Timberwolves Future/Potential

I love the Timberwolves potential future, but signing Rubio to that contract could prove to be a setback.

I love the Timberwolves potential future, but signing Rubio to that contract could prove to be a setback.

 Wolves will be pushing for the playoffs in a couple of years (do you hear that Love? Playoffs!) and will be threatening to make the finals soon after.

 Wolves will be pushing for the playoffs in a couple of years (do you hear that Love? Playoffs!) and will be threatening to make the finals soon after.

Wiggin’s and KAT together would solidify our defense and give use consistant scoring.  When you add LaVine’s talent, that gives us 3 guys with all-star "potential" to build around.

Rubio and Pek are untradable right now, cause of their injuries and salaries.  I actually want Rubio here. When he was on the court last year, they were a better team.  Pek’s really good, but can’t stay healthy.

I like Shabazz, Dieng, and Payne, but Bennet and Brown seem to be the odd men out. 

As for the Vet’s (Martin, Budinger, Hummel, and Garnett) they are not part of the future.  

The futures bright, though it could be two to three years away from competing for playoff spot, but at least we have the talent to build a good team.

Wiggin’s and KAT together would solidify our defense and give use consistant scoring.  When you add LaVine’s talent, that gives us 3 guys with all-star "potential" to build around.

Rubio and Pek are untradable right now, cause of their injuries and salaries.  I actually want Rubio here. When he was on the court last year, they were a better team.  Pek’s really good, but can’t stay healthy.

I like Shabazz, Dieng, and Payne, but Bennet and Brown seem to be the odd men out. 

As for the Vet’s (Martin, Budinger, Hummel, and Garnett) they are not part of the future.  

The futures bright, though it could be two to three years away from competing for playoff spot, but at least we have the talent to build a good team.

Obviously no talk of this happening and it isn’t really within the realm of possibility but Love would fit in nicely with this Wolves team if they take Towns lol. Rubio/Lavine/Wiggins/Love/Towns would be one fun unit to watch.

The mix of young players and veterans makes this team exciting and they should be one of the teams in the mix for the 8th seed in the West next year. Whether they can maintain that over the course of 82 games is another story but the future is definitely bright.

Obviously no talk of this happening and it isn’t really within the realm of possibility but Love would fit in nicely with this Wolves team if they take Towns lol. Rubio/Lavine/Wiggins/Love/Towns would be one fun unit to watch.

The mix of young players and veterans makes this team exciting and they should be one of the teams in the mix for the 8th seed in the West next year. Whether they can maintain that over the course of 82 games is another story but the future is definitely bright.

 I don’t think LaVine is strong enough to defend starting shooting guards, and Wiggins isn’t strong enough to defend small forwards every night.

There’s a reason they lost so many games.

If the goal next year is to actually win games next year, Wiggins should start at SG, and they should try to sign a quality small forward free agent, or maybe a quality 3 and D guy is available at pick 31. 

And Towns should start at PF next to Pekovic if Pek’s healthy.

Unless the goal is just to put as many high upside prospects on the court as possible…

 I don’t think LaVine is strong enough to defend starting shooting guards, and Wiggins isn’t strong enough to defend small forwards every night.

There’s a reason they lost so many games.

If the goal next year is to actually win games next year, Wiggins should start at SG, and they should try to sign a quality small forward free agent, or maybe a quality 3 and D guy is available at pick 31. 

And Towns should start at PF next to Pekovic if Pek’s healthy.

Unless the goal is just to put as many high upside prospects on the court as possible…

 Wolves are in a good position, and have drafted incredibly the past three seasons. I think Wiggins is a future star, and whoever they draft this year is going to be much better suited because they won’t really have the expectation of turning a franchise around. Wiggins already has that ticket punched for Minny. 

Having a promising young core of LaVine/Wiggins/Bazz/Dieng/Payne/#1 pick is great, because Minny has the ability to groom these guys, and eventually trade them for a better haul if they feel like it, kind of like CLE and BOS traded their assetts to Minny for their star player, now Minny is in a great position to do the same thing for a star. 

I don’t like Rubio and Pek on this team though. Both are getting paid handsomely, and both are injury prone players. I would keep them around for one more year just to let the young guys gain a better feel for the NBA and take a lot of the pressure off, but after next year with Lavine/Wiggins/Bazz/Deng all going into their 3rd and 4th years, I think they need to be off the team. 

I also think we need to see the Wolves find an identity soon, and build off of that. Do they want to be a high flying uptempo team to abuse their athleticism and speed, or do they want to be a defensive team that wears teams down in the post and force tough shots? I think whoever they draft this year will help move the needle in one of these directions, and am excited to see how the Wolves play next year. They have all the youth and versatility a team could want, so now it all comes down to smart managment moves and player developement. 

A future lineup of 

Towns

Dieng

Wiggins

Bazz

Rubio

Is very nice, and having Payne/Lavine coming off the bench as offensive spartplugs would be awesome to watch, and could see that team winning 50 games in the West in 2 years if they can upgrade the PG spot, and add a few solid veterans. I’m hoping with KG in the mix now, that he can get across to the young guys, and have them play with a level of pride and urgency/intensity that is missing from a lot of teams in the NBA today 

 Wolves are in a good position, and have drafted incredibly the past three seasons. I think Wiggins is a future star, and whoever they draft this year is going to be much better suited because they won’t really have the expectation of turning a franchise around. Wiggins already has that ticket punched for Minny. 

Having a promising young core of LaVine/Wiggins/Bazz/Dieng/Payne/#1 pick is great, because Minny has the ability to groom these guys, and eventually trade them for a better haul if they feel like it, kind of like CLE and BOS traded their assetts to Minny for their star player, now Minny is in a great position to do the same thing for a star. 

I don’t like Rubio and Pek on this team though. Both are getting paid handsomely, and both are injury prone players. I would keep them around for one more year just to let the young guys gain a better feel for the NBA and take a lot of the pressure off, but after next year with Lavine/Wiggins/Bazz/Deng all going into their 3rd and 4th years, I think they need to be off the team. 

I also think we need to see the Wolves find an identity soon, and build off of that. Do they want to be a high flying uptempo team to abuse their athleticism and speed, or do they want to be a defensive team that wears teams down in the post and force tough shots? I think whoever they draft this year will help move the needle in one of these directions, and am excited to see how the Wolves play next year. They have all the youth and versatility a team could want, so now it all comes down to smart managment moves and player developement. 

A future lineup of 

Towns

Dieng

Wiggins

Bazz

Rubio

Is very nice, and having Payne/Lavine coming off the bench as offensive spartplugs would be awesome to watch, and could see that team winning 50 games in the West in 2 years if they can upgrade the PG spot, and add a few solid veterans. I’m hoping with KG in the mix now, that he can get across to the young guys, and have them play with a level of pride and urgency/intensity that is missing from a lot of teams in the NBA today 

 I think if they can move Martin, Rubio, Pekovic’s contracts and build around Towns, Wiggins, Dieng, Lavine, Bennett, and Payne and add some pieces through free-agency (but dont over-spend)…This team coule be in the playoffs in 2 years, maybe 3. 

 I think if they can move Martin, Rubio, Pekovic’s contracts and build around Towns, Wiggins, Dieng, Lavine, Bennett, and Payne and add some pieces through free-agency (but dont over-spend)…This team coule be in the playoffs in 2 years, maybe 3. 

 Agreed with zerodoubt. No way Lavine can be a starter for a good team as soon as next year. He needs to add weight and get smarter…really just needs time to mature. I do think he can be a nice 6th man type guy in the Crawford mode. 

I’d love to see the Wolves move up with those high 2nd rounders and get a guy like Justin Anderson. 

Starting 5 next year would be: Rubio-Martin-Wiggins-Towns-Pek

Bench next year would be: LaVine-Anderson-Muhammed-Garnett/Dieng

Payne/Bennett fight for time as backup bigs when Pek and Garnett go down. Martin needs to stick around because the team has zero shooting (problem that isn’t going away if Rubio is around). You might be able to deal him around the deadline if Andersson shows he can shoot or Bazzy shows he can defend. 

Wolves are getting closer but the West is just so stacked right now and the team still has holes. They need to find shooters either by improvement from Wiggins/Lavine/Muhammed or sign/trades. 

I’d love to see the Wolves identify a guy who’s been miscast and can break out with a change of scenery ala Middleton or Tobias Harris. Idk who that is, but that is kinda the way they are going to have to build because they are never going to attract even above average free agents. 

 Agreed with zerodoubt. No way Lavine can be a starter for a good team as soon as next year. He needs to add weight and get smarter…really just needs time to mature. I do think he can be a nice 6th man type guy in the Crawford mode. 

I’d love to see the Wolves move up with those high 2nd rounders and get a guy like Justin Anderson. 

Starting 5 next year would be: Rubio-Martin-Wiggins-Towns-Pek

Bench next year would be: LaVine-Anderson-Muhammed-Garnett/Dieng

Payne/Bennett fight for time as backup bigs when Pek and Garnett go down. Martin needs to stick around because the team has zero shooting (problem that isn’t going away if Rubio is around). You might be able to deal him around the deadline if Andersson shows he can shoot or Bazzy shows he can defend. 

Wolves are getting closer but the West is just so stacked right now and the team still has holes. They need to find shooters either by improvement from Wiggins/Lavine/Muhammed or sign/trades. 

I’d love to see the Wolves identify a guy who’s been miscast and can break out with a change of scenery ala Middleton or Tobias Harris. Idk who that is, but that is kinda the way they are going to have to build because they are never going to attract even above average free agents. 

 Obviously gotta feel good about it, especially if you’re high on Towns. Both Wiggins and Towns have the potential to be top 5 or 10 caliber of players in their primes. The great thing is theyre the same age so they’ll both be at their best at the same time, which takes pressure of each other. Also Lavine, Muhammed and Dieng are young and promising and can help fill out the roster, how good Lavine becomes could be the difference from being a good team to a great team. I still think the biggest thing the T-wolves future rides on (besides Towns and Wiggins) is Rubio. He’s proven he can play when healthy. Yet he’s yet to stay 100%, and the shooting numbers are troublesome, and the new contract means you’re stuck with him for better or for worse. Best case, he stays healthy, he begins to develop as a shooter and is able to be the playmaker we all dreamed about, because the playmaker Rubio is a perfect fit for this team if he develops a shot and stays on the court. From there it’s easy to plug in role players when you’ve got a good core

 Obviously gotta feel good about it, especially if you’re high on Towns. Both Wiggins and Towns have the potential to be top 5 or 10 caliber of players in their primes. The great thing is theyre the same age so they’ll both be at their best at the same time, which takes pressure of each other. Also Lavine, Muhammed and Dieng are young and promising and can help fill out the roster, how good Lavine becomes could be the difference from being a good team to a great team. I still think the biggest thing the T-wolves future rides on (besides Towns and Wiggins) is Rubio. He’s proven he can play when healthy. Yet he’s yet to stay 100%, and the shooting numbers are troublesome, and the new contract means you’re stuck with him for better or for worse. Best case, he stays healthy, he begins to develop as a shooter and is able to be the playmaker we all dreamed about, because the playmaker Rubio is a perfect fit for this team if he develops a shot and stays on the court. From there it’s easy to plug in role players when you’ve got a good core

 The T-Wolves have a lot of young talent on the roster but have been drafting high in the lottery virtually since the last couple of yeas of the KG era.

I’m assuming they take KAT and look to move Pekovic unless they can both play together although I like the idea of Dieng and KAT as a twin towers combo allowing them to play a slightly smaller line up at 1 to 3.

With GSW going totally smallball the other night the idea of the T-Wolves taking Russell did cross my mind but I don’t see that happening.

Rubio needs to be used as a creator to spread the floor, don’t have him taking a lot of shots, have him get the ball to Wiggins, LaVine etc.

KG will hopefully take on some role alongside Flip so they have the perfect guy to teach them defence and a winning mentality.

 The T-Wolves have a lot of young talent on the roster but have been drafting high in the lottery virtually since the last couple of yeas of the KG era.

I’m assuming they take KAT and look to move Pekovic unless they can both play together although I like the idea of Dieng and KAT as a twin towers combo allowing them to play a slightly smaller line up at 1 to 3.

With GSW going totally smallball the other night the idea of the T-Wolves taking Russell did cross my mind but I don’t see that happening.

Rubio needs to be used as a creator to spread the floor, don’t have him taking a lot of shots, have him get the ball to Wiggins, LaVine etc.

KG will hopefully take on some role alongside Flip so they have the perfect guy to teach them defence and a winning mentality.

 You have to realize that the team is about 32 times better when Rubio is on the floor. No he might not be an all star or championship caliber poin t guard,but right now in 2015 he’s the most important player on the team. Just watch a T’wolves game with and without him. Just not the same team.

 You have to realize that the team is about 32 times better when Rubio is on the floor. No he might not be an all star or championship caliber poin t guard,but right now in 2015 he’s the most important player on the team. Just watch a T’wolves game with and without him. Just not the same team.