The Minnesota Timberwolves are a team built for the future. After years of stockpiling young talent, the franchise now boasts former No. 1 picks Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, talented point guard Ricky Rubio, reigning Euroleague MVP Nemanja Bjelica and other intriguing young pieces like Zach LaVine and Shabazz Muhammad.
Minnesota Timberwolves 2015 roster: Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns give hope for the future
A young, talented roster should make Minnesota entertaining even if it’s another losing season.
Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
That’s an exciting foundation for Minnesota, and one that puts it on track to return to relevance eventually. Wiggins and Towns are potential superstars. Rubio may be limited offensively but gives the team a stable, pass-first point guard to help others build confidence. Bjelica, LaVine and Muhammad could all impress, too.
Unfortunately, that likely won’t lead to much success in 2015-16. The Western Conference is just too good, and the talent on hand for Minnesota is too far away from its peak. That makes the upcoming season all about building and making progress. After being a pathetically bad defensive team that won just 16 games a year ago, the Timberwolves have some reason to be optimistic that rock bottom is behind them.
LAST YEAR
RECORD: 16-66 (15th in Western Conference)
PLAYOFFS: DID NOT QUALIFY
OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 99.8 (26th)
DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 109.6 (30th)
ROSTER
No. | PLAYER | POS | HEIGHT | WEIGHT | AGE | COLLEGE |
| 1 | Tyus Jones | PG | 6'2 | 195 | 19 | Duke |
| 5 | Gorgui Dieng | C | 6'11 | 241 | 25 | Louisville |
| 8 | Zach LaVine | SG | 6'5 | 189 | 20 | UCLA |
| 9 | Ricky Rubio | PG | 6'4 | 194 | 24 | |
| 10 | Damjan Rudez | SF | 6'10 | 228 | 29 | |
| 12 | Tayshaun Prince | SF | 6'9 | 212 | 35 | Kentucky |
| 14 | Nikola Pekovic | C | 6'11 | 307 | 29 | |
| 15 | Shabazz Muhammad | SF | 6'6 | 223 | 22 | UCLA |
| 21 | Kevin Garnett | PF | 6'11 | 240 | 39 | |
| 22 | Andrew Wiggins | SF | 6'8 | 199 | 20 | Kansas |
| 23 | Kevin Martin | SG | 6'7 | 199 | 32 | Western Carolina |
| 24 | Andre Miller | PG | 6'2 | 216 | 39 | Utah |
| 32 | Karl-Anthony Towns | PF/C | 7'0 | 244 | 19 | Kentucky |
| 33 | Adreian Payne | PF | 6'10 | 237 | 24 | Michigan State |
| 88 | Nemanja Bjelica | PF | 6'10 | 240 | 27 |
Coach: Flip Saunders (on leave of absence); interim coach is Sam Mitchell
Assistant coaches: Sam Mitchell, Sidney Lowe, Ryan Saunders, David Adelman
OFFSEASON CHANGES
IN: Karl-Anthony Towns, Tyus Jones, Nemanja Bjelica, Andre Miller
OUT: Anthony Bennett, Chase Budinger, Robbie Hummel, Justin Hamilton
The Timberwolves' big additions came through the draft, where the team added Towns and Jones. Bjelica should also play a significant role after winning the 2015 Euroleague MVP as a member of Fenerbahçe Ülker in Turkey.
DEPTH CHART
POINT GUARD | SHOOTING GUARD | SMALL FORWARD | POWER FORWARD | CENTER | |
STARTER | Ricky Rubio | Zach LaVine | Andrew Wiggins | Kevin Garnett | Karl-Anthony Towns |
RESERVE | Andre Miller | Kevin Martin | Shabazz Muhammad | Nemanja Bjelica | Gorgui Dieng |
RESERVE | Tyus Jones | Damjan Rudez | Adreian Payne | Nikola Pekovic | |
RESERVE | Tayshaun Prince |
|
What Can Kevin Garnett Do for the Wolves?
Franchise icon Kevin Garnett was acquired from the Nets last trade deadline, played a handful of games, and promptly sat down with knee problems for the rest of the year. The team re-signed him to a somewhat shocking two-year, $16M deal in the summer, and he’s slated to start at power forward. He won’t play a ton--20 minutes a night when he’s available seems a reasonable guess. Still, he’s likely to be their best defensive rebounder when he’s on the court, he remains a good defensive player, and has obvious leadership skills. Is it worth it?
Everyone universally raves about his demeanor in practice and on the bench, how much he’s teaching the young players, and how his commitment to defense and effort is rubbing off on the whole team. This is something impossible to measure, but certainly he means a lot to the franchise as the signature player in its history, and he probably helps some even at this late point in his career. That $8M won’t hurt them this season; whether it matters next season we’ll have to wait and see.
PREDICTIONS
BEST CASE: Towns wins Rookie of the Year after a close battle with breakout candidate Bjelica, Wiggins progresses toward star status faster than expected, Rubio shoots 40-plus percent and the Timberwolves turn some heads in the West.
WORST CASE: Towns and Wiggins stall in their development, Bjelica struggles to adjust to American hoops and Rubio shoots 35 percent again, yet Minnesota somehow wins enough to have its pick fall below the No. 1-12 range and has to send its first-rounder to Boston.
* * *
SB Nation presents: NBA Draft winners and losers
See More:
