The Minnesota Timberwolves are one of many teams in the NBA who saw some major changes over the summer, but there’s still nobody talking about them. Can the Wolves prove everyone wrong and shatter expectations?
Over the summer of 2019, the Minnesota Timberwolves lost a few pieces from their team last year. Considering where they ended up in the standings in the West, this may not have been the worst idea, but losing valuable pieces such as Tyus Jones and Taj Gibson was bound to raise more than a few eyebrows.
Still, certain offseason additions such as Jordan Bell and Naz Reid along with Robert Covington getting healthy should give Minnesota fans enough to be hopeful for that their team could hold their own in a tough Western Conference.
That’s not too absurd of a point either. Chiney Ogwumike, Los Angeles Sparks forward and NBA contributor for ESPN, went on The Jump recently and laid out exactly how Minnesota could make its way back to the postseason this year.
This whole conversation was started by Karl-Anthony Towns when he talked to The Undefeated last week:
"“Everyone always sleeps on people in Minnesota because they don’t hear our name a lot. … That’s fine. That’s cool. We are going to come from the underground and just find ourselves in the playoffs if we continue to do what we’re doing.”"
And with that, the debate began. Are people sleeping on the Wolves? And if so, why?
Well, that first question might be the easiest, if not blurred a little by bias. Still, in all of the talking heads in the mainstream NBA media, not a single one has the Timberwolves as a playoff contender, in fact, none of them think they’ll even come close.
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As I see it, there are six definite playoff teams (LA Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets). After that, there are a number of teams on the verge of a playoff appearance. The Golden State Warriors are one of those teams, so are the Dallas Mavericks and so are the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Minnesota has a good mix of of young talent, good perimeter shooting and some players who could contribute some solid ball movement. As Ogwumike said in the video above, defense is a big hole for the Timberwolves, as it has been for the better part of the last decade.
Another big question surrounding the Timberwolves is Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins was once thought to be the face of the Timberwolves’ future, but five years and one max contract extension later, Wiggins value is in serious question.
But both Wiggins and the Timberwolves organization believe that he will be able to step up his game this season. Recently, Wiggins told ESPN that there “… aren’t 100 players better than me.”
This statement proved to be fairly controversial, both among the media and fans. Still, if he does step up his game and if the Wolves can step up their defensive game, then they certainly could make some noise in a packed Western Conference.