2020-21 Timberwolves Season Preview

The Minnesota Timberwolves will be starting their 2020-21 season on Wednesday as they host the Detroit Pistons in their empty home opener at Target Center.

I suppose it is about time to tell you all what I think of the 2020 preseason and my expectations for this year's Timberwolves team.

I will tell you flat off the bat that I have much higher expectations for this year's team then I did for last year's team. This team is much more well rounded and has a lot more diversity in playing style and playing strength. A lot of things have happened over this elongated offseason for this team and I am very excited to see how this year unfolds. 

Alright so let me tell you where we left off with this team last season. So the last time we saw the Timberwolves play a regular season game was Tuesday, March 10, 2020. That game was a loss in Houston. Not much was going on with the Wolves at that point. While they made huge splashes at the trade deadline when they basically overhauled the whole team around Towns, not much of that return would be made until the next season. There were a lot of new pieces, and many didn't know where they would fit yet. Therefore, the last month of last season was mix of emotions for fans. You would see the offense play really well, but since it never seemed the true starting 5 ever started in the same game you didn't really know how good this team could be. They won over teams like the Clippers and the Pelicans but lost to the Hornets and Magic. They never could quite get into a groove. Then covid hit and everything got shut down and the Wolves reformatted team became ancient history until November rolls around.

Once we knew the circumstances and parameters of the 2020-21 season, the draft rolled around with the Wolves receiving the number one overall pick. This put lots of hope into fans minds, almost more then the deadline overhaul did. Except the only weird thing is this year's draft may end up being one of the weakest drafts in recent memory based on limited game film and pressure moments that usually occur for draft picks on the wire. Nevertheless the Wolves picked Anthony Edwards, a guard out of Georgia. Quite a good pick in my mind and as long as he continues to develop we should see him in a Wolves uniform for quite a few years. We also drafted a couple others as well. The other big addition is the return of point guard Ricky Rubio, originally drafted by the Timberwolves back in 2012! He adds a great veteran presence to a team of youngsters. He also returns to Target Center with a better 3-point percentage then when he played in Minnesota last time. 

The preseason rolls around and this new Wolves team did impress me quite a bit. They had two close games and a blowout loss. The close games impressed me way more. Head coach Ryan Saunders did warn that we will see many different lineups and subs throughout the preseason since he was still playing with what lineups to use in the regular season. That being said, I liked the combinations he was trying. At one point I saw a Rubio-Beasley-Russell-Okogie lineup out there and it seemed very well put together. I am very excited to see how this team develops! 

This season will be a true test of Rosas and Saunders dream lineups for the Timberwolves and a testament to the culture they have been trying to create in downtown Minneapolis for the last several years. My expectations for this team are fairly high considering their past finishes, but modest in comparison to any playoff team.
I expect the Wolves to finish anywhere between 45 wins to 30 wins this year. The high ball estimate would put the Wolves most likely at a 4th seed in the Western Conference whereas a 30 win season would put the Wolves at the 2nd or 3rd team out of the playoffs. I consider this a modest expectation for the amount of talent on the Wolves roster this season. Towns will be entering his prime years of play in the next couple seasons, and Russell will be doing the same as well. We still have a year or two before Beasley hits his prime and Edwards is 19 years old so we have quite a few years yet before he is even close to prime. Rubio may be exiting his prime but if he plays anything like he did last year, that shouldn't be a problem!

I am very excited to see where this team goes this year. Hopefully its up, because you really can't go much lower then where this team has been in the past decade and a half.

​Go Wolves!