Minnesota Timberwolves

Record: 19-45 (14th in Western Conference)

82 game pace: 24-58

Expectations

The Wolves were tipped to be in or around the eighth seed at the beginning of the season. Much of this was based around the brilliant Karl-Anthony Towns. The big man out of Kentucky has proven himself to be the singular best offensive centre in basketball. He can do it all: bully you down low, sling three's from deep (39.6% career shooter), drive to the basket and set up his teammates. KAT was also extremely durable, only missing five games through his whole career heading into the season.

With a solid supporting cast in Wiggins, Robert Covington and Jeff Teague around him, as well as youngsters Jarrett Culver and Josh Okogie, this was seen as a team on the rise.

What went right

At the beginning of the season, things looked to be going to plan for Minnesota, with a 10-8 record. Andrew Wiggins showed signs of real growth in both his play making and shot selection. Josh Okogie proved to be a defensive menace. Gorgui Dieng revealed a seldom seen three point stroke. As a starter for the injured KAT, Dieng made 1.8 three pointers per outing at over 40%, before his trade to Memphis. Ahh, yes...the trades.

Minnesota made a few trades this season. Some were head scratching (Jeff Teague for the remains of Allen Crabbe), some were headline grabbers (Wiggins for Russell) and some were brilliant. The Wolves part in the big four team extravaganza cost them Covington but netted a first round pick as well as Malik Beasley and Juancho Hernangomez. With those two alongside Towns, D'Lo and Culver, the Wolves suddenly have a solid young nucleus to build around. Precisely none of them are capable defenders, but it's still a whole lot better than what the Wolves had.

What went wrong

As mentioned, that start was solid, but then the wheels fell off. An 11 game losing streak (the first seven with Towns on the court) halted any momentum the team had generated. Towns missed 15 straight matches in a run that scuppered Minnesota's playoff hopes. Upon his return, the team lost 10 straight, as part of a longer 13 game losing run. The streak breaking win on February 8 was Towns first win in uniform since November 27 and that tells its own story.

Wiggins plateaued to the point where GM Gersson Rosas had to attach significant draft capital in order to turn him into D'Angelo Russell. Russell and Towns are famously close – the team has to hope that the positive vibes around their two nominal cornerstones are enough to overcome the fact that you and I could score against these two.

The outcome

They've taken the most circuitous route, but things are looking up in Minnesota. They have a pair of young stars that actually want to play together. They have good young supporting pieces in Okogie and the Nuggets imports. In Culver, they have a player they hope can grow into their Swiss Army knife, capable of morphing into whatever they need him to be in the moment. Could the Wolves be a play-off chance next season? The West is incredibly tough, but you can certainly make the case.