Had the Minnesota Timberwolves been in the Eastern Conference, they would have been in the playoffs. Instead, the T-Wolves finished tenth in the more competitive Western Conference and extended their playoff drought to a decade. As a result, they fired their general manager and head coach and now face the dilemma of what to do with the face of their franchise, Kevin Love who will be entering the final guaranteed year of his contract.
Here are the Minnesota Timberwolves off-season needs.
Minnesota Timberwolves (40-42 last year)
2014-15 Projected Depth Chart:
C: Nikola Pekovic/Gorgui Dieng/Ronny Turiaf
PF: Kevin Love/Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
SF: Corey Brewer/Chase Budinger/Shabazz Muhammad/*Robbie Hummel
SG: Kevin Martin/Alexey Shved
PG: Ricky Rubio/J.J. Barea
NBA Free Agents:
PF-Dante Cunningham (UFA)
*SF-Robbie Hummel (RFA)
2014-15 Team Salary: approximately $66.5 million
Team Needs:
1. What’s Love got to do with it?:
Let’s be realistic; Kevin Love’s days in Minnesota are numbered. Sorry, T-Wolves fans. There is no way he is re-signing with the Timberwolves and will certainly be testing free agency next summer since numerous more desirable destinations will be coveting his services. So what is Minnesota waiting for?
They need to pull the trigger on a trade that can net the TWolves some key pieces without having to go into a massive rebuilding effort like the franchise experienced after dealing Kevin Garnett. A quality veteran, young player, and high draft would be the ideal coup for Minnesota and there should be a bidding war for Love’s services. Making a move prior to the season would be more beneficial than waiting until midway through the year.
2. Strengthen Second Unit:
The Timberwolves starting five was highly productive but the team struggled to find steady production from the bench as Rick Adelman was constantly juggling lineups to try and find a consistent solution. Minnesota should be able to land a solid role player with their first round pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. Finding a frontcourt scoring option off the bench should be a goal especially if Dante Cunningham is not re-signed.
3. Defense:
While the T-Wolves put a lot of points on the scoreboard, they also gave up a ton to their opponents. The late season development of Gorgui Dieng helped provide a bit of a defensive presence in the middle but their perimeter defense was rather poor and needs to improve.
OTHER NBA OFF-SEASON TEAM NEEDS PAGES:
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.