How many games do we win this year?

[DJ Mbenga]

Assuming our roster stays pretty much the same (dump Sessions & Koufos and sign Pekovic), where do you think we rank in the league?

Flynn/Ridnour
Webster/Ellington
Johnson/Brewer
Love/Beasley
Darko/Pekovic

This isn't looking very good in my opinion. Unless Jonny Flynn takes a major leap, I think we struggle to win 20 games in a tough Western Conference and we already know about our luck in the lottery.

Discuss.

[funkatron101]

You should stop being a fan.

[DJ Mbenga]

What's with the personal attack? I'm trying to have a civilized discussion here.

[Saltine]

What's with the personal attack? I'm trying to have a civilized discussion here.

You are known for being a troll. Not having civilized discussions.

[Swimmer]

What's with the personal attack? I'm trying to have a civilized discussion here.

I think it's your track record.

I voted 10-20. I think there will be significant issues in fitting our pieces together and we will miss Big Al's scoring. After a year of gelling, though, and RR, I'm hopeful we can be very solid.

[funkatron101]

What's with the personal attack? I'm trying to have a civilized discussion here.

You hate Kahn, you hate the direction we are going in, and you are convinced that we will be as bad as last year.

Why put yourself through the pain? I hear Miami has some promise.

[DJ Mbenga]

Note: The only people trolling are Salting and funkytran. I suggest you guys stop before the moderators arrive.


I mostly agree with your assessment Swimmer. But I think it's more of a talent deficiency, than a "gelling" problem that's going to keep us in the 10-20 range.

[TyKixx]

I voted 20-30, but I think a 30 win ceiling is a bit high. 20-25 wins would actually be pretty good progress.

[prefuse73]

25 to 30 wins.

I think we have good young talent at each position.

[Calinks]

10-20. A ton of new players so basically a total roster overhaul. They are all very young, it's going to take a very very long time for the team to gel. Probably wont be looking like a real team until the end of the season. A lot of players will have to step up their game and I am not sure if they are ready for that (Darko, Flynn, Brewer, Pek). And no go to guy.

[Swimmer]

I mostly agree with your assessment Swimmer. But I think it's more of a talent deficiency, than a "gelling" problem that's going to keep us in the 10-20 range.

I'm not sure I agree. We have players who can shoot, now, which is automatically a huge huge plus from last year. I have faith that Wes will be able to contribute positively in his first year, that Darko will be mediocre and in shape (this is a positive), that Beasley will be good, and that Flynn will improve. A lot of people are high on Peko or Webster, but I will just assume them to be mediocre. Ridnour will be a veteran hand, to help out Jonny. For the most part, I think that is an improvement over Al Jefferson's scoring abilities.

However, I'm not so sold on this "G - G - F - F - C" idea. I don't really like Webster + Johnson, and Beasley + Love, at the same time. At the very least, there will be an adjustment for a lot of the weird rotations we may end up running, and a lot of players have different roles from what they've had in the past.

My guess is that we will end up 15-22ish, more likely in the lower half.

[Swimmer]

Oh, additionally, I'm looking at our Conference and Division, and I'm not sure where the wins will come from. IMO, Denver, Utah, Portland, and OKC stayed the same or got better. Outside the division, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix might lose a step, but the Clips (Griffin return), Houston (Yao return), New Orleans (healthy Paul), Memphis (same team + experience), Sacto (Evans, Casspi develop, Cousins, Whiteside, Dalembert added), GS (Lee added) should all get better.

Obviously, some of those are arguable, and injuries will play a part, but after getting together a whole new team, and trading our best player for cap + picks, I don't think we should expect a whole lot more than competitive play this year.

[Krapinsky]

Please stop speaking in Wolves fan vernacular

[Saltine]

Considering we've only lost al jefferson, and upgraded everywhere else, especially the wings. And that last years team would have won 20 to 25 games if they hadn't intentionally tanked. I think 30 to 35 wins is possible. Hopefully just enough to keep our top ten protected draft pick.

[Saltine]

Note: The only people trolling are Salting and funkytran. I suggest you guys stop before the moderators arrive.


I mostly agree with your assessment Swimmer. But I think it's more of a talent deficiency, than a "gelling" problem that's going to keep us in the 10-20 range.

I assume you will act better on our board then in the general forum, though only to keep from getting banned. You are still a troll.

[AQuintus]

I'd be pretty surprised if we didn't improve by at least a few games. Just look at the changes in our rotation (or at least our rotation as I'd do it) from last year to this year.

Hollins/Jefferson to Darko/Pekovic - Darko is a big improvement over Hollins on both sides of the court. Pekovic should be an improvement over Jefferson on man D (due to size) and offensive efficiency, but a drop off on help D and overall offense.

Jefferson/Love to Love/Beasley - Love should be an improvement over Jefferson on man D (at least if Synergy can be trusted), passing, and and offensive efficiency, but a downgrade on help D and overall scoring. Beasley and Love last year should be about a wash.

Gomes/Wilkins to Beasley/Brewer - Huge upgrade from Gomes to Beasley on both sides of the court. At worst, I see Beasley as a rich man's Gomes. At best, I could see him being a poor man's Carmelo. Wilkins to Brewer should also be an upgrade on both sides of the court.

Brewer/Pavlovic to Johnson/Webster - I'd say that Johnson will be an upgrade over Brewer on both sides of the court. At worst a wash. Webster over Pavlovic should be a huge upgrade.

Flynn/Sessions to Flynn/Ridnour - Flynn this year should be better than Flynn last year. Sessions to Ridnour should be an upgrade do to fit.

Overall, I'd expect 20-30 wins (probably around 25).

[DJ Mbenga]

There are talks of improvements, but I don't think marginally improving from quite possibly the worst team in league will produce anything meaningful in the win department. Webster & Johnson aren't large upgrades over Ellington/Brewer/Gomes/Wilkins if they're even upgrades at all. We're mediocre, at best, almost across the board.

Compare the Orlando bench to our starters: Duhon/Reddick/Pietrus/Anderson/Gortat against Flynn/Webster/Johnson/Love/Darko. Or the Houston bench: Lowry/Budinger/Ariza/Hayes/Miller. We're seriously on the level of (albeit, top-tier) benches. That's an embarrassment for an NBA team - tanking or not.

Hopefully we use our cap space for a more-than-marginal improvement, but otherwise I'm putting us down for 15 wins again.

Please stop speaking in Wolves fan vernacular

Please stop trolling.

[Esohny]

Compare the Orlando bench to our starters: Duhon/Reddick/Pietrus/Anderson/Gortat against Flynn/Webster/Johnson/Love/Darko. Or the Houston bench: Lowry/Budinger/Ariza/Hayes/Miller. We're seriously on the level of (albeit, top-tier) benches. That's an embarrassment for an NBA team - tanking or not.

This is a ridiculous statement, although about what I would expect from an annoying troll.

[funkatron101]

Compare the Orlando bench to our starters: Duhon/Reddick/Pietrus/Anderson/Gortat against Flynn/Webster/Johnson/Love/Darko. Or the Houston bench: Lowry/Budinger/Ariza/Hayes/Miller. We're seriously on the level of (albeit, top-tier) benches. That's an embarrassment for an NBA team - tanking or not.

This is a ridiculous statement, although about what I would expect from an annoying troll.

DJ Mbenga: Insert faux victim reply here.

[shrink]

Do they make poor-me troll dolls?