5 most fascinating NBA teams to watch in the second half

Minnesota Timberwolves

Though out of playoff contention, the Minnesota Timberwolves will have a lot of eyes for the second half of the NBA season.

After an awful first half of the season, the Timberwolves were in a bad spot, not knowing what the issue was. Whether it was poor coaching, lack of team chemistry or underwhelming management, everyone was in the hot-seat for the first half of the season. But that finally blew up at the trade deadline, when the Timberwolves got their man, D’Angelo Russell.

The Timberwolves also made a huge culling at the trade deadline, dealing away a plethora of players to multiple teams, for a number of underutilized talent. The Timberwolves gained a total of nine new players at the deadline, completely blowing up their roster, without losing their superstar player, Karl-Anthony Towns. They also kept their young players in Jarrett Culver and Josh Okogie.

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But since those trade deadline deals, the Timberwolves have looked better than ever. We’re looking at a whole new team here, most of the roster was acquired recently. Though the team has been 1-4 since their newest acquisitions, we’ve seen the true potential of some of the players already.

Though we’ll most likely see a whole different team in the future, this current lineup is boasting a load of players who have quietly proven themselves of their decency and talent in the league.

I’m talking about the players who were underutilized on their former teams, talented athletes who couldn’t find their footing. But I’m talking most importantly about Malik Beasley.

The Florida State product entered this season in an overloaded and deep Denver Nuggets team, typically Beasley had to vie for a spot in their deep bench. A lot of fans had faith in Beasley to finally break out and it was inevitable, just for the wrong team. The Timberwolves were willing to change that, and so far, they have.

In his first five starting games of his stint in Minnesota, Beasley has been exceptional on the offensive end, averaging an impressive 22.0 points per game, shooting 43.5 percent from the three and 46.0 percent from the field. It’s an incredibly small sample size, but Beasley has been given a chance to show off his shooting ability and he’s finally starting. This hasn’t been it for their new and improved roster.

In their first game with the new roster, the Timberwolves slaughtered the Los Angeles Clippers, 142-115, shocking everyone. Their newest players showed off, while their existing young players played fantastically, in a great team win. This was also without D’Angelo Russell, yikes.

But why should you watch them? It’s not as if they’re anywhere near the playoffs or anything. But their newest roster alone should drag you into watching them, especially with Towns missing some time with a fractured wrist.

Though they’ve started off slow, it’ll be fun to watch their newest players shine and become utilised in a system. We’ve already seen players such as James Johnson and Juancho Hernangomez play their way into the lineup, while the Timberwolves rookies and two-way players have played out of their minds. Naz Reid, Kelan Martin and Jordan McLaughlin have all played like stars since the T-Wolves blew up the team.

This team isn’t going to be contending for a spot in the NBA  playoffs this year, but they’re a hell of a fun team to watch. If you have a chance, keep your eye on the Timberwolves for the second half of the year.