Another season marks another chance to feel optimistic about your favorite NBA team’s chances of making some noise. Other than a few brief stretches, Minnesota Timberwolves fans have had trouble finding any reason to be optimistic over the past few years.
From injuries to frequent coaching changes to frequent front office switches to Darko Milicic, the Timberwolves have had quite an interesting little decade.
This season is a special one. It marks the 10-year anniversary of their 2003-04 run to the Western Conference finals. That was also the last time they managed to make the playoffs at all.
Aside from the 2004-05 season, this year’s squad is probably the team with the highest expectations in the last 10 years.
While it isn’t clear how much Wolves president Flip Saunders’ moves will help for the upcoming season, there is little doubt that the current roster is an improvement over years past. For now, that is enough to provide optimism for the majority of Wolves Nation. Even so, there are still a number of factors that Wolves and NBA fans alike need to keep an eye on.
1. The stars are healthy. *Knocks on wood.* The Wolves had no chance of making the playoffs a season ago. This was almost entirely due to not having a full team available at any time.
Kevin Love played only 18 games last season due to a broken hand. Ricky Rubio missed the start of the season because of an ACL tear toward the end of his rookie campaign. Nikola Pekovic was in and out of the lineup throughout the season, mainly due to issues with his ankle. Among them, they missed a total of 109 games.
At this point, they are all completely healthy and looking to make some noise in the upcoming season. Rubio and Love always had the ability to play off of each other quite well. Their pick-and-pop may be unrivaled in the league. They also play well together in transition. One of Love’s most underrated abilities is his passing into the post. Aside from Rubio, nobody fed the ball to Pekovic as often as Love.
The three of them have a solid chemistry. It’s just a matter of staying healthy, which they are right now.
2. A new supporting cast. Two years ago was the last time Rubio, Love and Pekovic were all healthy together for a significant period of time. They did pretty well in the win column, despite a weak supporting cast (Michael Beasley, Darko Milicic, Wes Johnson all had significant roles for good portions of the season). Prior to Rubio’s injury, they were on the doorstep of the eighth seed in the Western Conference, despite their less-than-stellar help.
This season, Saunders decided to make some major changes at the wing positions aimed at improving perimeter shooting. He brought back small forward Chase Budinger on a reasonable contract, signed shooting guard Kevin Martin to a four-year deal and grabbed shooting guard Shabazz Muhammad with the 14th pick in the draft. To add defense to the equation, he also signed former Wolf Corey Brewer to a three-year deal.
It should also be mentioned that both Martin and Budinger have prior experience with coach Rick Adelman in Houston. Martin also played for Adelman briefly in Sacramento.