Guess how many wins we can get and what is starting lineup

[michaellam_1986]

As the topic, I would start mine one first.
Assume Flynn is injuried and Rubio is not come yet.

Ridnour32Telfair16
Brewer32Webster16
Johnson32Beasley10Webster6
Love32Beasley16
Milicic25Pekovic20Beasley3

I think the team would win around 18 games.

[prefuse73]

Milicic (30) / Pekovic (18)
Love (30) / Beasley (18)
Beasley (12) / Johnson (30) / Webster (6)
Webster (21) / Brewer (27)
Ridnour (30) / Telfair (18)

Ellington and Kufos with spot minutes. I think Ridnour starts strong and they ease Flynn back but eventually Flynn gets (30) and Ridnour (18)

Providing they don't use their capspace to get a major player at the deadline, this team I honestly feel can win 25-30 games. I will put myself on record for 27 wins (a 12 game improvement).

[shangrila]

PG - Ridnour (30), Telfair/whoever (18)
SG - Webster (28), Brewer (20)
SF - Beasley (12), Johnson (30), Hayward (6)
PF - Love (28), Beasley (20)
C - Milicic (28), Pekovic (20)

I don't think they'll win many games, but because I have to pick a number I'll say 23. They're in the most competitive division in the league in what is arguably still the most competitive conference, so it'll be tough to come by more wins even with improvement.

However, improvement for me would also include a few things like:

*Beasley showing glimpses of being something awesome
*Love keeping or improving his efficiency in more minutes
*Darko improving on what he showed last season
*Flynn improving his ast/TO ratio
*Webster matching his advanced statistics with actual production in similar minutes

If these things (and a few others) happen during the season I'd count it as a success, whether or not they improve in the win column.

[Dewey]

Milicic (30) / Pekovic (18)
Love (30) / Beasley (18)
Beasley (12) / Johnson (30) / Webster (6)
Webster (21) / Brewer (27)
Ridnour (30) / Telfair (18)

Ellington and Kufos with spot minutes. I think Ridnour starts strong and they ease Flynn back but eventually Flynn gets (30) and Ridnour (18)

Providing they don't use their capspace to get a major player at the deadline, this team I honestly feel can win 25-30 games. I will put myself on record for 27 wins (a 12 game improvement).

I'm right there as well. I think our biggest challenge will be trying to determine which wings fit. Overall, I think we'll be a more consistent team and our depth offers more in the event of injury. Many upgrades, but no big slpash - yet.

[Swimmer]

Milicic (30) / Pekovic (18)
Love (32) / Beasley (16)
Beasley (16) / Johnson (24) / Webster (8)
Webster (22) / Brewer (24)/ Ellington (2)
Ridnour (30) / Telfair (18)

Minutes Breakdown:
Love 32
Beasley 32
Milicic 30
Webster 30
Ridnour 30
Johnson 24
Brewer 24
Pekovic 18
Telfair 18
Ellington 2

Wins Prediction: 19

EDIT: Can't spell.

[Wolves21]

I am going to break down the hole amount of minutes guys are going to play but our starting line up will be Darko,Love,Beasley,Johnson and Ridnour.I know I am going way out on a lim but I think we can win 30 to 35 games this year and next year when Rubio comes over that we can make a push for the playoffs.

[Devilzsidewalk]

it'd vary game to game, but in general you give heavy minutes to Love at PF and Beasley at SF. Darko and Pekovic share minutes at the 5 with Love at the 5 occasionally and maybe Pekovic at the 4 occasionally depending on matchups. Beasley some spot minutes at the 4. I'd start Johnson at SG initially and see how he handles it. Maybe not his best fit, but for the sake of getting him on the court, thats where he should be. Brewer and Webster spell Beasley and Johnson w/ some aggressive perimeter defense. Until Flynn returns, Ridnour starts, hopefully Telfair isn't on the team. Whether that means they sign somebody off the street or whatever, doesn't matter. Play Ellington at PG if you have to.

[john2jer]

I'll say 30 wins.

[Worm Guts]

This is a tough to team to predict wins for. A lot of underachievers who will be given a chance. Plus I need see more from Rambis as a coach. It could be anywhere from 17-30 wins.

[eyeteeth]

I know the news says they get rid of Bassy, but I wonder who they get otherwise... And who knows, he might "fit the system..."

I think for the first month we have something like

Ridnour 30, somebody 18
Webster 25, Brewer 10, Ellington 13
Beasley 16, W. Johnson 20, Brewer 12
Love 30, Beasley 18
Darko 25, Pekovic 15, Koufos 8

I think they want to continue to develop Ellington, and he doesn't get batter without playing. Of course, it could be just me. I continue to think he's a legit NBA-level talent and plus he's our only true 2 guard.

Also, I think that especially at first you need to limit Pek's minutes while he adapts to the NBA. Realistically, he's going to foul a lot at first. Also, Koufos wants to play and it's worth seeing what he can do.

How many wins we get depends on us gelling as a running unit and a defense. Any combination of Beasley, Love, Webster, Brewer, Johnson and Flynn has the potential to run a pretty fierce fast break. Assuming we don't make any moves and that Flynn comes back healthy by December/January, I would say we should win 25 games, maybe 30.

[Klomp]

Why aren't people including Flynn?

[Dale Cooper]

Minnesota will probably pick up a shooting guard (Webster was a SF/PF in his last season with Portland), but as it stands:

Flynn(24)/Ridnour(24)
Brewer(28)/Ellington(12)/Flynn(8)
Johnson(24)/Webster(18)/Beasley(6)
Love(32)/Beasley(16)
Darko(24)/Pekovic(18)/Koufos(6)

Lots of variables to decide where in the 10-20 win range this team finishes. Assuming Johnson = Webster, and Pekovic = Darko, I'll take 14-68, because they are slightly worse than last year.

[Worm Guts]

Don't overestimate the loss of Jefferson, last year's version wasn't very good. This year's team is better balanced and deeper.

[funkatron101]

Keep in mind the following players are not on the roster this season:

Jawai, Pavlovic, Hollins, Cardinal, Pecherov, Wilkins.

That is six guys that might not even be in the league next season, that's how bad they are. Six guys on a 15-man team is pretty significant.

[Saltine]

I think 30 wins, or just enough to make sure we don't lose our draft pick, bottom 10 for the win
The first month will be odd as Rambis figures out who works well together and Jonny proves he is healthy. I think Pekovic will play with Love for inside/outside scoring, and Beasley has to play with Darko for defense. Considering Love wants the 4, Beasley says he wants the 3, and Wes thought he'd be at the 2... Starting unit as below

Flynn 26 / Ridnour 22
Johnson 24 / Brewer 18 / Ellington 6
Beasley 18 / Webster 30 / Lazar (foul trouble, blow outs)
Love 34 / Beasley 14
Darko 30 / Pekovic 18 / Kosta (foul trouble, blow outs)

The wings should be an interesting battle to watch; Webster, Johnson, Brewer and Ellington should have a great competition for minutes. I'm pretty stoked by the upgrade we've made from Gomes (Beas), Wilkins (Webster), and Sasha (Wes).

Hopefully higher quality cheerleaders will keep morale up when we play really good teams.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w4hBRorlNc&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

[pumunga]

starting line up should look something like
ridnour, until flynn gets back then who knows
brewer, alot of people will say webster but i think he'd explode off the bench
beasley, start at the 3,
love
darko

i know we have a completely different team now but last year we had 15 wins.. nets twice, utah twice, sacramento twice, denver, washington, indiana, philly, lac, knicks, dallas, memphis, miami.
so we had 5 wins against playoff teams.
i suppose we pick up a few more division wins and couple more w's against weak east teams, really i could see this team winning 10 games all the way to making playoffs, 'YOU' probably think its illogical to say playoffs but i didnt give the thunder a shot in hell and i think beasley could be our durant.

[deeney0]

14 wins.

Ridnour/Webster/Beasley/Love/Milicic

[shrink]

I'll guess 16. Jefferson kept us in games where we might have been blown out. I think we'll have a few upsets, but most mediocre teams won't have any trouble beating us. I hope I'm wrong and a real star emerges.

[Foye]

19 wins.

Ceiling is probably 25 and lowest 15.

[HootersPatrol]

20-30 games