Rubio, Thad and the young guns should be an exciting bunch this year.
Entering the 2014-15 season freed from the playoff expectations that come with having a star player like Kevin Love, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been pretty good in preseason play, and enter the regular season looking like they’ll be a fun team to follow for NBA League Pass subscribers.
They have next to no chance of being in the playoff race in the seemingly always improving Western Conference, but this season should be a great learning experience for a franchise beginning an exciting new chapter filled with hope.
Youngsters Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, Gorgui Dieng, Shabazz Muhammad, Zach LaVine, and Glenn Robinson III have all had nice moments during the preseason thus far.
Wiggins has been inconsistent with his shot but he has been impressive getting to the free-throw line while limiting his turnovers and getting after it defensively. He hasn’t been able to replicate his preseason debut performance, during which he dropped 18 points, four rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and one steal in 32 minutes, but he has maintained solid averages.
On Tuesday night versus the Pacers Anthony Bennett had his best showing of the preseason, going for 17 points on 7-9 shooting from the field to go along with five rebounds—in only 17 minutes of action. He has been a monster on the interior gobbling up offensive rebounds, and it seems he’s finally starting to live up to his “Big Daddy Canada” nickname.
Meanwhile Dieng has continued his promising play (10.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 27 minutes per game thru five preseason affairs) after a fantastic finish to 2013-14 and an encouraging summer league showing. If he continues to make strides and prove he can play heavier minutes, it will lessen the burden on the often injured, offensive lineman-like Nikola Pekovic to play 30+ minutes a night.
Dieng, Muhammad, Bennett had their third-year options picked up. Still, questions remain. Kyrlo Fsenko was waived, but the Wolves still have to get rid of two players to cut the roster down to 15. Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowksi reported that the Wolves are shopping Chase Budinger, J.J. Barea was a candidate to be bought out long before Mo Williams started smoothly orchestrating the second unit in the preseason, and it’s still possible they’ll decide to let GRIII go.
Then there’s Ricky Rubio, who recently rejected a four-year, $48 million extension. Will he and the Wolves come to terms on a deal by Halloween? Rubio has been solid so far in the preseason, and though he has continued to struggle with his shot, he has kept attacking offensively and plays decent defense. Re-signing Rubio before he hits free agency would be a relief in terms of it all being solved, and it would create more stability within the team during this 2014-15 season, but it’s possible the Wolves are hesitant to offer Rubio such big money even with the cap on the rise given his shooting woes and the overall depth of talent at the point guard position.
Looking at the starting lineup for 2014-15, Rubio figures to start alongside veterans Kevin Martin, Thaddeus Young, and Nikola Pekovic, with the fifth starter coming down to Andrew Wiggins and Corey Brewer. Surely you’re saying to yourself this guy is nuts and Wiggins will absolutely start, but back in September Flip Saunders made it clear he wasn’t committing to starting Wiggins immediately, and in all likelihood that remains true today.
Martin, like Pekovic, is a veteran player that the Wolves would like to move in order to open up playing time for the young guns, but will have a hard time doing because of his contract and history of injuries.
Kevin Love did all he could to lead the Wolves to the playoffs in an unbelievably competitive conference last year, and it’s beyond unlikely that the Wolves will come considerably close to matching their 40-win total from last year. However, the leadership Thaddeus Young provides at the four does give them a quality chance of finishing ahead of the Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, and Utah Jazz in the West. A tireless worker with nimble footwork, athleticism, and a team-first attitude, Young will be extremely motivated to help lead the Wolves to as many wins as possible, and given that he has a player option for next season, he’s also playing for his next contract.
Since the league’s proposal for immediate lottery reform was voted down on Wednesday, it’s fair to ask why the Wolves would want such a thing to happen, but if I’m a Wolves fan I want the young guys playing as many meaningful minutes as possible and gaining that valuable experience instead of suffering through a 60+ loss season during which the team is getting blown out on a near-nightly basis.
It’s still possible that they lose 60 games in the wild west, but it might take a cap-clearing trade or serious injuries for the Wolves to finish in last place in the conference. A team without expectations, the Wolves are free to run this year, and run they shall.
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