Jazzfan1971 and FloppyMoose's Season Preview - The T-Wolves

Post #1 » by **jazzfan1971** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:16 pm

Minnesota Timberwolves

Projected Lineup

PG - Ricky Rubio/Mo Williams/JJ Barea
SG - Kevin Martin/Zach LaVine/Chase Budinger
SF - Andrew Wiggins/Corey Brewer/Shabazz Muhammad/Glenn Robinson III
PF - Thaddeus Young/Anthony Bennett/Robbie Hummel
C - Nikola Pekovic/Gorgui Dieng/Ronny Turiaf

Trading Block: Barea or some SF depth could be on the way out if Minny can find a taker.

Position Battle: I think Kevin Martin better play his hienie off this year if he wants to hold onto that starting slot. There are a ton of guys hungry for minutes at the 2/3 on this roster and it isn't hard to imagine any of them beating out Martin.

Mystery Man: For me it's Kevin Love. I've never been a Kevin Love fan. I think a lot of folks see Love out the door and Thad young in and see disaster. I'm not one of those folks. I actually don't expect to see much drop off on the team with Love gone as long as the roster stays about what it is above. They'll miss him some, but, I think they'll quickly find ways to replace his production and wont miss much of a step, somewhat similar to when Denver traded Melo.

Floppymusings:
Not sure I believe my own numbers. Kevin Love is studly, and he's gone. So why do I think they will have a similar record as last year? Partly it's that Mo Williams, while nothing great at this point, is still so much better than Barea that taking it's a big step up in the backup guard spot. But mostly it's that I feel they radically underachieved last season. They should have been very good. This year they should be average.

Jazzfanramblings:
I thought Minny was going to be terrible this year. That's because I expected them to blow up the team. I thought they'd dump Martin, Barea, Budinger, maybe Pek, and just run with a bunch of guys barely into their 20s. But, it appears that Minny is going to keep their vets and gun for the playoffs instead. I think it's going to be a bridge too far for the wolves again this year, but, I also think they'll be better than some folks are predicting. It looks like they won't be tanking to me.

It's hard to tank. Really. To do it well and not destroy your goodwill with fans is very hard. And the payoff is rather sketchy. But, you still see teams tanking. They'll fight and claw for a top draft pick. And I don't mind a bit. But, what bothers me is how quickly teams are giving up on those top picks that they worked so hard to secure in the first place.

Players aren't coming into the league as 4 year seniors anymore. Most of the top picks are 1 year and done guys. 19 and 20 year old kids. And teams are drafting them on potential. So, why not give some of these kids with potential a few years to develop? Why are guys like Anthony Bennett, Thomas Robinson, and Derrick Williams not given time to grow into their games and bodies? It seems awfully shortsighted to me. Maybe it's that GMs are a lot like corporate CEOs that have to show a quarterly profit. They are forced to focus on the short term or get fired.

Someone is going to look pretty stupid one of these days when one of these kids grows into a man and fulfills their potential on a team that bought them for pennies on the dollar. Maybe it'll be Cleveland. Maybe Bennett will turn into a star. But, who knows, maybe he'll be on his 6th team by the time that happens.

If I was running a team and I had a young player who was a good kid, wasn't doing drugs or beating his girlfriend and actually tried hard to do what was asked of him, I'd consider hanging onto that kid and trying to shape him into something I could use rather than trading him for the devil I didn't know.

That's just me though. Maybe I'm a little too stubborn.

Projected Record - 39/43

Post #2 » by **jazzfan1971** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:17 pm

noh - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1345540
bk- viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1345695
nyk - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1345450
det - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1343829
cha - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1343704
olr - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1343074
bos - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1342628
mil - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1342355
sac - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1342100
uta - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1341821
lal - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1341640
phi - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1341521

Post #3 » by **jazzfan1971** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:18 pm

I realize my depth chart is now wrong, among a few other things. This was written a while back and needs updating. If any T-Wolf fan wants to post up a updated depth chart that would be great.

dorkestra · Post #4 » by **dorkestra** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:26 pm

Thaddeus Young is already on the Wolves fwiw and is slated in as starting PF. LRMAM is gone as he's in Philly with is fellow Cameroon native Joel Embiid.

mcrow · Post #5 » by **mcrow** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:27 pm

dorkestra wrote:Thaddeus Young is already on the Wolves fwiw and is slated in as starting PF.

It looks like this was written up a long time ago.

Gus Fring · Post #6 » by **Gus Fring** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:28 pm

This team is alot worse than finishing 4 games below .500

Gunny · Post #7 » by **Gunny** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:30 pm

Ricky Rubio/Mo Williams/JJ Barea
Kevin Martin/Zach LaVine/Chase Budinger
Andrew Wiggins/Corey Brewer/Shabazz Muhammad/Glenn Robinson III
Thaddeus Young/Anthony Bennett/Robbie Hummel
Nikola Pekovic/Gorgui Dieng/Ronny Turiaf

This won't be the roster on opening night as the Wolves are expected to deal/waive JJ Barea before the the season starts, as well as maybe clearing some swing players to free up the SF logjam.

Post #8 » by **Capn'O** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:33 pm

In the West, I'd put the Wolves at about 25 wins. Their future is bright but use the rookie year, Durant led Thunder as your benchmark here. They're too raw.

mcrow · Post #9 » by **mcrow** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:36 pm

Capn'O wrote:In the West, I'd put the Wolves at about 25 wins. Their future is bright but use the rookie year, Durant led Thunder as your benchmark here. They're too raw.

I 'd somewhere between 25-30 wins unless Wiggins and Levine are much better as rookies than expected.

Chi-laska · Post #10 » by **Chi-laska** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:36 pm

I hope they do try hard to get in the playoffs, it'll be good for the young guys to try to boost there confidence by trying to win games than the coach setting up system for tanking to get better picks next year. Plus if they win more than expected it'll give hope for the future and possible Lavine and Wiggins can be a core on this team.

Rosque · Post #11 » by **Rosque** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:38 pm

Not gonna bother reading it but just gonna say...Wolwes=39 wins yet Lakers(who are same or slightly better team)=15 wins? Per your prediction? Nice.

ingvald · Post #12 » by **ingvald** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:50 pm

Rosque wrote:Not gonna bother reading it but just gonna say...Wolwes=39 wins yet Lakers(who are same or slightly better team)=15 wins? Per your prediction? Nice.

and the Knicks at 32 in the East.

You guys seem to put a lot of work into these but some of your record predictions appear to be off, at least IMO.

LofJ · Post #13 » by **LofJ** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:53 pm

Gunny wrote:Ricky Rubio/Mo Williams/JJ Barea
Kevin Martin/Zach LaVine/Chase Budinger
Andrew Wiggins/Corey Brewer/Shabazz Muhammad/Glenn Robinson III
Thaddeus Young/Anthony Bennett/Robbie Hummel
Nikola Pekovic/Gorgui Dieng/Ronny Turiaf

This won't be the roster on opening night as the Wolves are expected to deal/waive JJ Barea before the the season starts, as well as maybe clearing some swing players to free up the SF logjam.

Budinger and Brewer for Prince.

Post #14 » by **jazzfan1971** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:57 pm

Gunny wrote:Ricky Rubio/Mo Williams/JJ Barea
Kevin Martin/Zach LaVine/Chase Budinger
Andrew Wiggins/Corey Brewer/Shabazz Muhammad/Glenn Robinson III
Thaddeus Young/Anthony Bennett/Robbie Hummel
Nikola Pekovic/Gorgui Dieng/Ronny Turiaf

This won't be the roster on opening night as the Wolves are expected to deal/waive JJ Barea before the the season starts, as well as maybe clearing some swing players to free up the SF logjam.

Thanks, I used this in the OP.

Post #15 » by **jazzfan1971** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:03 pm

This is interesting, we've finally posted a team where you folks think we gave them too many victories. (I'll still be waiting for a fan of the team to come post how 39 is too low though)

I kinda figured this would happen as we moved up into the upper half of the rankings.

Rosque · Post #16 » by **Rosque** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:03 pm

ingvald wrote:
Rosque wrote:Not gonna bother reading it but just gonna say...Wolwes=39 wins yet Lakers(who are same or slightly better team)=15 wins? Per your prediction? Nice.

and the Knicks at 32 in the East.

You guys seem to put a lot of work into these but some of your record predictions appear to be off, at least IMO.

Exactly my point.

KokoKaizer · Post #17 » by **KokoKaizer** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:07 pm

Rosque wrote:Not gonna bother reading it but just gonna say...Wolwes=39 wins yet Lakers(who are same or slightly better team)=15 wins? Per your prediction? Nice.

Still Salty I guess... just enjoy the work done by the 2 guys...

And for what it's worth, I view the Wolves higher than the Lakers... Sorry Lakers fans you have to wait for the summer of '16

giberish · Post #18 » by **giberish** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:10 pm

39 wins isn't really that unreasonable IMO. They won 40 last year, but had the SRS of a 50-win team. Assuming that their close games issues were a mix of bad luck and repeatable 'real' problems they're probably coming from a 45-win base or so.

Losing Love hurts, but Thad Young is a quality player. That's probably a 10-win drop or so. Meanwhile last year's team had a very poor bench that should be better. Berea was horrible, so even Mo is a clear upgrade. Deing should be in the mix from day 1. Even though rookies aren't generally good, Wiggins should upgrade wing depth.

Compared to the bottom of the West - Utah/LAL/Sac - those teams all have several positions with very poor starters, while Minny has a real, competitive lineup.

Zachbretton · Post #19 » by **Zachbretton** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:17 pm

Right so the Knicks, the Nets and the Hornets with lineups that contain quality players are gunna do worse than this upcoming Wolves team?!

What crack are you guys smoking??

Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Post #20 » by **LLcoleJ** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:28 pm

I am hoping these roll out faster, so I can be done with the urge to click them. No offense guys but I don't think I have agreed with any of them.

But I do appreciate the work put in these I just wish they were a little better.

These seems to be an inconsistency with younger players impact on teams and a strange comparison with last season records that have different rosters.

Ahhh well. Please go on..