Minnesota Timberwolves: 2017-18 NBA season preview

The Minnesota Timberwolves have added veterans to a young team as they prepare for contention. What should be expected of the team for the 2017-18 NBA season?

Last season was supposed to be the year the Minnesota Timberwolves made the leap. The young players would all get better, Tom Thibodeau would have the defense playing at an elite level, and Minnesota might even make the playoffs for the first time since Kevin Garnett was traded.

Instead, the young players played like young players, the defense proved tougher to improve, and the team finished with just 31 wins. Rather than simply sit on one of the league’s youngest teams and riding natural progression, the Timberwolves went out to make moves.

A summer of chaotic movement across the league saw Minnesota at the center of the action. Trades, signings and draft picks resulted in a team with significant turnover, one with both more talent and more questions of how everything will work together.

This team could end the season with three players at an All-Star level, or it could fail to meet expectations yet again. This is a team with all of the pieces it needs to continue rising in the Western Conference; will the 2017-18 NBA season see that rise come quickly?

2016-17 Vitals

31-51, 5th in Northwest Division,13th in Western Conference
105.6 PPG (13th)/106.7 Opp PPG (18th)
110.8 Offensive Rating (10th) / 112.0 Defensive Rating (27th)

Team Leaders

Scoring:  Karl-Anthony Towns, 25.1 PPG
Rebounding:  Karl-Anthony Towns, 12.3 RPG
Assists:  Ricky Rubio, 9.1 APG
Steals:  Ricky Rubio, 1.7 SPG
Blocks:  Karl-Anthony Towns, 1.3 BPG

Honors

N/A