Minnesota Timberwolves: 5 goals for Taj Gibson in 2017-18 season

1. Win the starting power forward position

This will be a competitive battle between Gibson and Gorgui Dieng. Dieng played quality basketball for the Timberwolves, starting in all 82 games last season. It will not be easy for Gibson to beat him out, because Dieng averaged 10 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 blocks per game.

Dieng is actually very similar to Gibson in the sense that he is an average offensive player who is great at defense and good on the glass. Dieng does have an advantage shooting the ball. Gibson only made six three-pointers on 26 attempts last season. Dieng on the other hand, shot much better, making 37 percent of his 43 attempts.

They are so close across the board that it will come down to the wire to see who gets the starting nod. This is an excellent problem for the Minnesota Timberwolves to have, because that means they will have a starting caliber power forward coming off the bench. That was not the case last season and it showed during games. Gibson’s main goal should be to start at the power forward because that competition will make the team better whether he wins the job or not.

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If Gibson accomplishes most of these goals, the Minnesota Timberwolves will be very happy with their free agent signing. If he accomplishes all of them he will be doing everything he possibly can to help the Wolves make a deep playoff run next season. That is the ultimate goal because the Timberwolves are tired of not making the playoffs.