Minnesota Timberwolves 2010-11 Team Preview

After a horrible season in which they won just 15 games, the Minnesota Timberwolves had a very busy summer overhauling their team.  However, when the dust settled, everyone was left scratching their heads and wondering if this new team is even slightly better than the old one.

Their transformation started on draft night, June 24th.  With the fourth pick in the draft, they selected Wesley Johnson, a 6’7”, 23-year-old small forward. Wes Johnson Later on that night, they traded the 16th pick and Ryan Gomes to Portland for Martell Webster, a 6’7”, 23-year-old small forward, though this one has five years of NBA experience.  The Wolves were excited to get both players, but neither has a ceiling much higher than the small forward they already have, Corey Brewer.

On July 10th, they made perhaps their best move of the summer when they traded a bag of popcorn to Miami for Michael Beasley.  When you consider that Minnesota probably would have drafted Beasley #2 overall in 2008 had their lottery luck been better, then this transaction was an absolute steal.  Of course, Beasley may never take the game seriously enough to take advantage of his immense talent, but the Wolves risked nothing for a chance that he might grow up and blossom into an excellent player.  At the very least, he will be a good backup to Kevin Love at power forward and could play some small forward if the team wants to go with a bigger line-up.

July 12th is when things really started to get weird.  That was the day David Kahn re-signed Darko Milicic for $20 million over 4 years.  The same Darko that couldn’t get off the bench in Detroit for three years.  The same Darko that was overpaid and mediocre in Orlando and Memphis for four years.  The same Darko that came to Minnesota for 24 games last season and put up the same boring numbers that he had previously in his career.  I guess consistent mediocrity from their center position will somehow help turn things around.

The next day, July 13th, it got worse when Kahn shipped their best scorer, Al Jefferson, to Utah for a young stiff and two future first round draft picks.  I agree that Big Al wasn’t quite the same player last year after coming back from a knee injury, but he wasn’t that bad either.  17.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and nearly 50% shooting is pretty darn good production at power forward.  There is no way you can convince me that there wasn’t a better deal out there somewhere.  I understand that it was a major salary dump ($42 million over 3 years) and it clears up a logjam at the 4, but this trade was ridiculous. 

July 21st, Luke Ridnour inexplicably signs a 4 year, $16 million contract with the Timberwolves.  I’m not sure what either party was thinking in this transaction.  Ridnour was coming off a career-best season shooting the ball in a key reserve role for the surprising Milwaukee Bucks and the Wolves already had Ramon Sessions and Johnny Flynn keeping the point guard seat warm for the eventual arrival of Ricky Rubio.  Why would Ridnour sign with a poor Minnesota team with no playoff prospects when many other contenders probably would have given him similar money?  And why would the Wolves need Ridnour for four years when they think Rubio is coming next summer?

As if David Kahn realized he wasn’t just suffering from déjà vu and actually did sign a free agent point guard from Milwaukee two summers in a row, he quickly rectified the situation on July 26th by sending Sessions and center Ryan Hollins to Cleveland for the privilege of waiving Delonte West and re-acquiring Sebastian Telfair.  The Wolves saved a little cash in the deal, but the whole game of point guard musical chairs was very confusing.Michael Beasley

After all these moves, what does Minnesota have left?  A roster where Darko Milicic is the highest paid player on the team.  I’m not even making that up. 

Needless to say, the playoffs are not within reach for Minnesota this season, especially not in a division with Utah, Oklahoma City, Denver, and Portland.  That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to be positive about in the land of 10,000 lakes.  With Al Jefferson no longer in town, Kevin Love is poised for a monster season.  He averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds in just 28 minutes a game last year.  With higher minutes and his much-improved outside shooting, Love has the potential to score nearly 20 points a game and lead the league in rebounding.  He will need to step up because this roster is devoid of anyone else approaching stud status. 

Minnesota did sign one of their former draft picks who was playing in Europe, only it wasn’t Ricky Rubio.  Bruising forward Nikola Pekovic signed a 3 year, $13 million deal to join the Wolves and add some much-needed skill and toughness to their front line.  Pekovic could be one of the more pleasant surprises for the team this season.

The Wolves’ second and third best returning scorers are Corey Brewer and Johnny Flynn and neither averaged more than 13 points a game.  Brewer responded well returning from a knee injury and shot the ball much better, but that only means he is now an average shooter, at best.  Flynn has a lot of critics.  His rookie season didn’t exactly set the world on fire and everyone realizes the Wolves should have taken shooting guard Stephen Curry to better round out their line-up, but I wouldn’t give up on Flynn quite yet.  He still has a year until Rubio arrives so he’ll have a good opportunity to improve, which will tell us what kind of a future he may have.

Speaking of Rubio, he really embodies the future hopes of this franchise, and gives David Kahn a get-out-of-jail-free card.  After any decision he makes, he can always say “just wait until Rubio gets here, then you’ll see how this all fits together.”  Well, that time is getting closer and it is still difficult to see how Rubio could make such a huge difference with this group of players.

As talented as Rubio is, his ceiling seems to be lowering a bit every time he puts up mediocre numbers for his Euro-league and national teams.  I can’t help but wonder if his best in the NBA will simply be a flashier version of Jose Calderon.  A good player to have on your team, no doubt, but not a franchise-savior.  Regardless, there will be a lot riding on Ricky’s shoulders if and when he does arrive in Minnesota.

Until then, this team is Kevin Love surrounded by a lot of young players with a little talent but short on star potential.  The Wolves need studs, and you can only get them one of three ways.  The draft hasn’t worked out too well for them lately and Minnesota isn’t exactly a hotbed destination for free agents.  That leaves a trade and this team is primed to make a major trade this season.  Their payroll is one of the lowest in the league, which means they can easily absorb a large contract.  Also, they are loaded with young guys that teams usually covet when trading away superstars.  So the next time a superstar player starts clashing with his team and wants out, Minnesota will be the first team knocking on their door.

Lacking a true star to carry your offense and take the big shots late in games, plus little veteran experience, the Wolves will continue to struggle this season.  I have no doubt this line-up is capable of developing good chemistry and growing better as a team as the season moves on, they just lack the firepower needed to make a run at the playoffs.  David Kahn’s team has one more year to build before real results will be expected.  If they can find the star that they need and convince Rubio to put on a Wolves’ uniform, they might be able to turn things around in a hurry.  However, that is a story for 2011-12.  This year’s team will have to deal with another lopsided loss-column.

Predicted Record: 15 -67

Roster:
15 Maurice Ager      F-G 6-5  Michigan State 
8  Michael Beasley   F   6-10 Kansas State    
22 Corey Brewer      F   6-9  Florida
19 Wayne Ellington   G   6-4  North Carolina
10 Jonny Flynn       G   6-0  Syracuse
32 Lazar Hayward     F   6-6  Marquette     R
4  Wesley Johnson    F   6-7  Syracuse     R
41 Kosta Koufos      C   7-0  Ohio State
42 Kevin Love        F-C 6-10 UCLA
31 Darko Milicic     C   7-0  Novi Sad, Serbia
14 Nikola Pekovic    F   6-11 Montenegro     R
13 Luke Ridnour      G   6-2  Oregon
3  Sebastian Telfair G   6-0  Abraham Lincoln HS (Brooklyn, NY)
44 Anthony Tolliver  F   6-9  Creighton
5 Martell Webster    G-F 6-7  Seattle Prep HS (WA)