A New Blueprint: The Rebuild of the Minnesota Timberwolves

Anthony Bennett                     Zach LaVine                    Andrew Wiggins                Thaddeus Young

The Minnesota Timberwolves.  A team that traded away its top player, Kevin Love, this summer will most likely lose more games than they did last year (40-42) and will miss the playoffs for the 11th year in a row; longest active streak in the league.  While the team may struggle the Timberwolves are in the process of their newest rebuilding project with a bunch of young and unproven talent, I find myself excited for what the future may hold.

New Additions:

Zach LaVine - The #13 overall pick in the 2014 draft might be the most athletic player in the draft that including Andrew Wiggins. At 6'5" he is big enough to play the two but Flip Saunders would also like to be able to use him as a point guard in the future. 

Andrew Wiggins at 2014 NBA Draft

Andrew Wiggins - The Timberwolves first ever #1 overall draft pick.  He has the athletic ability and potential to be the most dynamic wing player in Timberwolves history.  While his offense may take a while to develop, he should be able to step in right away and play solid perimeter defense. 

Anthony Bennett - The second ever #1 draft pick, both acquired in the Cleveland trade.  Bennett intrigues me even though he had a disastrous rookie year.  The Timberwolves spin on last year is that he had knee surgery in the summer and never really got his legs under him.  I don't know if I believe that but he has the potential to be a back to the basket player while also being able to stretch the floor. Not as far as Kevin Love, but in the 10'-15' variety.

Thaddeus Young - Acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers; he will try to replace some of the offensive production lost from Love.  He will not average a double-double but more likely 15 points and eight rebounds a night.  He will be an immediate upgrade on the defensive end where Love usually used to regroup and recharge for another pick and pop three pointer. 

Glen Robinson III - Possible steal of the draft falling to the Wolves at pick #40. Most likely will not play much this year but another young athletic wing who has the potential to turn into a very good role player.

Mo Williams - Might be one of the best pure shooters on the roster.  Along with Young he was brought into provide leadership and guidance to this young team.  Think what Sam Mitchell was to Kevin Garnett.

Remaining Wolves:

Shabazz Muhammad - Did not get much playing time last year, but has spent this summer rebuilding his body. This will, hopefully, allow him to be quicker laterally on defense to stay on the floor at the small forward position.  He may also be able to offer rotation flexibility by being able to play the 4 when/if the Wolves go with a small quicker lineup. 

Gorgui Dieng - He showed signs of becoming a "rim protector" that the Timberwolves have never had.  His offensive game leaves a lot to be desired but if he can protect the rim while grabbing some defensive rebounds there will be a spot on this team for him. 

Throw in established NBA players such as big man Nikola Pekovic, pure scorer Kevin Martin, defensive minded (and NBA Champion) Corey Brewer and Ricky Rubio leading the show give a solid baseline for the Wolves to start with. Ricky will absolutely be the face of the franchise at this point, and a key factor in how successful this team will be. With a more athletic team around him, the Wolves will try to push the ball like the Phoenix Suns when they implemented the "7 seconds or less" mentality with All-Stars Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire.  The problem is, for this team to make it the next level, Rubio must learn how to shoot the ball.  Being able to consistently knock down a 15' shot would do wonders for this team. The team also has to get rid of JJ Barea's and his awful contract. He's not going to get a whole lot of playing time with the bigger and more athletic young guns on the squad, and his contract needs to get off the books for the team to be able have some flexibility in free agency and contract extensions. 

Flip Saunders

The most exciting addition to me is Flip Saunders as coach. He will go through the growing pains of a young team and has the experience of developing young talent into a solid core, that should be ready to compete in two to three years.  While the Wolves will most likely not build on what they did last year, or even compete for a playoff spot, what Flip has promised is a fun, defensive minded group that will let their athleticism and hard nose defense  turn into a up tempo style offense.  They will struggle to score points but with Rubio pushing the ball and distributing to our young dynamic wings, there should be at least one 'wow' moment a game.  Hopefully this will be the last 'blueprint for the future' for some time.  I don't know about you but I am excited to see how it turns out.  

Ryan Larson

Contributing Writer to IzzyLegit