Coach: Randy Wittman 2006-2007 Record: 32-50 06-07 Expected Record: 30-52 Offensive Rating: 103.7 (25th in NBA, league average 106.5) Defensive Rating: 108.1 (21st in NBA, league average 106.5) eFG%: 49.0% (20th in NBA) Possessions per 48: 91.1 (17th in NBA)
Roster (You'll have to scroll to see it all. Red indicates new player, blue indicates rookie)
I like Randy Foye a lot, but I'm not sure if you want him as your point guard of the future. He's much more suited to the 2-guard spot. He can play point, but I think they'll want to pick someone else up to be their point of the future. Depending on how Gerald Green develops, Foye might end up being a great backup combo guard. He's a good shooter and was a very good slasher in college.
Al Jefferson is a stud. He had a real breakout year last year and established himself as one of the premier young posts in the game. A lot of people missed it because the Celts were so bad last year, but Jefferson really came into his own as a post scorer and rebounder, and he logged big minutes for the first time in his career. Now, I don't think he's going to be a perennial first team all-NBA like I think Dwight Howard will be, but he's going to be a perennial All-Star for years to come.
Ricky Davis once shot at his own basket in an attempt to get a triple-double. There is no way in any universe I would ever want him on my team. Ever.
You know, every year the same thing happens in the draft. A guy like Craig Smith would've gone in the top 15 if he'd been 2 inches taller, and instead he was a second round pick. I will never understand this. Smith is enormously strong, has long arms, has a great nose for the ball and great touch inside. He's gonna be a great role player at the PF spot for years. (btw, guys who qualify for this status this year include Glen Davis and Taurean Green)
Rashad McCants might make a decent backup shooting guard, but he's not a very smart ballplayer and is too streaky to be a reliable starter.
I'm not a believer in Bassy. The track record for 6 foot guards who can't shoot is, shall we say, not too good.
This rookie crop has the potential to be very good in time, but I think they'll struggle this year. Brewer has all the tools to be an all-star player, he can shoot, he can drive, he's a great defender, and he's a very instinctive player. However, I think he's gonna struggle thisyear since he's going from a dominating college team to a really bad NBA team, and because he might weigh as much as me if he's dripping wet. Once he bulks up a bit and polishes his game though, watch out. As for Richards, we don't really know all that much about him. He could very easily turn out to be a second round steal as a highly talented guy who got stuck behind 2 really good posts in college.
X-Factor: Gerald Green - Green has loads of talent and athletic ability, but last year he was,
to put it lightly, not very good. Heading into his 3rd season this year
on a team that is going to give him ample chance to succeed, this could
be a make or break year for Green. He's a good shooter, but he needs to improve his shot selection and add some strength so that he can improve at finishing through contact in the lane. He's not going to suddenly become a great defender or passer next year, but I think he could make a big improvement in his scoring.
Overview
Really, there's not a lot of good looking at last season for the Wolves, cause they're almost a completely different team now. After a second season of being really bad, Kevin McHale finally made the move to part with KG and rebuild, though he waited too long to do so and had to take a pretty mediocre package in return. So, the KG era came to a close in Minnesota after 12 mostly frustrating seasons for the Hall of Fame forward, and the Wolves enter a new chapter of rebuilding.
Prediction
The Wolves were 21st in the league in defense last year with one of the greatest defensive players of the last decade playing for them. Lets just say that they might not exactly be the Steel Curtain this year. Really, there are a ton of holes in this roster, even with all the young talent. They need to find someone who can run the point, and they really need to find a post player who can play defense. This year will be all about letting the young guys develop and chalking up a high lottery pick to hopefully address one of those two spots. After years of seeing one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history, Minnesota fans are going to have to be content with flashes of brilliance mixed into lots of inconsistency and mistakes. If Green establishes himself and Jefferson continues to improve, I think it's a good year for the Wolves.
X -- Great stuff. I can't wait to see the one on the Knicks and Nets. I'm going to fight with you tooth-and-nail on those.
I think the Wolves made a GREAT MOVE dealing KG to Boston. I know "Al Jefferson" and "Gerald Green" aren't exactly seat-filling names, but they can play... and to me, that's the bottom line.
The Wolves were handcuffed with KG's contract, one he is completely undeserving of.
Things are looking up for the Wolves. Give them 2-3 years and they'll be competitive. They did the right thing.
Big Al is the real deal and under Mchales tutalege has the potential to be a perrenial all-star. Who better to teach him how to play with his back to the basket, than one of the best low post scorers of all time.
I will miss AL but I got KG,Shutteworth and The Truth, to console me and bring a few Banners as well
Last edited by 54fulltiltfulltime on October 19th at 9:00 PM.
Train - The Wolves made the right move only in that they finally traded KG for younger talent. McHale waited WAY too long to trade KG, and so he had to take much less than he would've gotten if he'd traded him before the draft (not to mention if he'd done it a year ago).
clinch - I'm only listing 14 players for each team, and I try to list the most influential ones.
PF - I'd take a few other teams over them, but they do have a lot of good young talent.
socal - I think I'll have to pass on that. I'm in 2 fantasy leagues already, and I'm a bit pressed for time anyway these days.
I see you're still the best around when it comes to these pieces.
Do you think maybe some shine will come off Al Jefferson this year? He had a real breakout year last season, but I just have this nagging feeling he'll regress.
Btw, I think the fact that they did the right thing trading Garnett should be unanimously agreed upon. They'll go nowhere this year, and they would've gotten the same result with the Big Ticket.
McHale better hope Jefferson, Green, Foye, and Brewer pan out though.
The T-Wolves are an injury away to a key player (Jefferson, Green, Foye, Davis) from being the worst team in the league.
They go 32-50 with an uninspired KG last year, and now that Minny has a rag-tag group you expect them to drop only two games from last year's record? I'd like to know why you predict this squad to go 30-52 in a very tough conference.
I say at least 22-60, maybe even worse. But that's me, and one thing we know for sure...
You think I'm an ####, and we certainly don't agree about 75% of the time. That must be where the love comes from, right?
lakersfan - The fact that trading KG was the right thing to do isn't debatable, it had to be done. However, the reason I don't like to call it a "good move" is because McHale should've traded him long ago and gotten more value out of it. He waited until the last possible moment, and so he got stuck taking basically whatever he could get.
Dizzle - I swear, it's like people don't even read what I write sometimes.
Check out the stat explanation post and the comments on the Clippers post where I explain this same thing to Train. Expected record is NOT how many games I expect them to win this year. Expected record is a statistical measurement that basically determines whether or not a team was lucky to get it's record or not.
But c'mon now XP, you act like I subscribe to your version of the Sporting News basketball preview... how would you expect me, let alone the entire blog nation, to know that when I don't even read every single one of your previews like I do every single paragraph of every single page of the award-winning Los Angeles Times sports page every day?
But I do wanna say great work on all these basketball previews. I do see you as a future journalist when you finish college, because for one thing (unlike most so-called aspiring writers on these blogs) you got all your grammar, spelling, punctuation, diction, and syntax pretty well-covered.
I'd love to get paid to write about basketball someday, but I don't know if that'll ever happen. I'm not a journalism major, so who knows if I'll ever get an opportunity to get into it.
The most important thing is that you are doing something you love to do and your passion for it shows.
It's the same way with me and the way I write about the Lakers.
I was never a journalism major in my college days (I did, however, win awards of excellence as a sports writer at the Journalism Education Association National Write-Offs when I was in high school back in the early '90s) but I interned for my university newspaper just to keep my passion and interests going.
This is why I blog today. Although I don't get paid to write, it is certainly something I love doing and who knows, blogging can also serve as an audition that may lead to greater heights.
Just keep bringin' it because I'm sure you know that the satisfaction you gain by doing this far surpasses any monetary reward you will receive.
For the love of the game is what it always should be.
Last edited by J-DIZZLE on October 20th at 10:28 PM.
meone else up to be their point of the future. Depending on how Gerald Green develops, Foye might end up being a great backup combo guard. He's a good shooter and was a very good slasher in college.
shot at his own basket in an attempt to get a triple-double. There is no way in any universe I would ever want him on my team. Ever.
year since he's going from a dominating college team to a really bad NBA team, and because he might weigh as much as me if he's dripping wet. Once he bulks up a bit and polishes his game though, watch out. As for Richards, we don't really know all that much about him. He could very easily turn out to be a second round steal as a highly talented guy who got stuck behind 2 really good posts in college.
