Picking Up the Pieces: Minnesota Timberwolves

Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA Teams
Posted on: October 13th, 2009

This is part four of the mini-series that’s focusing on teams that were hit hard by the “Four Horsemen” (Injury, Salary Cap, Rebuilding, Bad Contracts) over the off-season.

After an injury-riddled 2008-09 season in which the Wolves finished 24-58, the team decided it needed an extreme makeover in every way possible. David Kahn, a former “sports executive” and GM of the Pacers from 1998-2002, became their Ty Pennington as the team’s new president of basketball operations.

Kahn wasted no time putting his own stamp on the team, letting go long-time VP and short-time coach Kevin McHale because, as he noted, the team would be going through a transition period. This transition period started immediately, as Kahn quickly flipped the Wolves’ two best guards in Randy Foye and Mike Miller to the Wizards for what amounted to cap space and the number 5 pick in the 2009 draft. It was a decent move until he turned the 5th pick into a bag of magic Spanish beans.

Fortunately, the Wolves selected another point guard in Jonny Flynn with the 6th pick in the draft. With Rubio spurning the Wolves to play in Barcelona, it appeared that that Jonny Flynn would take over the team’s PG duties this season That is, until the Wolves signed Ramon Sessions to a four year $16.4 million contract in early September.

So, where do the Wolves stand?

Please Stop Dry Humping Jonny Flynn’s Leg: So here is the deal, the Wolves currently have seven guards on their roster: Ramon Sessions, Flynn, Jason Hart, Damien Wilkins, Sasha Pavlovic, Wayne Ellington and Mustafa Shakur. Now, the overly optimistic want to think that Sessions and Flynn are going to make up the starting backcourt for the Wolves. First, that would be a ridiculously small 1-2 combo for a team that is already small. Second, the Wolves have committed to Sessions monetarily by giving him a four year contract. It would be stupid for a team to commit like that without a solid plan in place…

oh right… David Kahn.

Ok, so here is what we know. In their last preseason game, the Wolves started Flynn at PG, Sasha Pavlovic at SG and Corey Brewer at SF. It worked exactly like you’d expect: Flynn had 5 turnovers in 23 minutes, Pavlovic was 1-5 from the floor and Brewer was 4-14 from the floor. The team’s next preseason game is not until the 14th and I’d be very curious to see what starting lineup they throw out.

In the meantime, there are a lot of guards vying for not a lot of minutes. The result could be that everyone loses, at least in terms of playing time. Sessions still has breakout potential, especially at PG if he’s working to his strengths and dropping mad dimes. I’m not going to tell you not to draft Flynn – the kid has talent and will be able to get to the rim and score right out of the gate – just don’t invest a high pick on a rookie who is not guaranteed a starting job. The really sad thing is that Pavlovic will probably earn far more minutes than he deserves. Stay away from him even if he’s the starter as he’ll only contribute in threes.

Rookie Wayne Ellington is a nice sleeper pick at the end of a draft. He’ll have to compete for minutes at shooting guard with Pavlovic and Damien Wilkins (don’t waste your time with Wilkins unless you like shooting guards that can’t shoot) and possibility Ramon Sessions. Ellington has more upside than Pavlovic and Wilkins, both in real life and in fantasy. He’s a pure off the ball shooting guard who will benefit immensely having a point guard who can set him up like Sessions. Take a flyer on Ellington with the last pick in your draft to see how many minutes he can carve out at SG.

Consistent Mediocrity vs. Unfulfilled Potential: Despite the fact that Brewer started the Wolves’ preseason game, my money would be on Ryan Gomes being the team’s starting small forward coming out of camp. As a fantasy player, Gomes is what he is: a low-risk low-reward end of the draft pick who will get you 13 points, 5 boards, and a three a game. His consistency has some fantasy value, but it is hardly exciting to draft. Some people still like Corey Brewer and his potential. But after two years, we’ve seen a guy who is weak offensively and has a defensive game that hasn’t lived up to expectations. He’ll take minutes away from Gomes, but don’t look for him to contribute in a fantasy context.

Big Love: Kevin Love had a promising rookie year, averaging 11 points, 9 rebounds and 5 tweets in about 25 minutes a game for the Wolves. After Big Al went down with a torn ACL in February, Love became a starter and increased those numbers to 13 and 9.5. He finished last season ranked in the 150 range on the GMTR player rater, primarily because he doesn’t do steals, assists, or threes. But if you miss out on drafting David Lee this season, then Love is your man a few rounds later.

Big Al Jefferson is a beast no doubt, but can he stay on the court? I don’t know, that’s a rhetorical question. What we do know is that he’s a beast. And at 24 years old, his game should continue to improve, with 25, 11 and 2 blocks a game not out of the question this season. Did I mention he’s a beast? Jefferson has looked fine in camp so far, although the Wolves have been limiting his minutes. I’d certainly be a little scared staking the fortunes of my fantasy team to Jefferson staying healthy, but if things bounce right, he will be one of the best – if not the best – fantasy center in the league. He should be gone by the end of the first or beginning of the second round. If you do draft Jefferson, make sure you sacrifice a few extra virgins just to be safe.

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