Timberwolves Season Preview 2019-20

It is October in Minnesota which means multiple things: playoff baseball (yay!), early Vikings season, Wild season starts, and at the very end the Wolves start!

So where should I start with this article? Well after taking a year off and not observing the Wolves all that heavily, however I did attend a very slight home loss against the Clippers last season, I will start with what is usually at the end: my prediction.

My season prediction: 40-42, 9th spot in Western Conference, 3rd  in Northwest
I predict that the Timberwolves will go somewhere around 40-42 this year, give or take a few wins. They will place higher in the less competitive Northwest division, with Oklahoma City losing Westbrook and the Nuggets becoming the Nuggets again. 
Do I believe the Wolves have a realistic shot at the 8th spot?
Well of course I do! In reality if I made a ceiling and a floor prediction they would be as follows: high expectation is the 8th seed in WCP, low expectation is the 12th seed no playoffs.
Karl-Anthony Towns is quite obviously  a top-10 player and top-5 center in the entire NBA, if only the Wolves can build around him then they would actually be a viable playoff contender. Really, the Wolves have a borderline playoff roster, in the East they would most likely make the 7 or 8 seed as the roster stands right now. However since the West is so stacked, especially with the moves of many free agents this summer to the teams out on the coast, the probability of the Wolves being able to get a piece of the 8-slice pie is very unlikely. There are so many playoff contenders now in the West it almost feels the Wolves time has been passed over and the league has moved on from them already. This is the season the Wolves have to hover around .500 just to prove their worth, also their division is going to take a step down this year I believe. The only way really the Wolves could sneak into the playoffs have to be if the Jazz return to being how Ricky Rubio usually plays, and take the 2nd spot in the division, increasing the likelihood of a playoff appearance.
If Andrew Wiggins can return to his previous form of great scoring that would help the offense tremendously. If Robert Covington can stay healthy, the Wolves should have some semblance of defensive strategy.

Lots of this season depends how the Wolves have changed or evolved over the Summer and whether the hiring of Ryan Saunders as head coach actually is helping.

Whether they do well or not I will be watching them!

​Go Wolves!