The Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that always seems to have a superstar. In the past 20 years the Wolves have been through the Kevin Garnett era, the Kevin Love era, and now…the Karl Anthony-Towns and Andrew Wiggins era.
As you may have noticed, Minnesota currently have 2 superstars, which means double the fire-power! The 1st pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Andrew Wiggins, has proved over his first 2 seasons in the NBA that he belongs, and is ready to lead this team. The 1st pick in the 2015 draft, Karl Anthony-Towns was simply sensational in his rookie season, and was the outright winner of the ‘Rookie Of The Year’ award. He is already regarded as one of the leagues best centers.
That’s not all. The Timberwolves are stacked with potential stars, such as Zach Lavine, Gorgui Dieng, and their latest draft pick, Kris Dunn. They also have the flashy point guard that is Ricky Rubio, and future Hall Of Famer, Kevin Garnett, who is performing a role of player-coach to the young squad.
The 2016 NBA draft was deemed as a big success for Minnesota by the rest of the NBA. Kris Dunn is regarded as the biggest steal of the draft, and is expected to raise some eye brows when he steps foot onto the court for the first time. Having played the full four years at Providence College, Dunn brings experience from his 4 years. He has been nurtured and developed into the player he is, and his patience and hard work has paid off with a very much deserved Top 5 pick in the draft. In his senior year at Providence, Dunn averaged 16 points per game, to go along with 6 assists and 5 rebounds. He also averaged 2.5 steals per outing as well, proving to be a threat on the defensive end as well. Finally, Dunn developed his 3 point shot over the course of his college career, and shot 37% from behind the arc in his final season, a very respectable number.
Dunn is expected to challenge Ricky Rubio for his position as Point Guard, and new Head Coach Tom Thibodeau will have a difficult decision to make.
The Timberwolves team are on the verge of becoming a real threat in the Western Conference. Towns and Wiggins are both dominant players, and will only improve even further with age. They are both expected to be all-stars multiple times throughout their careers. Lavine is known for his dunks (and rightly so), but he is also developing at an exciting rate , and is tipped to be developed into a shooting guard, rather than running the point. Dieng has also taken strides to being a very good big man in this league, and looks set to work well with Towns. Again, they will continue to develop as a duo which can only mean good things going forward for the team.
Having not made the playoffs since 2004, the fans in Minnesota are desperate for a positive season. They have seen superstars move away and win Championships elsewhere, with Garnett winning in Boston, and Love winning in Cleveland. It is finally time for the winning to return to Minnesota?
All I will say is that although we all know what this group is capable of in the future, I wouldn’t rule them out being a real threat in the Western Conference this season, and for years to come.
