeter and transition defenders I have seen in a long time.

With Martell Webster, a proven defender; Corey Brewer, a good and still has potential to a great defender; Wesley Johnson, with all of his quickness and length on the defensive end, and Lazar Hayward, who takes serious pride in his defense; the Timberwolves have seriously upgraded on the defensive end.

But don't get it twisted, these wing players all have similar traits in common: they can all shoot the ball from the three-point line, play in transition, catch and finish, and they are all of good size and length.

With that being said, the Timberwolves really improved on the wing, and that was the weakest part of their roster. Now so, it's different.

Allow me to offer you my self-made profile on Martell Webster and Wesley Johnson, the likely starters at shooting guard and small forward for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Wesley Johnson

6'7'', 206 lbs, SF/SG/PF. NBA comparisons: Shawn Marion (Phoenix Suns), Rudy Gay.

The name of the game in the NBA nowadays is versatility, and boy, does Wesley Johnson have it. Let's look at some of his positive attributes:

• 3-point shooting, 3-point shooting percentages.
• Versatility to play and defend multiple positions.
• Strong intangibles, inner confidence and maturity.
• Athletic (37-inch vertical), and long (7'1'' wingspan).
• Elite small forward rebounder and shot blocker.
• Can play in transition and half court sets.

Let's look at some of his negatives:

• 22 years of age (Rudy Gay is younger than him), limited upside.
  
• Ability to get to the free throw line.

But the biggest negatives about him? The go-to scoring mentality and a shot creating ability. Head coach Kurt Rambis has already been observing him, and thinks he has a shot to be that guy to take over games, it just has to be in his mentality.

His other weakness is in his ball handling and his shot creation. I however, think that he has the potential to put the ball on the floor and create his own shot, again it's in his mentality.

Being a rookie, Wesley Johnson is very much NBA-ready, and this ultimately means that his rookie season is going to be a test and a learning process for him to do these things.

Regardless of his age, Wesley Johnson does have a ceiling. I'm not so sure if it's incredibly high, but the experts and the like have been wrong before.

His highlights suggest he cannot put the ball on the ground at all, but he can if need be, but I'm not too sure if he would have the confidence to do it in the NBA, since he didn't do it as much in the NCAA's.

A lot of things can happen over the summer; we will see in summer league.

I always like to give realistic comparisons, but I also like to take it one step further, and give the player a comparison if that said player reaches his full potential.

I do this because the year that Dwyane Wade was drafted, no one was picturing him being in the top 5 players category, yet he is.

Realistic comparisons: Shawn Marion (Phoenix Suns), Rudy Gay.

Full potential: Joe Johnson with more athleticism.

Notable quote: " I'll tell you this right now. I've been in a supporting role in relation to always being a team guy. And I'm not going to shy away from that. But it's time for me to be me. I'm gonna have that swag and show everybody the real Wes."

Hopefully he keeps his word.

Martell Webster

The former sixth overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Martell fits the mold of what the Timberwolves wings should be able to do, shoot, play defense and catch and finish.

More than likely, Martell will be starting at the 2-guard. Martell gives the Minnesota Timberwolves a veteran young player, who has been part of a winning team, and has put up great numbers when given a chance.

As a starter: 12 PPG, 4 RPG, 1 APG in 30.5 MPG.

In his career, Webster is averaging 8.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 41% shooting and 37% from 3-point range.

He played at least 30 minutes in 32 games last season, and his numbers in those games were 16.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 48 per cent shooting and 44 percent from 3-point range.

Hopefully, the Timberwolves are able to get 16 points and 5 boards in 30 MPG for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Obviously, he's going to have more touches, and he's going to thrive in the Timberwolves' offense. He's started many games not just in the last season, but in previous seasons.

He also now has a chance to truly become the player that he wants to be, I believe that he wants to be great.

"I haven't even begun to show (my potential)," Webster said. "How open is my mind to new things? I can tell you that it really is. I'm excited to see what this offense is going to be like. To see where I can fit in and really just sprawl out and show what I feel like I'm capable of doing."

Living in the shadow of Brandon Roy is tough, but Martell will have the opportunity to show what he is capable of doing. Let's look at some of his positives:

• 3-point shooting, 3-point shooting percentages.
• Versatility to guard different positions, potential lockdown defender.
  
• Young veteran player (age 23).
• Great athleticism, ability to catch and finish.
• Versatility, hustle and hard worker.
• Good rebounder.

Obviously, the Timberwolves got a young veteran player who is ready to contribute immediately, and still has room for growth, and possibly can create his own shot in the future.

Once again, the Timberwolves wing production really took a upswing, and Martell is one of the more important parts of that. A lot would disagree for various reasons, let's look at the negatives:

• Limited offensively/not many elements to his offensive game?
  
• No more upside/limited upside?
• Below average passer.

No one knows how this will play out, but a lot of media are saying that Martell cannot be an impact player because of these reasons.

Things like "he didn't have a impact in Portland," probably the biggest argument is because he has a low efficiency rating, or low PER.

Well the counter argument to that is that Martell doesn't have a PER of at least 15, the NBA league average. First off, while that is a fine number that tells you who the elite players are, it is just a number. For example:

• Kendrick Perkins, the starting center for the Boston Celtics that went to the NBA finals, has a PER of 15. Greg Oden had a PER of 23, higher than Dirk Nowitzki, Amare' Stoudamire and Pau Gasol.
  
• Kris Humphries, Jordan Hill, and JJ Hickson have PER's of 15.
• O.J Mayo, John Salmons, Tony Allen, Eric Gordon, Ben Gordon, Rashard Lewis, Wilson Chandler, Tyson Chandler, Ron Artest, Al Thornton, Kirk Hinrich have PER's below 15.
• Derek Fisher, James Posey, Roger Mason, Brandon Rush, and Thabo Sefolosha have PER's below 10.
• Kobe Bryant has the 15th highest PER, LeBron James is No. 1.
• Corey Maggette has the 24th highest PER in the NBA.
• According to PER, Kevin Love is in the conversation with Andrew Bogut, Deron Williams, and Danny Granger.

Again, it is just a number.

Martell Webster's month of January: 15.5 PPG, 5 RPG, 1 APG, shooting 43% from the field and 38% from the 3-point line.

Hopefully, Webster pans out for the Wolves, but regardless, the Timberwolves have upgraded their wings immensely, and it should bode well for them.