Minnesota Timberwolves: Lob City Midwest?

It was during the Los Angeles Clippers media day in 2011 that Blake Griffin first learned his club had traded for Chris Paul. Excited about the prospects of himself and DeAndre Jordan receiving ally-oops from their new All-Star teammate, Griffin said, “It’s going to be lob city!”

More from Minnesota Timberwolves

• 5 NBA players everyone should be keeping a close eye on in 2023-24
• Ranking the 4 riskiest boom-or-bust NBA teams in 2023–24
• Ranking the 10 championship-less NBA teams by closeness to title
• 1 Crucial skill that every Timberwolves star must work on this summer
• 3 players in line for a big raise during the 2023 NBA offseason

Three years later there may be a new version of Lob City brewing in Minneapolis.

Last season the Minnesota Timberwolves finished with a 40-42 record. Anything close to that in 2014-15 would have to be considered an enormous success. When a case can be made that a club’s best player is Nikola Pekovic, it’s hard to be very optimistic about its chances. Minnesota is also ranked No. 24 of 30 teams in the first edition of ESPN.com’s NBA power rankings.

While the Timberwolves aren’t going to win many games, they should be one of the most entertaining bad teams out there. USA Today recently rated them 13th in the league in terms of “watchability,” fairly impressive for a squad expected to finish near the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

Like when Paul joined the Clippers, flashy T-Wolves point guard Ricky Rubio has a plethora of new toys to run the floor with.  Let’s start with the rookies:

The athletic prowess of No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins (acquired in the Kevin Love trade) has been widely documented.  There’s a reason the 6’8″ 19-year-old was touted as the top choice in this year’s draft long before he ever put on a Kansas Jayhawk uniform.  Wiggins is extremely raw though, and this summer league clip of a turnover followed by a chase-down block could well be a microcosm of his season:

Taken with the 13th selection last June, UCLA’s Zach LaVine is a 6’5″ combo guard with a similar profile to that of another former Bruin, Russell Westbrook.  LaVine’s game may be even less refined than Wiggins’ at the moment, but his vertical leap is borderline superhuman:

And don’t forget about Minnesota’s second-round selection, Glenn Robinson III out of Michigan.  There likely won’t be a lot of playing time for the 40th overall pick, but DraftExpress lists the 6’7″ small forward as having a 6’10” wingspan and a 41.5-inch vertical of his own.

All three rookies are more than capable of putting on a show at the rim:

Also new to the Timberwolves are former Philadelphia 76er Thaddeus Young and the No. 1 pick from 2013, Anthony Bennett.  Young, a 6’8″ forward, was arguably the Sixers top all-around player last year, putting up 17.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game.  He became the first NBA player in six seasons to average at least 17 points, six boards and two steals.

After opening his rookie year with the Cleveland Cavaliers in horrific fashion, over his final 20 games of 2013-14 Bennett finally began to look like a guy who could play in the NBA.  In that span he averaged 7.0 points and 4.2 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per contest.  Bennett is 6’8″ and 260 pounds, but he also has a 7’1″ wingspan and surprising quickness and athleticism for someone of his stature.

While starting center Pekovic may not be able to get up and down the floor with the same abandon as Rubio and the new young T-Wolves, his backup Gorgui Dieng certainly can.  The 24-year-old Louisville product is a wiry 6’11” and 238 pounds.  In 15 games as a starter last season Dieng posted averages of 12.2 points, 12 rebounds and 1.67 blocks.

Picture this lineup: Rubio at the point, LaVine at shooting guard, Wiggins at small forward, and some combination of Young, Bennett and Dieng at the power forward and center positions.  Would they be undersized?  Probably.  Would they be able to compete with other NBA teams for any significant stretches of time on a regular basis?  Probably not.  But, their transition game would be wildly entertaining and destined to fill up highlight reels on a nightly basis.

And just in case there’s any doubt as to the Lob City potential of 2014-15 Minnesota Timberwolves, take a look at their performance featured in this NBA 2K15 video game trailer (starting at the 1:32 mark):