2013-2014
Finish: 18-64
Season Highlight
The draft! On a team that could only
muster 18 wins, there really was NO highlight. The draft and offseason moves leading up to this season could well have
been the highlight these last 2 years.
GM Javijoe has promised that he would return the Great Lakes to
greatness….now can he walk the walk?
Season Lowlight
Did I mention those 64 losses? Yes, it
was not pretty…. Poor T-Wolves fans had to struggle through a season where
Anthony Bennett was starting at one point.
Hopefully, the worst is behind them, but who knows…..Javi still has Vitor Faverani on the roster!
Best Trade
The Detroit Pistons send Pau Gasol
to the LA Clippers. The Detroit Pistons send Rudy Gay, Chase Budinger
and Jimmer Fredette to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The LA Clippers send Amare
Stoudemire to the Detroit Pistons. The Minnesota Timberwolves send Danny
Granger, Derrick Williams and John Jenkins to the Detroit
Pistons.
The Detroit Pistons send a 2nd-Rounder (Det) to the LA Clippers. The LA
Clippers send a 1st-Rounder (LAC) to the Detroit Pistons.
Minnesota dumped 3 players that shouldn’t start on any NLL roster EVER AGAIN in
Granger, Derrick Williams and John Jenkins….in return, they received Rudy Gay,
Chase Budinger and Jimmer……HOLD UP!!!!!!!
Javi made a good trade???? And
there wasn’t 12 different people upset because he backed out of all the other
deals he agreed to?
Worst Trade
The Miami Heat send Jared Dudley
to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Minnesota Timberwolves send Bismack
Biyombo and Jordan Hamilton to the Miami Heat.
Dudley
was exactly that, a Dud! Biyombo is an
up and coming PF/C with huge defensive ability.
Jordan Hamilton? Oh, he was just
the 6th man in Boston, where they almost shocked the world, taking
an uber-talented Philly team to game 7.
Other Notable
Trades
The Milwaukee Bucks send Courtney Lee
to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Milwaukee Bucks send a 1st-Rounder (Mil) to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Minnesota Timberwolves send a 1st-Rounder (Orl) to the Milwaukee
Bucks..
Courtney
Lee isn’t a bad player, and to only swap a few picks in the draft to gain him
too? Someone’s gotta come off the bench,
right?
The Detroit Pistons send Klay Thompson
and Meyers Leonard to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Minnesota
Timberwolves send Dion Waiters and Anthony Bennett to the Detroit
Pistons.
The Minnesota Timberwolves send a 1st-Rounder (Ind) to the Detroit
Pistons.
The Detroit Pistons receive 15 GM points. The Minnesota Timberwolves trade -15
GM points.
Javi gets his starting SG upgrade, swapping Waiters for Klay, and sweetening
the deal giving up Bennett(see BUST) and a 1st rounder to even the
deal out.
The Dallas Mavericks send Raymond Felton,
Spencer Hawes, Anthony Tolliver and Wayne Ellington to the
Minnesota Timberwolves. The Minnesota Timberwolves send Ian Mahinmi, Jared
Dudley, George Hill and Robbie Hummel to the Dallas
Mavericks.
The Minnesota Timberwolves send a 2nd-Rounder (Atl) and 2nd-Rounder
(Min) to the Dallas Mavericks..
Upgrade
at C in Hawes, Ellington is an underrated player, and Felton is a better
distributor than Hill. Only thing of
good value Minny moved was Hill, but the return was worth it.
The LA Clippers send David Lee and Mike
Conley to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Minnesota Timberwolves send Raymond
Felton, Brandon Bass, Harrison Barnes and Dario Saric
to the LA Clippers.
The LA Clippers trade -6 GM points.The Minnesota Timberwolves receive 6 GM
points.
This
was the runner up to best trade. David
Lee is a top level rebounder and Mike Conley is a great all around PG. Sure he gave up Bass and Barnes…mostly
Barnes, but look at it this way, Lee >>>>>> Bass (by a
lot) Conley >>> Felton (Dough
boy can ball, but conley can score AND dish)
Barnes really hasn’t seemed to break out yet in the NBA, but adding
these guys to Noel and Klay already sounds like Javi should more than double
the number of wins the team had last year!
Best FA Signing
Vitor Faverini – He’s 6’11 and can rebound and block. And he’s cost effective.
Worst FA Signing
Vitor Faverini - He was the only player
the Timberwolves added via FA( waivers to be exact )
Star
Rudy Gay - While Rudy was there, he was
his normal shameless chucking self, but he was on a team that had no other
scorers, so he must have been loving life!
Surprise
Ed Davis - The guy really played well,
and could have been considered the star of the team, just on the fact he was
there the entire year!
Goat
Marvin Williams – Javi did everything he could to try to trade this guy….almost
every trade offer had Marv in it. At
over 8 Mil, he was DEFINITELY overpaid.
Draft Report Card
Dario Saric – Minny went with a stash, but included him in the deal to get Lee
and Conley. Dario was projected to not
come to the NBA for at least 2-3 years anyway, so this seems to be the better
move for a team needing players and direction NOW, not later.
Looking to the
Future
Javijoe has made a major push to make his team competitive, and he has. Conley, Lee, Thompson, Lee, Noel make a
formidable starting 5. The bench is
weak, but mostly due to uncertainty. If
he can get a few guys to re-sign, and then sign a big time FA or 2, the
T-Wolves could sneak into the playoffs this year!
Upcoming Free
Agents
Ed Davis – Big that Javi loves. He’s
undersized, but gets his points and boards.
Patty Mills – great backup PG, may miss a lot of time due to injury.
Jameer
Nelson – PG that really has seen his glory years pass him by. For $8M, he’s not worth it.
Spencer
Hawes – great backup C. Can stretch the D with his 3 point shooting and is a
decent rim protector.
Anthony Tolliver – Journeyman that would just round out the roster.
Marvin
Williams – He’s a guy that suckers you with his potential, but then he gets on
the team and suddenly forgets how to play.
Javi may try to re-sign him, but I suspect he’s gonna let him walk.
