RealGM

Currently have a lineup of:

Rubio,Barea,Ridnour
Roy,Shved,Mlee
Kirilenko,Buddinger,Williams
Love,
Pekovic,Stiesma

I think they´ll barely squeeze in with the 8th/7th spot. They are better coached than the Blazers,Jazz and Suns, + they have enough talent to compete with during the regular season, and if Pekovic has improved they are a lock for the 8th seed imho. What do you guys think?

If healthy, yessir

LikeABosh wrote:If healthy, yessir

What he said.

Barely squeeze into the 7/8th spots? That team at full health can compete for the 4-8th spot easily. Before Rubio went down, a team with Wes Johnson, Luke Ridnour, Martell Webster, Michael Beasley, Darko Milicic, etc. were just at the 8th spot.

Wolves turned that garbage into AK47, Roy, Shved, Budinger, Steamer, Cunningham, AND didn't give up Williams doing so. Roy in a wheelchair and AK47 with one arm are more competitive than what the Wolves had at wing position last season.

They need frontcourt help. Dante Cunningham is a little improvement, but he's ideally a fifth big. They need a legit backup 4. Maybe D-Will helps out a little there, either way they need a real backup.

The J Rocka wrote:Barely squeeze into the 7/8th spots? That team at full health can compete for the 4-8th spot easily. Before Rubio went down, a team with Wes Johnson, Luke Ridnour, Martell Webster, Michael Beasley, Darko Milicic, etc. were just at the 8th spot.

Wolves turned that garbage into AK47, Roy, Shved, Budinger, Steamer, Cunningham, AND didn't give up Williams doing so. Roy in a wheelchair and AK47 with one arm are more competitive than what the Wolves had at wing position last season.

i agree with this

The J Rocka wrote:Barely squeeze into the 7/8th spots? That team at full health can compete for the 4-8th spot easily. Before Rubio went down, a team with Wes Johnson, Luke Ridnour, Martell Webster, Michael Beasley, Darko Milicic, etc. were just at the 8th spot.

Wolves turned that garbage into AK47, Roy, Shved, Budinger, Steamer, Cunningham, AND didn't give up Williams doing so. Roy in a wheelchair and AK47 with one arm are more competitive than what the Wolves had at wing position last season.

The way I see it they`re not passing Clips,okc,spurs,lakers,grizz and I still think nuggets and Mavs (considering their overall talent) are too good to slip behind the Wolves.

Chocobanana wrote:

The J Rocka wrote:Barely squeeze into the 7/8th spots? That team at full health can compete for the 4-8th spot easily. Before Rubio went down, a team with Wes Johnson, Luke Ridnour, Martell Webster, Michael Beasley, Darko Milicic, etc. were just at the 8th spot.

Wolves turned that garbage into AK47, Roy, Shved, Budinger, Steamer, Cunningham, AND didn't give up Williams doing so. Roy in a wheelchair and AK47 with one arm are more competitive than what the Wolves had at wing position last season.

i agree with this

And I laugh at these.

CHA_77_Bobcats wrote:They need frontcourt help. Dante Cunningham is a little improvement, but he's ideally a fifth big. They need a legit backup 4. Maybe D-Will helps out a little there, either way they need a real backup.

RA will more than likely mix & match lineups. Going small, he'll put Love at 5 and AK/Williams at 4/3. There's no reason to believe AK or Williams can't play at the 4. I'd say a 3rd string C is what the Wolves could use.

Well, let's project out:

WC playoff locks (assuming no injuries):
1. OKC
2. LA Lakers (Nash addition was huge, so was Jamison to backup 4, but SF, wing reserves?)

Near Locks:
3. San Antonio (the rise of Kawahi Leanord)
4. Denver (deep, balanced, well-coached and talented but lacking superstar)
5. LA Clippers (Paul, Blake, good vets but terrible coaching)
6. Memphis (have both talent and depth, and continuity, too, could be a high seed)
7. Dallas (with the revamp, assuming they can get the pieces to fit quickly)

Borderline teams / question marks:
8. Portland (how good is Lilliard? does Wesley Matthews bounce back?)
9. Minnesota (health)
10. Utah (pg)
11. Golden State (can they not under-achieve and/or learn to play defense)
12. Kings (too young)
13. Houston (a mess)
14. Phoenix (less messy than Houston, but also less overall talent)
15. New Orleans (Gordon Health, PG? how good is Davis and how quickly?)

Given that the top 7 are much more likely than not, and that there are a whole bunch of teams gunning for the 8 spot (and maybe 7 if Dallas doesn't gell or someone gets hurt, etc.), I'd give the Wolves maybe a 1 in 3 chance of getting into the playoffs right now.

Yes.

Going to be close, but I don't think so. Roy is not going to be the starter. DEN, UTA, and Dallas are all better than last year.

1 OKC
2 LAL
3 SAS
4 LAC
5 MEM
6 DAL
7 DEN
8 UTA

9 MIN

I agree that AK47 can backup the 4 spot (just as much as Williams). The big questions are Rubio's health, and what they get out of their signings at the 2 and 3 (can Roy play at all, or AK on the wing? how good is Shved?)

But even if everything goes right for Minnesota, there are other very talented teams that may just outdo them. Last seed in the West is hard to project (and if Dallas doesn't mess well and quickly, last two seeds).

If Rubio plays the entire season, then probably. If not, then no.

The J Rocka wrote:Barely squeeze into the 7/8th spots? That team at full health can compete for the 4-8th spot easily. Before Rubio went down, a team with Wes Johnson, Luke Ridnour, Martell Webster, Michael Beasley, Darko Milicic, etc. were just at the 8th spot.

Wolves turned that garbage into AK47, Roy, Shved, Budinger, Steamer, Cunningham, AND didn't give up Williams doing so. Roy in a wheelchair and AK47 with one arm are more competitive than what the Wolves had at wing position last season.

DAL got Kaman, Collison, Jones, Mayo, Brand
DEN was better last year + they get Chandler
UTA gets Foye, Williams, Williams, and are very young so naturally going to be better.

Not going to get in without injuries to those teams

i have them getting the 7th seed behind OKC, LAL, LAC, SAS, DAL, MEM.

I don't think people remember how well we were playing last year before Rubio went down. 2-1 vs Dallas, 2-0 vs Spurs, 3-0 vs Clippers, 2-0 vs Blazers, 3-1 vs Rockets

bobbyc wrote:

The J Rocka wrote:Barely squeeze into the 7/8th spots? That team at full health can compete for the 4-8th spot easily. Before Rubio went down, a team with Wes Johnson, Luke Ridnour, Martell Webster, Michael Beasley, Darko Milicic, etc. were just at the 8th spot.

Wolves turned that garbage into AK47, Roy, Shved, Budinger, Steamer, Cunningham, AND didn't give up Williams doing so. Roy in a wheelchair and AK47 with one arm are more competitive than what the Wolves had at wing position last season.

DAL got Kaman, Collison, Mayo, Brand
DEN was better last year + they get Chandler
UTA gets Foye, Williams, Williams, and are very young so naturally going to be better.

Not going to get in without injuries to those teams

Healthy Wolves + Adelman vs Jazz is closer than you think and they won`t need any injuries to get past Jazz in any case

The J Rocka wrote:Barely squeeze into the 7/8th spots? That team at full health can compete for the 4-8th spot easily. Before Rubio went down, a team with Wes Johnson, Luke Ridnour, Martell Webster, Michael Beasley, Darko Milicic, etc. were just at the 8th spot.

4th seed?

homers gonna homer.

Wolves turned that garbage into AK47, Roy, Shved, Budinger, Steamer, Cunningham, AND didn't give up Williams doing so. Roy in a wheelchair and AK47 with one arm are more competitive than what the Wolves had at wing position last season.

so 36 wins instead of 32.

Nuggets_Talk wrote:

The J Rocka wrote:Barely squeeze into the 7/8th spots? That team at full health can compete for the 4-8th spot easily. Before Rubio went down, a team with Wes Johnson, Luke Ridnour, Martell Webster, Michael Beasley, Darko Milicic, etc. were just at the 8th spot.

4th seed?

homers gonna homer.

Wolves turned that garbage into AK47, Roy, Shved, Budinger, Steamer, Cunningham, AND didn't give up Williams doing so. Roy in a wheelchair and AK47 with one arm are more competitive than what the Wolves had at wing position last season.

so 36 wins instead of 32.