The Timberwolves have a lot of upside this season.

[Calinks]

Things may seem a bit down right now with the team losing a couple of games in a row and being up and down. I get it but we are .500 and we are on pace to make the play in and make a big jump from the previous season.

We won 23 games last season. We are at 24 games right now and we still have 35 games to go. Even if you accounted for last season's 72 game season, that would still be 25 games left on the docket after we are already a game ahead of last year. Massive.

We have had some big problems. Massive shooting woes, inconsistency, the defense has been slipping for some time, injuries. A lot of funky problems have plagued us this season but what if some of that improves?

What if we make a good trade?

What if Prince, Beasley, McDaniels, Reid, Okogie, Jmac, or some combination of them starts shooting significantly better?

What if we get back to being a top 10 defense?

What if KAT channels the Zen KAT all season and play under control?

What if Edwards takes another post-all-star game leap?

What if Jmac finds his 2019 game again?

There are a slew of very realistic and attainable positive things that can change with our team for the rest of the season. Even if things stay as they are now, I think we have a really great chance of making the post-season.

The team right now is solid, not quite good but solid and I do not think we are playing at our best at all. There is a lot of room to grow this season, right now. this team as is still has a lot of upside for 2022.

[wolves_89]

Another factor that should be a reason for optimism is that according to BB Reference the Wolves have played the 4th hardest schedule in the NBA to this point. Looking at Tankathons remaining schedule strength, Minnesota has the 25th hardest schedule the rest of the way (6th easiest). If the Wolves could go 25-25 through January, it seems like there is a pretty good chance that the team should be able to win at a higher rate the rest of the way.

[Calinks]

Another factor that should be a reason for optimism is that according to BB Reference the Wolves have played the 4th hardest schedule in the NBA to this point. Looking at Tankathons remaining schedule strength, Minnesota has the 25th hardest schedule the rest of the way (6th easiest). If the Wolves could go 25-25 through January, it seems like there is a pretty good chance that the team should be able to win at a higher rate the rest of the way.

Wow didn't know that.

My initial projection for this team was a team a little over .500. About 44 wins. If we can beat that, get closer to the 50 range, that will be a huge win.

[TaylorTag]

The Wolves are doing better than Vegas and national media expectations. When was the last time we could sat that?

I really want to see this team in a 7-game series. We likely won't get out of Round 1, but that experience will be huge.

The Wolves are in a great place cap wise going forward but I just don't see how we can improve the team this offseason without messing with our team chemistry.

[winforlose]

Things may seem a bit down right now with the team losing a couple of games in a row and being up and down. I get it but we are .500 and we are on pace to make the play in and make a big jump from the previous season.

We won 23 games last season. We are at 24 games right now and we still have 35 games to go. Even if you accounted for last season's 72 game season, that would still be 25 games left on the docket after we are already a game ahead of last year. Massive.

We have had some big problems. Massive shooting woes, inconsistency, the defense has been slipping for some time, injuries. A lot of funky problems have plagued us this season but what if some of that improves?

What if we make a good trade?

What if Prince, Beasley, McDaniels, Reid, Okogie, Jmac, or some combination of them starts shooting significantly better?

What if we get back to being a top 10 defense?

What if KAT channels the Zen KAT all season and play under control?

What if Edwards takes another post-all-star game leap?

What if Jmac finds his 2019 game again?

There are a slew of very realistic and attainable positive things that can change with our team for the rest of the season. Even if things stay as they are now, I think we have a really great chance of making the post-season.

The team right now is solid, not quite good but solid and I do not think we are playing at our best at all. There is a lot of room to grow this season, right now. this team as is still has a lot of upside for 2022.

One quick note before responding. It says it was posted today but the record is 25/25 with 32 games left.

The emergence of Nowell, the recent shooting correction of Ant, and the flashes of MCD’s potential are our big 3 upside things to celebrate. Dlo is a big part of why we aren’t ten games higher on the rankings and he will be a big part of why we eventually move up to 5 or 6. His return to form along with Prince’s may have come later than we like, but at least they happened. I hope Beasley recovers his shooters touch, but I especially hope it happens on a team like Indiana or Detroit. If it does happen for Houston at least he won’t hurt us this year.

Things to watch for.

1. Will Leo get another chance this season?
2. Can MCD, KAT, and the rest of the pack keep fouling under control.
3. Can we add some defensive rebounding at the deadline.
4. If Naz stays with the team, can he find consistency.
5. After a few good games is JMAC for real or just a flash in the pan?

[moss_is_1]

I've been thinking this as well. Just remember how young this team is. Yeah KAT and Dlo are entering their prime, but look at all of our other rotation players. The inconsistency is to be expected when you're relying on so many 2nd and 3rd year guys to be key contributors.

Prince has been playing pretty good off the bench the last month or so, and hard to believe he's only 27. Seems he's been around forever. The guys on the team seem to really like and respect him in the locker room.

No sense moving Beasley. He's value can't be very high with the legal issues and his shot being off this season. Hope he turns it around or wait it out for his contract to be an expiring next season.

Try and get a veteran bigman, possibly a point guard(though Jmac has been solid without dlo and bev the last couple games), we don't need a world beater just someone who can mop up 5-10 minutes when called on, depending on the matchups and won't hurt you, and help coach up thr younger guys.

[shrink]

Sometimes teams are designed without enough upside, and they have fatal flaws that kill their playoff chances. Let me ask though:

Do you think MIN has the offensive upside to score with an elite team?

Do you think MIN has the defensive upside to defend against an elite team?


To me, the answer to both questions is, “Yes.” MIN’s question, and the question for most teams in the NBA, is whether they can produce at their highest levels “consistently.” I don’t know the answer to that one, but if we avoid injuries, we have a team that can compete.

( .. and as the second youngest team in the nba, we’ll likely just keep getting better! Let’s get some playoff experience now!)

[wolves_89]

Sometimes teams are designed without enough upside, and they have fatal flaws that kill their playoff chances. Let me ask though:

Do you think MIN has the offensive upside to score with an elite team?

Do you think MIN has the defensive upside to defend against an elite team?


To me, the answer to both questions is, “Yes.” MIN’s question, and the question for most teams in the NBA, is whether they can produce at their highest levels “consistently.” I don’t know the answer to that one, but if we avoid injuries, we have a team that can compete.

( .. and as the second youngest team in the nba, we’ll likely just keep getting better! Let’s get some playoff experience now!)

I think the answer to the second question about defense is less clear. Against teams that play small I think the Wolves can defend at a good to great level. We are, however, going to have a major problem defending an elite team with a couple of good 240+ lb bigs.

[winforlose]

Sometimes teams are designed without enough upside, and they have fatal flaws that kill their playoff chances. Let me ask though:

Do you think MIN has the offensive upside to score with an elite team?

Do you think MIN has the defensive upside to defend against an elite team?


To me, the answer to both questions is, “Yes.” MIN’s question, and the question for most teams in the NBA, is whether they can produce at their highest levels “consistently.” I don’t know the answer to that one, but if we avoid injuries, we have a team that can compete.

( .. and as the second youngest team in the nba, we’ll likely just keep getting better! Let’s get some playoff experience now!)

The weirdest part of the whole season is the number of good shooters missing open shots. The phenomenon has been happening all over the league, but has been especially devastating for the Wolves. Dlo, Ant, Reid, Beasley, Prince, and more returning to form would make us a top 10 offense. It would also force opponents to stop guarding the paint with an extra defender, which radically increases our efficiency in the paint.

The real problem is that while our defensive hunger has increased our scheme has a flaw that has been exposed. Either we get the players we need to fix it or we need to modify/abandon it in favor of a scheme that doesn’t give uncontested 3s at an alarming rate.

[Klomp]

I've personally been drawing a lot of comparisons with this team and the 1996-97 squad that broke into the playoffs.

That team was actually quite a bit older than this group, which gives us more upside than that group. We have 12 players who have appeared in 30+ games. Most of the vets of the group are early in their prime (Towns, Russell, Beasley, Prince, McLaughlin are 25-27) and six of them are 23 or younger (Edwards, McDaniels, Vanderbilt, Reid, Nowell, Okogie). That 1996-97 group only had Garnett, Marbury and Chris Carr who were 23 or younger.

[shrink]

Sometimes teams are designed without enough upside, and they have fatal flaws that kill their playoff chances. Let me ask though:

Do you think MIN has the offensive upside to score with an elite team?

Do you think MIN has the defensive upside to defend against an elite team?


To me, the answer to both questions is, “Yes.” MIN’s question, and the question for most teams in the NBA, is whether they can produce at their highest levels “consistently.” I don’t know the answer to that one, but if we avoid injuries, we have a team that can compete.

( .. and as the second youngest team in the nba, we’ll likely just keep getting better! Let’s get some playoff experience now!)

I think the answer to the second question about defense is less clear. Against teams that play small I think the Wolves can defend at a good to great level. We are, however, going to have a major problem defending an elite team with a couple of good 240+ lb bigs.

I agree, and I suspect we add a big banger for our bench in case that’s the match up. But we’ve shown we can be a very good defense at times - and if the offense continues to grow, “good” can be enough.

[Colbinii]

Another factor that should be a reason for optimism is that according to BB Reference the Wolves have played the 4th hardest schedule in the NBA to this point. Looking at Tankathons remaining schedule strength, Minnesota has the 25th hardest schedule the rest of the way (6th easiest). If the Wolves could go 25-25 through January, it seems like there is a pretty good chance that the team should be able to win at a higher rate the rest of the way.

To add to this: The gap between SOS widens at the 2nd half of the season. The Bad teams from the first have become terrible as they buyout their veterans and rest certain guys/players.

I'm excited to be a 7 or 8 seed because I want to go to that play-in game. I didn't go when we were the 8 seed and I was too young during the KG era to attend games [Parents didn't care for basketball].

[Klomp]

Not just this season, but for the next 5-10 years. And I think it's important to remember that as we enter trade season. Gupta's comments about being buyers over the longterm is spot on. Adding an older player with a year left isn't the right use of assets. That's why I don't think Myles Turner will be the man, for example.

[winforlose]

Another factor that should be a reason for optimism is that according to BB Reference the Wolves have played the 4th hardest schedule in the NBA to this point. Looking at Tankathons remaining schedule strength, Minnesota has the 25th hardest schedule the rest of the way (6th easiest). If the Wolves could go 25-25 through January, it seems like there is a pretty good chance that the team should be able to win at a higher rate the rest of the way.

To add to this: The gap between SOS widens at the 2nd half of the season. The Bad teams from the first have become terrible as they buyout their veterans and rest certain guys/players.

I'm excited to be a 7 or 8 seed because I want to go to that play-in game. I didn't go when we were the 8 seed and I was too young during the KG era to attend games [Parents didn't care for basketball].

This, plus tanking. Bad teams start competing for worst record and bottom teams do things to achieve that goal.

[Calinks]

Another thing to note. With the Jazz's terrible free fall of late, the 4th seed is catchable. We still got half a season and its not nuts that we could catch up. Crazy.

[winforlose]

Another thing to note. With the Jazz's terrible free fall of late, the 4th seed is catchable. We still got half a season and its not nuts that we could catch up. Crazy.

I have been saying this in the trade thread. I do think we need to make a move to make this a reality, but I think this is the time to make that move.