thedoper wrote:Im guessing 27 but for a different reason. I think Rosas deals most of this team away outside of KAT and Culver. If they stay together my guess would be 37.
I declined to mention this point as well. I actually don't think Covington gets dealt during the season -- more likely next summer around the draft. Once Teague is moved at the deadline, though, this season is a wrap. It will be all-in on the youth movement and a soft tank, basically what this franchise has been good for since as long as I can remember. More minutes for Culver, Okogie, and Nowell in the backcourt and plenty of mistakes to come. You just have to hope there's growth there.
My analytical math says 50. But since SP already took that number, I will go with 51.
The logic: Ryan's winning percentage was 125% better than what Flip managed when he first took over the team. Flip's first full season produced a winning percentage 49% (40-42), so if Ryan maintains his improved margin the Wolves would win 50 games. And generally being opTIMistic, I chose 50+1 rather than 50-1...
28. We're just bad. Our offense is gonna take better shots, but as the pre-season is showing we just don't have the shooters to do it well. Defense is still trash tier and at this point I really don't know if it is a fixable problem.
Some excellent posts in this thread. As some have suggested, the final win total will be significantly impacted by whether the Wolves decide to trade Teague and/or Covington during the season. I agree with Cam that the Wolves will likely wait until next June to trade Covington. But Rosas is clearly looking long-term, so if he gets an offer for Covington that he thinks will be a net plus over the long term, I have no doubt he'll pull the trigger.
I'll base my prediction on the assumption that the Wolves will trade Teague at the deadline and keep Covington for the entire season. With that in mind, I'm projecting 31 wins, provided that Covington is and remains truly healthy.
I think the biggest wild card is Covington's health. If he plays 65 or more games, I take the over. If not, probably the under. I think this is a two year makeover, so I don't really care too much about the wins this year. We need to find a long term spot for Culver, see if Okogie can take another step, find out what we have in Jordan Bell, Layman, Vonleh, Graham and Napier. Its all a prequel to next season, but it will be fun to see what we have and to see if the new coaching structure can maximize what we got.
What I hope for this year is a lot fewer losses to inferior teams, and I do believe that will happen. I think we will see more minutes by matchup vs. "the rotation."
36 wins...18 will come against the East
Wiggins will average over 21 points, 3 assists, and 1 rebound.
