Portland Trail Blazers: Projecting each Northwest Division team’s record
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Additions: Jarrett Culver, Jake Layman, Shabazz Napier, Treveon Graham, Noah Vonleh, Jordan Bell, Tyrone Wallace
- Losses: Derrick Rose, Tyus Jones, Taj Gibson, Dario Saric, Anthony Tolliver, Cameron Reynolds
The Timberwolves have made their prime objective abundantly clear: keep Karl-Anthony Towns content in Minnesota with a competitive roster around him on an upward trajectory. So far, so good. At least when it comes to keeping Towns happy.
In a recent interview with Jon Krawczynski of the Athletic, Towns expressed his determination to make the most of his time in Minnesota after agreeing to a five-year, $190 million extension.
"“I’m tremendously happy. I love my front office. I love my coaching staff. I think we’ve made great moves and great changes. I love the culture we have here. If you want to leave, you have to be miserable somewhere. I am not there. I’m planning to be in Minnesota for a long time.”"
This is probably music to the ears of Timberwolves fans, after repeatedly losing franchise stars Kevin Garnett, Kevin Love and Jimmy Butler to contending teams thirsting for that final piece.
If the team has actually improved this season remains to be seen. Derrick Rose single-handedly willed Minnesota to a few wins last year. Tyus Jones was an advanced stats darling for good reason, and is better than any of the replacement guards Minnesota brought in such as Treveon Graham and Shabazz Napier.
Questions also remain if their crowded rotation at the wing can really fill out the starting five after purging last year’s power forward rotation in Taj Gibson and Dario Saric. Inserting Josh Okogie, Andrew Wiggins and Robert Covington all in the starting lineup could be a genius idea, or go disastrously wrong.
It remains to be seen if trading up for Jarrett Culver was the right move (when they presumably expected Darius Garland to fall to No. 6 to replace Jeff Teague) when they could have kept their pick and selected the impressive Brandon Clarke instead.
At the very least, picking up players like Jake Layman and Noah Vonleh should be great additions to their bench and relieve the load off Towns shoulders while he rests.
While this year’s roster is probably less talented, it is more well rounded and should suggest a slight improvement with an extra year of development from Towns and a healthy Covington. Last year, the Timberwolves were 24-36 without Covington in the lineup, and 12-10 when he was. Expect Minnesota to field a slightly more competitive next year in a juiced up Western Conference.