Picking the Wolves to make the playoffs is crazy, sexy or cool depending on who you listen to, but there are a handful of teams that are going to pose a serious threat to ruin Minnesota’s hopes of ending the playoff drought. It won’t be easy, but Tom Thibodeau’s Timberwolves will have to make the leap over some teams while making sure not to tumble over others.
Like we’ve been doing for the Cavs, Warriors and Knicks here are the teams that can keep the Wolves from reaching their next plateau.
Los Angeles Lakers
Offseason: Named Luke Walton head coach, signed Luol Deng, Timofey Mozgov, Thomas Robinson, drafted Brandon Ingram, exorcised the ghost of Kobe Bryant.
Threat Level: Minimal. The Lakers will be better than last year, unless they decide to tank to ensure they keep their top-3 protected draft pick out of Philadelphia’s hands. Having a head coach on the sidelines that doesn’t seemingly have a deep disdain for the starting point guard will be a boon to D’Angelo Russell, who has star potential. Also with the dark cloud of the Black Mamba gone, a new spirit can take hold for the kids.
The Lakers, like the Timberwolves, have some good building blocks in the aforementioned Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle (such a great name, not a great game), and the 19-year-old Brandon Ingram. Luke Walton is the perfect bridge between the two worlds of modern day hoops and LA’s glory days of “old”. Luol Deng will serve as a valuable resource for the youth movement but won’t move the needle much on the court. Mozzy is fresh off a championship (have you heard the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the Finals?), is a huge body that can make somethings happen on both defense and in the P&R game.
The Lakers have trended downward since the 12-’13 season and last year could’ve been rock bottom. But something tells me they have one more stinker of a season in them before officially turning the corner.
Sacramento Kings
Offseason: Hired Dave Jorger as the new head coach. Signed Aaron Afflalo, Matt Barnes, Ty Lawson, Anthony Tolliver.
Threat Level: Low. “Boogie Bounces”, “Cousins Sacs Kings”, “False King”— just working out some headlines for the Kings as it seems they are careening uncontrollably to a free agency wherein Demarcus Cousins leaves for greener pastures; that is unless the new CBA makes leaving a financially insane proposition.
Could you blame Cousins? The Kings have been the worst operated franchise in the NBA for his entire career. The Kings draft in the top ten annually and either A) can’t draft the right players or B) have the worst environment for developing talent. My money’s on B for what it’s worth. Let’s not forget they sign random free agents as well. WHAT ARE MATT BARNES AND AARON AFFLALO DOING ON THIS TEAM!? What were they thinking when they drafted Willie Cauley-Stein when forwards Stanley Johnson, Justise Winslow and Trey Lyles were on the board and seemingly would be a better fit around Cousins and Rudy Gay??
Another 30 win season, a top-10 pick and another team surpassing them is all in store for the Kings…but at least their new stadium is cool .
Dallas Mavericks
Offseason: Resigned Dirk and Deron Williams. Signed Harrison Barnes. Traded for Andrew Bogut.
Threat Level: Real. Dallas won 42 games last year and had an output more than the sum of its parts. Rick Carlisle is one of the few elite coaches in the NBA and Dirk is a first ballot Hall of Famer and can still hit that patented one-legged fade away, but not much else. However the writing was on the wall last year that we are at the end of an era. Last season a very top heavy Western Conference allowed for a team two games over .500 to earn the sixth seed, albeit as a result of a tie-breaker with Memphis.
Barnes, Bogut, and Justin Anderson are all varied shades of nice players. Maybe there is something worthwhile in Nicholas Brussino, but this team is counting on Wes Matthews returning to form from his Achilles injury two years ago. Dirk is back for one more (last) go round on a $25M deal with a matching team option— if that isn’t a great retirement present I don’t know what is. If Matthews remains limited due to injury or creeping age (just celebrated his 30th born day), the Mavericks will need Carlisle to summon all of his coaching magic to hold off teams like the Timberwolves and make the playoffs.
New Orleans Pelicans
Offseason: Drafted Buddy Hield, Chieck Diallo. Signed Lance Stephenson, Solomon Hill, Langston Galloway.
Threat Level: Questionable. The Pelicans locked in Anthony Davis and appeared to be a lock to take the league by storm on the broad shoulders of The Brow until injury struck the big man down. Davis missed 20 games but played in the nearly all of their long losing streaks, of which there were many.
If Davis can play, this team can be a fringe playoff contender. His injury history and the inability to build a strong roster around him are both unnerving. Drafting an older player with some experience as well as a shooting stroke like Buddy Hield (22) was a master stroke as the team continues to build a small ball lineup tailor made to showcase the multifaceted game of Davis. Hield is also going to push fellow upperclassmen Kris Dunn for rookie of the year. Taking the chance on known headcase Lance Stephenson could pay dividends as well as he has proven himself a capable ball handler and facilitator…at times.
Everything comes back to The Brow and his health. The match ups between the Wolves and Pelicans are going to be so much fun.
Denver Nuggets
Offseason: Drafted Jamal Murray, Juan Hernangomez, Malik Beasley
Threat Level: Rising. The Nuggets are the runningest, gunningest, rootin tootin going nowherest team in the West. After three straight sub-40 win seasons, the Nuggets have amassed some considerable young talent, especially big man Nikola Jokic of deep basketball Twitter cult fame/member of the burgeoning big man revolution. Emmanuel Mudiay turned in one of the worst seasons a rookie point guard has ever completed, but at 20 years old he can still turn it around. If Denver gets a hit on any of the three players they drafted in the first round, they can really start to progress towards mediocrity.
The Nuggets seem to be in the midst of a “soft reboot” as it appears that Melo trade centerpieces Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler aren’t part of the future. The same can be said for “The Manimal” Kenneth Faried.
Head Coach Mike Malone has to bridge the gap between the two “eras” in Denver and continue to build the future around Mudiay and Jokic.
Somehow still only 19 for a couple more days, Devin Booker is everybody’s favorite breakout player to watch.
Phoenix Suns
Offseason: Drafted Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss, Tyler Ulis. Signed Jared Dudley and Leandro Barbosa.
Threat Level: Look over your shoulder. The first thing to jump out is Devin Booker, who garners rightful comparisons to Klay Thompson. Booker has handle and can score at the basket, pull up from mid range, and launch it from three. The second point is the youth on this team— the Suns are super young. No less than three teenagers (Booker, Bender, Chriss) are going to play big roles on this team. The Suns are going to be a fun team to watch while they learn to play the NBA game.
And they’ll have some good teachers on the roster in Tyson Chandler (won a title in Dallas and Defensive Player of the Year as a Knick), Leandro Barbosa (won a title with Golden State and three times a Suns player) and epitome of the term “journeyman” Jared Dudley. If this trio of veterans can instill the drive and smarts that made them successful into the youngins, they will have served their purpose while cashing in fat checks.
The Suns are just too young now but they are going to be really good. It’s not a stretch to see Phoenix and Minnesota having epic playoff battles for years to come.
Utah Jazz
Offseason: Traded for George Hill and Boris Diaw. Signed Joe Johnson.
Threat Level: Watch and Learn. I have the Jazz making the playoffs this year and they have been low key building towards a return to the postseason by going against the grain of small ball in the NBA. “The Stifle Tower” Rudy Gobert is a beast at protecting the basket. Derrick Favors and Trey Lyles can both play together and form a gigantic wall from the post to the perimeter. Gordon Hayward is good and is about to absolutely cash in as he enters free agency. “Iso” Joe Johnson is still one of the best and smoothest scorers in the NBA, while maintaining the ability to attack teams from the two, three or four position, creating extensive flexibility. Rodney Hood is sneaky good— with another season under his belt he is going to be a major contributor for the Jazz. Dante Exum and George Hill could also create havoc along the perimeter, as well as keep the offense humming along.
The Jazz brought in high IQ vets to balance out a roster of homegrown players entering their primes. Utah has been knocking on the door and (assuming they don’t have to go through Kobe “50-shot, 60-point” Bryant on the last day of the season again) are about to kick it in, with the Timberwolves right behind them.