The veteran presence of Roy and Kirilenko should help Minnesota stay afloat. Roy is a proven scorer, as is Nikola Pekovic. Kirilenko can establish a defensive tone for the team. With the weak early schedule, there is a good chance those two can help build confidence and subsequently build wins.
3. Rick Adelman is still the coach
One thing Rick Adelman has proven time and again is getting the absolute best out of his players and turning that progression into wins. During his tenure in Houston, Adelman was saddled with long-term injuries to stars Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. When the Rockets moved on from those two players, Adelman’s top two options were Kevin Martin and Luis Scola. Good players, but not the ideal 1-2 punch for a winning basketball team.
Neither are Roy and Pekovic. But if history is any indication, Adelman will have the Wolves competing at a high level no matter who his top options are. And unlike his situation in Houston, there is a short timeline for the return of Love and Rubio. Adelman, whose career winning percentage of nearly .600 puts him in the top 10 all-time – should be able to find a way to win sufficiently in the meantime.
4. The potential of Derrick Williams and Alexey Shved
If Love and Rubio were healthy, there would be less minutes available to develop the potential of Derrick Williams, the second overall pick in the 2011 draft, and Alexey Shved, a combo guard from Russia making his NBA debut.
As a rookie last season, Williams struggled to compete with Love and former Wolf Michael Beasley for playing time at both forward spots. Williams is a natural power forward and had his best success there a season ago. With Love out, he should get that chance. Even if Adelman decides to start Kirilenko at power forward and Budinger at small forward (which is very possible), he still will have to rely heavily on Williams to produce.
Shved’s situation is a bit different. The Wolves have point guards Luke Ridnour and J.J. Barea, so Shved’s minutes likely will come backing up Roy. Minnesota needs Shved to make plays as he did with the Russian National team in the Olympics, when he wowed the international audience with his skills and clutch play.
Williams and Shved both will get their chance, and it will be up to them to makes their cases on the court.
5. Love and Rubio won’t be gone for long
Both stars are expected to return in December, a month or so into the season. While that’s plenty of time for a team to fall apart, the soft early schedule caters very nicely to the Wolves’ situation. And the possibility of Love and Rubio returning as a tandem would be even more exciting than the season opener itself.
The Wolves have the talent to stay around the .500 level in November, which would be a effective confidence-builder. Adding Love and Rubio gives them a chance to make a push for the playoffs. It’s been a while since that was a reasonable goal for this organization, and that should keep fans excited and interested.
Season Preview Index
Tim Faklis is the founder and editor-in-chief of TJFHoops.com and also is a writer for the Minnesota State Reporter. He has been covering the NBA since 2010. You can follow him on Twitter @TJFHoops