The Minnesota Timberwolves Futures Odds (BetDSI Sportsbook)
Minnesota Timberwolves to win the Northwest Division: +175
Minnesota Timberwolves to win the Western Conference: +1800
Minnesota Timberwolves to win the NBA Championship: +2500
Minnesota Timberwolves Season Total Win Prediction: Total 46.5 (Over -140, Under +110)
The Minnesota Timberwolves experienced another disastrous season after recording only 31 wins and finishing in the last place in the Northwest Division. However, they made excellent moves this offseason and now are looking much stronger, the Wolves are expected to make the playoffs for the first time since 2003/04 season when they ended at the top of the Western Conference.
Minnesota managed to keep Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins together at the club and added a few excellent players so this season will be very exciting for their fans. All of a sudden, from the team that ended the previous year at the bottom of the Northwest Division, the Wolves are now favorites to win it, and only the Thunder and Nuggets could stand on their way. The arrivals of Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, Jamal Crawford, and Taj Gibson put the Wolves among the serious contenders for the Western Conference title, and we are all anxious to see how the team will play in the upcoming season and whether are they capable of fulfilling the expectations.
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The 2017/2018 Minnesota Timberwolves Roster
Arrivals: Marcus Georges-Hunt, Jimmy Butler, Jamal Crawford, Taj Gibson, Jeff Teague, Justin Patton.
Departures: Ricky Rubio, Omri Casspi, Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine, Jordan Hill, Shabazz Muhammad, Adreian Payne, Brandon Rush.
The Minnesota Timberwolves selected Lauri Markkanen as the 7th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, but they traded the power forward to the Chicago Bulls in a Jimmy Butler deal. The Finland international spent the last season with the Arizona Wildcats and averaged 15.6 ppg and 7.2 rpg in 30.8 mpg, and although he would be a nice addition to the Wolves’ roster, Minnesota opted for experience over youth, so they included him in a trade with Chicago. However, another player came to the Twin Cities alongside Butler – Justin Patton. The Bulls selected him with the 16th pick overall and the 20-year-old center impressed for the Creighton Bluejays in 2016/17, averaging 12.9 ppg and 6.2 rpg, earning the Big East Rookie of the Year award in the process. Still, Patton will have a lot of work to do before breaking into the rotation as he’s listed behind Karl-Anthony Towns, Gorgui Dieng, and Cole Aldrich in the pecking order. Marcus Georges-Hunt joined Minnesota following his release from the Orlando Magic, where he appeared in just five matches last season, and the small forward will serve as Andrew Wiggins’ backup, but I don’t expect him to get plenty of minutes.
The Wolves added Taj Gibson after his contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder expired and he will reunite with Wolves President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Tom Thibodeau. Let’s remind, two of them already worked together for five years at Chicago, and Tom was delighted to snap up Gibson and add more experience to the frontcourt. The eight-year veteran played for the Bulls and Thunder in 2016/17, averaging 10.8 ppg and 6.2 rpg in 78 matches and will become the starting power forward ahead of the Serbian Nemanja Bjelica in the depth chart.
Minnesota managed to bring the journeyman Jamal Crawford, and the 37-year-old will represent a major force off the bench, as we already know, Crawford was named the sixth man of the year on three occasions (2010, 2014, and 2016). Jamal spent the previous five seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, and in 2016/17, he averaged 12.3 ppg in 26.3 mpg. Although not quite mobile and fast as before, Crawford is still a reliable second unit option who can always settle the game with his sharp shooting from beyond the arc. He will play behind Jimmy Butler at shooting guard position, and I believe Thibodeau will hand him around 25 minutes per contest.
After representing the Atlanta Hawks for seven seasons, and the Indiana Pacers in 2016/17, Jeff Teague joined the Timberwolves as the direct replacement for Ricky Rubio who left for Utah. Teague started all 82 games last season and averaged 15.3 ppg, 7.8 apg (career high), 4.0 rpg (career high), and 1.2 spg in 32.4 mpg. Teague is at his prime and will definitely help Minnesota in their intent to finally make the playoffs after 13 years, and the All-Star point guard has fantastic players around him to flourish on the floor.
Jimmy Butler decided to leave the Bulls and join Thibodeau with whom he collaborated in Chicago, and he came in a trade, along with the No. 16 pick Justin Patton for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and LauriMarkkanen. The three-time All-Star shooting guard had an outstanding campaign in 2016/17, averaging 23.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 5.5 apg, and 1.9 spg (all career highs) in 37.0 mpg. Butler emerged as one of the best players in the NBA, and he’s only 27, so the Timberwolves can expect great thing from him in the coming seasons. The decision to quit the Bulls after six seasons wasn’t easy for Jimmy, but the prospect of playing under Tom Thibodeau again was too good to refuse.
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Jeff Teague | Jimmy Butler | Andrew Wiggins | Taj Gibson | Karl-Anthony Towns |
| Tyus Jones | Jamal Crawford | Marcus Georges-Hunt | Nemanja Bjelica | Gorgui Dieng |
| Cole Aldrich | ||||
| Justin Patton |
As I already mentioned, Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn went to Chicago as a part of a Jimmy Butler trade, and while Dunn wasn’t a significant factor in the Wolves’ rotation, LaVine had a magnificent season in 2016/17 before suffering a season-ending injury. The 22-year-old who can play both point guard and shooting guard averaged 18.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.0 apg in 37.2 mpg, but there couldn’t be enough place for both him and Butler in the same team, so Zach had to go. Kris Dunn spent his rookie season with the Timberwolves but didn’t record notable results, so he will not be missed at all as Tyus Jones can replace him as the No. 2 point guard without a problem.
Omri Casspi left Minneapolis to join the Golden State Warriors, while Jordan Hill was waived after he turned out to be a complete flop in 2016/17. Casspi appeared in just 13 matches for the Wolves after his move from Sacramento in the midseason, and he served as Wiggins’ backup, but nothing more than that. Two more fringe players left the Timberwolves: Adreian Payne and Brandon Rush, but neither of them played an important role and will be easily replaced. However, the Wolves will do everything in their power to keep a free agent Shabazz Muhammad at the club, and they extend a qualifying offer to Muhammad, and now Minnesota awaits for his decision. Shabazz averaged 9.9 ppg and 2.8 rpg in 19.4 mpg and was a solid reserve to Andrew Wiggins at small forward, so he would be a nice player to have on the roster again.
Ricky Rubio moved to the Utah Jazz in a trade, while the Wolves received a 2018 first-round draft pick and paved the way for Jeff Teague to come to Minneapolis. Rubio represented Minnesota for last six years and played in 353 games for the club. Last season, he averaged 11.1 ppg, 9.1 apg (both career highs), 4.1 rpg, and 1.7 spg in 32.9 mpg, but the Wolves opted for the player who can contribute more in the offense rather than the defensive point guard, so they replaced him with Teague.
Minnesota has a great starting lineup, one of the best in the NBA for that matter, while the second unit is looking much better than it was the case last year when it was the Wolves’ biggest problem. Now, with Crawford, Dieng, and Bjelica off the bench, the Wolves are a far better team than in 2016/17, and the results have to come.
The Bottom Line and Total Win Prediction
The bad times are behind the Timberwolves, and the future looks quite bright for them as they do have a few fantastic and young players on the roster, who are already one of the leading individuals in the NBA. They added experience this offseason as well, so it looks like a great combination of youth and experience, and that combination can turn out to be the winning one. Minnesota’s primary goal is to qualify for the playoffs, and it will be shocking if they fail to do so. I consider them as one of the dark horse in the Western Conference, and the bookies also believe the Wolves can go far this year, as the BetDSI Sportsbook set the number of season wins at 46.5, which is 15 more victories than the Wolves recorded in 2016/17. However, they do have a much stronger team this time around, so I believe they can record around 50 wins, and my advice is to take the opportunity and go with over.
Season total wins: Over 46.5 wins (-140)
