Post-Olympic Wolves Projections/Expectations

[Otis]

David Kahn has got to be smiling after the Olympic basketball tournament. Schved and Kirilenko looked pretty sweet against Argentina and K Love would have had similiar numbers if he had just been given the minutes.

Looks like our SG and SF problems have been pretty well addressed strictly with the Russian imports! If schved can play like that in the NBA, we won't have to expect much from Roy at all. I see this team as a playoff team right now and with an outside shot at getting into the top 4-6. Id rate the teams in the west in this order right now:

1. Oklahoma City
2. LA Lakers
3. San Antonio
4. LA Clippers
5. Memphis
6. Denver
7. Wolves
8. Dallas
9. Utah

You wouldn't have to pull my arm to far to push the Wolves past Denver, Memphis, and the Clippers if you could guarantee a pre-injury Rubio. This lineup is looking real good right now and I think the front office has done a very good job. I'm hoping we can get over 50 wins next year.

Although a lot depends on Ricky's knee.

[karch34]

Right now I'd agree that we're probably on the fringe with the potential to be middle of the pack with health and things breaking the right way.

It's not what I had expected, but I think it's a very solid offseason. Added a couple good vets with playoff experience and upgraded our weakest positions. Hard not to be optimisitic.

[Love42Rubio9]

David Kahn has got to be smiling after the Olympic basketball tournament. Schved and Kirilenko looked pretty sweet against Argentina and K Love would have had similiar numbers if he had just been given the minutes.

Looks like our SG and SF problems have been pretty well addressed strictly with the Russian imports! If schved can play like that in the NBA, we won't have to expect much from Roy at all. I see this team as a playoff team right now and with an outside shot at getting into the top 4-6. Id rate the teams in the west in this order right now:

1. Oklahoma City
2. LA Lakers
3. San Antonio
4. LA Clippers
5. Memphis
6. Denver
7. Wolves
8. Dallas
9. Utah

You wouldn't have to pull my arm to far to push the Wolves past Denver, Memphis, and the Clippers if you could guarantee a pre-injury Rubio. This lineup is looking real good right now and I think the front office has done a very good job. I'm hoping we can get over 50 wins next year.

Although a lot depends on Ricky's knee.

Alexey looked great, he had a couple off games in a row come knockout rounds but eliminated those games with a great performance vs Argentina.

he played really well in the pool games too, him & AK47 really fed off eachother nicely.

if they can give us that same type of play, for sure we will be a 6 seed if health is in order.

i still wouldnt mind picking up someone like Matt Barnes who is a tough defender to play 10-15 mins a night.

[Calinks]

I think Shved will have a lot of ups and downs. If he isn't relied upon to do too much he should be fine. As the tournament wore on he seemed to struggle more and more until the final game when he bounced back big. Good sign out of him is that he wants to be great. He can't take over games at this time but he wants to be that kind of player and with the right tutelage, maybe he will be.

AK will be good. He will do all the dirty work. He disappeared way too much down the stretch for my liking however. Some of that was his teammates ignoring him but it seems to me that if he really wanted the ball in those moments, he would have gotten it. He will be a great piece that bothers the other team and does the things that help us win games but I don't think he can be relied upon to help close out games offensively. That's going to rest on other players.

All in all these are two nice additions to the team. With the recent LA and Denver trades however I am not as optimistic about our season as I was before. I still see us having a great season and making the playoffs but I think we will be one of the bottom teams.

We could barely manage to compete with the Lakers before, now they got Dwight. That could be four losses for us. Denver is looking really scary now that they got Iguodala. Fortunately the Rockets and Suns should be out of the picture.

It seems as if.

Spurs
Lakers
Thunder
Memphis
Clippers
Denver

are all ahead of us. There is a chance we can catch everyone but the Lakers and Thunder if we play exceedingly well.

[john2jer]

I think we're more likely to pass Memphis than Denver. I'm still completely in shock that Memphis has been as good as they have been the last couple years.

[Saltine]

I was just wondering why you guys keep listing the clippers above us when they couldn't beat us last year, the same could be said of the teams in Texas...

[funkatron101]

I was just wondering why you guys keep listing the clippers above us when they couldn't beat us last year, the same could be said of the teams in Texas...

Just because the Wolves matched up well against those teams doesn't mean that every other team does.

They should all have better records than the Wolves next year.

[Klomp]

I was just wondering why you guys keep listing the clippers above us when they couldn't beat us last year, the same could be said of the teams in Texas...

Spurs couldn't beat us when we didn't have Rubio either, doesn't mean I think we'll finish ahead of them.

[Saltine]

True, but they have to play the improved teams as well... I can see us having issues with Oklahoma and Memphis, I don't think Denver matches up well with us, iggy can't do anything to love and Pek.
The Lakers and spurs have serious age issues, well see

[Tirion]

That Denver team is stacked. They just have too much talent and Iggy will propel them into contention IMO. TWolves can't hang with their speed and athletism in a playoff series.

The TOP-4 spots are locked in the West. Other teams are outside looking in.

OKC
Danver
LAL
SA

[Klomp]

This year's Denver will be a lot like Memphis of two years ago IMO.

[Tirion]

They will be much better. Don't forget that they made playoffs as a rebuilding team and took the Lakers to 7 games. And they added exactly who they needed to add: elite defensive player, who excels at the open court, while upgrading their weakest starting position and getting rid off their worst rotational player (Harrington).

[eyeteeth]

Denver's pretty solid, but Memphis has been overachieving for years. Either LA team could fall apart at the seams. I think the way to look at this is in terms of a team's likely optimal position and how confident we can be they will get there. For example, the Lakers are clearly a #2 or #3 seed in their optimal season, but we should only be 30 or 40% confident they will get there. They have too many issues. DH is a prima donna who fades in clutch moments, Kobe is a prima donna who doesn't know his own limits. Both of them want the ball at the end of the game. Nash plays little defense, DH just had back surgery, Metta World Peace is nuts and Pau doesn't fit their coach's system. Also, their coach isn't really very good. It's like a freakin minefield.

1. OKC 90%
2. SAS 70%
3. LAL 40%

And the middle is anybody's guess.

Den, Mem, LAC and Minny could honestly finish in any order given their optimal seasons. They're all pretty good and all have a few issues. I would probably see this as most likely:

4. Den 60%
5. Mem 60%
6. Min 50%

And the bottom will probably be pretty competitive at the end of the season again. But there's a lot of questions.

7. LAC 60%
8. Utah 50%

But if we get the Clippers in the playoffs they're toast. That team is simply not that good. The Lakers will be a headache for anybody, on the other hand, because nobody will be allowed to play defense against Howard. It's in the new CBA, right after the part about "competitive balance."

[Tirion]

This year's Denver will be a lot like Memphis of two years ago IMO.

I see Minny as the nex Memphis sadly.

[Calinks]

I think Memphis will be better. Zbo should be back 100%. Gasol will have his Olympic experience under his belt and be ready for a big season. Someone is going to get killed during one of the Memphis vs Denver games.

[cpfsf]

Final season standings
*Tier 1*
1 - LAL
2 - SAS
3 - OKC

*Tier 2*
4 - LAC
5 - DEN
6 - MEM
7 - MIN
8 - DAL

Tier 3 - UTA GSW NOH PHX
Tier 4 POR SAC HOU

[Klomp]

They will be much better. Don't forget that they made playoffs as a rebuilding team and took the Lakers to 7 games. And they added exactly who they needed to add: elite defensive player, who excels at the open court, while upgrading their weakest starting position and getting rid off their worst rotational player (Harrington).

Who did they add at center?

[Klomp]

Final season standings
*Tier 1*
1 - LAL
2 - SAS
3 - OKC

*Tier 2*
4 - LAC
5 - DEN
6 - MEM
7 - MIN
8 - DAL

Tier 3 - UTA GSW NOH PHX
Tier 4 POR SAC HOU

I basically agree, but would put SA in Tier 2, Dallas in Tier 3, New Orleans in Tier 4.

[GroundBound]

Final season standings
*Tier 1*
1 - LAL
2 - SAS
3 - OKC

*Tier 2*
4 - LAC
5 - DEN
6 - MEM
7 - MIN
8 - DAL

Tier 3 - UTA GSW NOH PHX
Tier 4 POR SAC HOU

I'd drop NOH PHX into Tier 4 - I don't think either team is in playoff contention.
I can see MIN, DAL, UTA, and GSW all fighting for the 7-8 spots.

I'll be surprised if SAS can stay healthy for the entire season. They had half their roster (3 or 4 rotation guys) playing in the Olympics, which is usually a sword of damocles in the subsequent season!

[Tirion]

They will be much better. Don't forget that they made playoffs as a rebuilding team and took the Lakers to 7 games. And they added exactly who they needed to add: elite defensive player, who excels at the open court, while upgrading their weakest starting position and getting rid off their worst rotational player (Harrington).

Who did they add at center?

Their weakest position was SG.

http://www.82games.com/1112/1112DEN5.HTM