Best Case Scenario
If all things go right for Minnesota this season, there’s a good chance that they could shake off the “rebuild” label that fans of the league and media have branded them with for the last five years of so.
If the Timberwolves start firing on all cylinders right away from game one, then it may not be totally unreasonable to suggest that they could possible make the playoffs. The West is a stacked conference this season, but it’s also fairly top heavy. The for-sure playoff teams this year look to be the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, and Portland Trail Blazers.
The Golden State Warriors are on the edge of that list, but might see chemistry problems between two ball-heavy players who don’t have a previous relationship in D’Angelo Russell and Stephen Curry; and The Utah Jazz might see problems without the ball movement that follows Ricky Rubio. Chances are that one of them will make the postseason, but that still leaves one spot left, and it looks like a toss-up between a few teams.
The Memphis Grizzlies and the Sacramento Kings are both in that debate too, but the Timberwolves are working with a talented, young core. If everything goes right, they could find themselves with an eighth seed in the Conference.