The Minnesota Timberwolves finished 20 games under .500 last season after dealing with injuries to a number of key players, including star forward Kevin Love, but after making a number of improvements and additions in free agency in the offseason, the franchise has the chance to be one of the most improved teams in the 2013-14 NBA season.
The Timberwolves lost some players in Andrei Kirilenko, who signed with the Nets, Luke Ridnour, who was traded to the Bucks, and Greg Stiemsma, who signed with the Pelicans, but overall Minnesota didn't lose all that much talent-wise. Minnesota added a number of players to the roster in free agency over the summer to make up for the losses, including acquiring Kevin Martin in a sign-and-trade, drafting Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Deng and Lorenzo Brown and also signing Ronny Turiaf and Corey Brewer to deals. The core of Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio and Nikola Pekovic are all still in place after Pek signed a long extension and Chase Budinger also re-signed.
The Timberwolves spent a nice amount of money over the summer and while they may not exactly look like a playoff contender now, they could develop into one with Love and Rubio healthy. The team is moving in a new direction after Flip Saunders replaced David Kahn and the strength of the roster is now down low with Love and Pekovic. Budinger signed a three year deal for $15 million to stay with the team and Brewer returned after originally being drafted by the franchise.
The biggest issue for the team during the offseason was retaining Pekovic and despite having the contract talks lasting deep into the summer, Saunders got things together to keep one of the developing young centers in the NBA. Pek averaged 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds last season and putting him alongside a healthy Love gives the Wolves one of the top producing tandems in the league. Martin is reuniting with his old coach Rick Adelman after playing for him in Houston and Sacramento and that could give him the chance to score more after playing with the Thunder last season after coming over in the James Harden trade.
Muhammad could be a solid offensive player, but clearly some of his attitude issues may hamper things after he was booted from the rookie program and he also wasn't so stellar in the summer league. The former UCLA star was very talented in college, but it could end up being another one of those draft picks that doesn't quite fit and a trade easily could happen at some point in the future. Last season the team finished 31-51 and ranked 20th in the league in points per game.
The Timberwolves ranked 14th in the league in rebounds per game and 16th in assists, while Love was the leader on the team in both scoring and rebounds, averaging a double-double, but that was in a limited amount of games, as he played in just 18 last season. The Wolves could end up being one of the surprise teams to make the playoffs if Love can stay healthy and if things tip the right way at the bottom of the West.
