Hungry Like the Wolf

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Emeka Howard is traded to the Boston Celtics for a 2017 first round pick. This was the best I could do for Emeka who possessed an absolute knack for defense struggled horrible on offense. With the addition of Vasquez he wasn't going to get playing time so I had to get rid of him.

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McIntyre impressed during the summer league and Ronald Sandler really liked his locker room presence. I don't expect him to play much, but he was cheap and should be good in practice and in case of emergencies.

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PG: Ronald Sandler is an excellent starting PG, he probably won't make the all-star team but he gets the job done on both ends of the floor. Standing at a mere 5'11 Sandler is a tenacious defender who makes up for his size disadvantage with outstanding fundamentals and sheer will power. Possessing great basketball IQ Sandler consistently finds ways to win. A good real world comparison would be Mark Price with better defense.

Per36
PPG: 17.5
APG: 8.5
RPG: 2.4
TS%: .602

SG: David McDermott is a scorer, that is what he does and he does it well. He had developed an excellent all-round game whether its driving to the hoop and drawing a foul or finishing in the paint, making a clutch jumper or shooting from 3 McDermott does it all on offense. McDermott is the teams best isolation scorer and comes up big in the clutch. He has a cocky swagger about him and isn't liked by everyone but McDermott has showed loyalty to this team and has the competitive drive it takes to win. McDermott is undersized at 6'3" and is not a good defender, he seems to use all of his energy up at the offensive end. Minnesota has one of the highest scoring backcourts in the league.

Per36

PPG: 19.0(an early season injury hurt him in this category)
APG: 3.0
RPG: 4.0
TS%: .593

SF: Shand-de Teoh is a Chinese player that puts in a lot of quality minutes for the Wolves. Teoh is a great defender, he has wonderful lateral quickness and very good hands. Teoh might never become the offensive player the Timberwolves hoped he would but he isn't completely devoid of uses on offense. Teoh is most dangerous on offense when he uses his length and quickness in the post. Teoh has a limited ability to be a catch and shoot player though as his jumpshot is still fairly weak. It is Teoh's goal to someday make the NBA's all defensive team. Teoh is an excellent passer and has excellent court vision. He can play 3 positions effectively which gives him a ton of minutes.

Per 36

PPG: 12.8
APG: 4.1
RPG: 5.8
TS%: .512

PF: Nikola Pekovic played very well at PF two years ago scoring 18.5 points a game. Pekovic is a post player who can use his strength to over power opponents. Pekovic does not have much of a jumpshot and starting next to Valerjo the two do not stretch the floor much. Pekovic also has a hard time guarding the more athletic Power Forwards in the league, Shang-de Teoh will probably play more minutes at the 4 than Pekovic on those nights. None-the-less Pekovic's rebounding and efficient scoring along with his big body and ability to run the floor will add another dimension to the Timberwolves.

Per 36

PPG: 18.5
APG: 1.6
RPG: 9.6
TS%: .600

C: Anderson Valerjo was a backup with Oklahoma City for the last few years and he signed with the Timberwolves for a chance to start. Valerjo will share Center minutes with Pekovic based on match ups but he will start almost every game. Valerjo has done one thing well his whole career and that is defense. This is precisely why he was brought in by the Timberwolves, he is going to defend the elite centers of the league. Valerjo is limited on offense but effective the majority of his points are by catching a pass in the paint or tipping an offense rebound into the hoop.

Per 36

PPG: 13.0
APG: 1.65
RPG: 10.1
TS%: .607

Bench:

Backup Guards: Wesley Matthews and Grevis Vasquez are the two guards that will see the most playing time as backups, both add height to a very undersized backcourt in Sandler and McDermott, both are veterans that know their role and play well under pressure.

Backup SF: Jeff Smith is a jump shooting 3 point shooting finesse SF the perfect complement to the physical Teoh. Smith is also 6'9" and can even stretch the floor as a PF if needed, Smith adds great depth to the SF. The organization is very high on this young player many believe that Smith's rookie contract makes Teoh's large contract expendable.

Backup PF: Travis Waldman the No. 9 pick will compete with Amir Johnson a proven veteran for backup minutes at the 4 spot. Waldman can stretch the floor better, but his defense is inferior to Johnson's.

Backup C: Brooks McIntyre is 7'2" but he has almost no athletic ability. Pekovic will backup Valerjo and as there will be plenty of capable backups at the 4 spot. Look for Waldman and Johnson to even get some minutes at the 5 spot before McIntyre.

Moute and Sefolosha are two expiring contracts that will get some junk minutes but won't factor into the rotation unless there are injuries.

I expect big things out of this team. This team is the deepest team and dare I say best team the Timberwolves have fielded yet. I know they will be underdogs compared to some of the power houses, but I have let this team know I expect nothing less than excellence from them. I think if the backups were starters on this team they might be a playoff team.

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The team got off to an epically rough start going 0-5. Since that point they went 9-2, still they finished off the month with a disappointing 7-9 record. Aside from Pekovic who has essentially been carrying the team everyone had a down month in November. Teoh shot .229 from the field in the first five games.

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The record stands at 14-18. This new roster has yet to gel. One night they will blow out an excellent team on the road another night they will lose by twenty at home. This has been a very frustrating early season. With all the money are resources put into this club I am very close to trying to make a major move to get try and jump start this team. The Timberwolves need a good January or else this might be an epically disappointing season.

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January was much better than any other month this year. The team is now 25-21. I was given a great deal of hope in my team when I saw them perform well despite nagging injuries to certain key players. This is a team that does not have a "go-to" only McDermott scores above 20 PPG yet this is the 2nd most offensively potent team in the league.

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Slam Dunk Contest: Shane Booker did a 360 alley-oop to himself while jumping over a cartwheeling clown to win the Slam Dunk contest.

Stephen Curry beat out our own Jeff Smith in the 3pt contest

The rookies beat the sophmores 134-119, Jeff Smith would have won the MVP had the sophmores won he scored 30. Frank Daniels scored 34 for the rookies.

The West beat the east with Carmelo Anthony winning the MVP. Again the Timberwolves were snubbed as no Timberwolf was added to the all-star game.

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I decided not to make a big splash in the trade market. I wanted to see what this team could do not that it seemed like they were developing some better chemistry. At the end of February they are 32-26, which is not as good as I wanted it to be but good enough for the 5th seed in the playoffs if the season were going to end today. I am shooting for the Wolves to be at least the 4th seed by the end of the season.

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The Wolves are 43 and 29 and had a fantastic March, but are still in 5th place in the Western Conference.

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The Timberwolves ended the regular season going 50-32, but they lost their last 3 games and ended the year one game out of the 4th seed in the playoffs, therefore losing home court advantage. The playoffs should be interesting this year.