Minnesota was busy this off-season. Trade rumors swirled all Summer. No one had a clue which player(s) they would get for Kevin Love. First, it was Klay Thompson, then Chicago jumped into the mix and finally, LeBron returned to Cleveland. That move trumped everything and Love was moved to Ohio.
How will the new-look Twolves fare this season? Was the Kevin Love trade the first of many future moves?
Here is the 2014-15 NBA season preview for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
2013-14 Win/Loss Record: 40-42
Key Additions: SF Andrew Wiggins, SF Thaddeus Young, PF Anthony Bennett, PG Zach LaVine, PG Mo Williams, SG Glenn Robinson III & C Kyrylo Fesenko
Key Losses: PF Kevin Love, PG J.J. Berea, PF Dante Cunningham, PG Alexey Shved, PF Luc Richard Mbah a Moute & PG A.J. Price
Projected Starters: Nikola Pekovic, Thaddeus Young, Corey Brewer, Kevin Martin & Ricky Rubio
Fantasy Sleeper: SF Corey Brewer – Brewer may not be a sexy pick since he doesn’t score a ton of points. He does have an occasional high-scoring game, but it’s not really what he’s known for. If you’re in need of steals for a bargain, he’s your guy. You can get him cheap in your league.
Team Analysis: Minnesota was once again on the outside looking into the playoffs. It was the end of the road for Kevin Love who has the “we’re not sure he’s good because he hasn’t played a single playoff game, but we’re also not sure it is his fault’ stigma attached to him. He needed a change of scenery.
The Twolves could either completely tank this season or play hard in ‘Ewing Theory’ fashion and make the playoffs. That’s it, there is no middle ground. The playoffs are an extreme long shot and tanking is almost a lock, right?
Thad Young is an okay consolation prize for Minnesota, but wouldn’t you rather have another draft pick? Young is basically just an asset that could be flipped later and does nothing for Minnesota right now. Maybe they can attach Rubio’s broken jump shot to a future Young trade.
I expect Anthony Bennett to go into ‘eff you’ mode. He lost a lot of weight this offseason and played really well in the Summer League. Cleveland gave up on him and he is one of my ‘Comeback Player of the Year’ candidates.
2014-15 Wins Over/Under Betting Line: 25.5 (Prediction: UNDER)
2014-15 Projected Win/Loss Record: 19-63 (15th in Western Conference)
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About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.