30 Teams in 30 Days: Minnesota Timberwolves

2007-2008 In Review

Record: 22-60
Western Conference Seed: 13

Summer of 2008

Key Additions: Mike Miller (via trade), Kevin Love (via draft), Rodney Carney (via trade), Jason Collins (via trade), Brian Cardinal (via trade), Kevin Ollie (via free agency).

Key Losses: Marko Jaric (via trade), Kirk Snyder (via free agency), Antoine Walker (via trade), Greg Buckner (via trade), Chris Richard (via free agency).

Draft night trade: Greg Buckner, Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker, and the draft rights to O.J. Mayo (third overall) to Memphis for Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, Jason Collins, and the rights to Kevin Love (fifth overall).

My draft night reaction:

I hate to be a pessimist here, but what was Kevin McHale thinking? He finally got the opportunity to bring in a legitimate star, and he blew it. He had O.J. Mayo in the palm of his hand, and he let him go… but not like most teams. Most teams let talents like Mayo go by force. McHale did it by choice, and that is why there is not a single Timberwolves fan with a smile on their face at this point in time.

Is Kevin Love going to be a good pro? Absolutely. Is Mike Miller one of the best shooters in the NBA? Absolutely. Now let me ask this: Are either of those two players the best individual talent in the deal? Are either of those two players going to push Minnesota into immediate playoff contention? No. The answer is no. So why pass up on the far superior talent to balance the roster?

Over three months later, I stand by my comments.

When you’re a rebuilding franchise, as the Minnesota Timberwolves have been since they traded Kevin Garnett in July of 2007, you firstly want to build your foundation with as much talent as possible; not fill in your holes. Kevin McHale chose the opposite direction.

To be fair, I’ll openly accept the possibility that Mayo fails to live up to the hype. But even if that becomes the case, my opinions on this deal remain. When you’re in the state that the Timberwolves are currently in, you’ve got to swing for the fences with a mega-talent like O.J. Mayo.

With this deal, McHale set Minnesota up for mediocrity rather than bringing the team the possibility of a star-studded base.

I’m not drinking the “haterade,” but as skilled as Kevin Love is, he can only dream of possessing the upside of an O.J. Mayo.

Depth Chart

C: Al Jefferson / Jason Collins / David Harrison / Calvin Booth
PF: Kevin Love / Craig Smith / Mark Madsen
SF: Ryan Gomes / Corey Brewer / Brian Cardinal
SG: Mike Miller / Rashad McCants / Rodney Carney
PG: Randy Foye / Sebastian Telfair / Kevin Ollie

Biggest Strength

Scoring Options: Whether I’m a fan of the draft night deal or not, there’s no doubt in my mind that the addition of Mike Miller gives Minnesota an extremely versatile offensive group.

The perimeter cast is filled with offensive talent. Mike Miller and the trigger-happy Rashad McCants will produce one of the most deadly outside-shooting duos in the NBA and give you a pair of snipers that can put up numbers in bunches. Mix that with the silky-smooth mid-range game of Ryan Gomes, and the defense will be forced to keep honest.

Randy Foye, who is also a big-time shooting threat, has the ability to create offensive opportunities in many different ways. If you play up on him, he’s going to bull his way to the basket and either finish at the rim or earn a trip to the free-throw line. If you back off of him, he’s going to stick a J, and to top that off, he takes his game to another level when the lights are on in the fourth quarter. They don’t call him “Fourth Quarter Foye” for nothing.

Randy Wittman also has the luxury of balancing the perimeter cast out with a pure table-setter in Sebastian Telfair, who, despite his flaws, proved to be the team’s only reliable option to run the offense efficiently in '07-'08.

Additionally, having all of these perimeter threats to create spacing is only going to give Al Jefferson more room to operate on the blocks. And the more room Big Al has to operate, the more damage he does. Simply put, the 23-year-old Mississippi native is one of the most deadly post scorers of the past decade, and it may not be out of the question to suggest that he has the widest post arsenal in today’s game.

The addition of Kevin Love will certainly provide extra versatility on the offensive end of the floor. Love is highly skilled, and he may very well be the best passing big man to come into the NBA since Vlade Divac. He, too, will provide excess spacing, as he has the ability (and even prefers) to step out and knock down mid-range jump shots. Every once in a while, you’ll even see the former UCLA Bruin bury a three.

The only missing piece to the puzzle on the offensive end is a reliable slasher from the wing. However, Rashad McCants has shown multiple flashes of such a player. Time will tell.

Biggest Weakness

Defense: The 'Wolves will have no problem scoring the ball, and that’s great, but that quality goes to hell when you factor in the defensive side of the floor. Minnesota cannot defend, and to put it lightly, and adding Love to the frontcourt is not necessarily going to cure this team’s cancer.

X-Factor

Corey Brewer: A case could be made for Randy Foye, as he was unable to “officially” break out this past season and put remarkable finishing touches on his season. However, Randy Foye is a scorer, and we’ve been over the fact that this team has offensive weapons from virtually all angles.

What this team doesn’t have is a strong defense. That’s where Corey Brewer comes in—as the team’s stopper. His offensive game needs lots of fine-tuning, as his shot is inconsistent and he makes fans close their eyes after taking more than three dribbles, but he is one heck of a defender.

If “Brew Crew” can take a step forward in his development and give this team a defensive threat that doesn’t disrupt the flow of the offense (like last year), then taking him seventh overall in 2007’s draft still has plenty of room for justification.

What to Expect in 2008-2009

The 'Wolves are clearly a better basketball team than they were a year ago, but it still isn’t good enough, especially out west. It’s probably realistic to expect better than last year’s 22-60 showing, but don’t expect Mike Miller and Kevin Love to transform this team into a playoff threat just yet. Anywhere between 25-32 victories is likely a reasonable estimation.

By my estimation, the 'Wolves are one or two years away from breaking out of their shell.

Predicted Standings
26-56
Fourth in Northwest Division
13th in Western Conference

Tomorrow: New Jersey Nets