West Just Gets Tougher

[Lipoli390]

Even though we're on the threshold of a first-round playoff series, I continue to look ahead to next season. It's probably a phychological defensive mechanism to avoid getting my hopes up for the Wolves chances in this first round nightmare matchup against the Rockets. If the Wolves surprise me, then great. If not, I'll already be thinking ahead to next season. :)

We finished 8th this season. Yes, we missed Butler for 23 games. But several teams that finished in front of us in the standings had key players missing for as long or longer - (1) the Jazz missing Gobert for 26 games; (2) the Spurs missing Kawhi for 73 games, Tony Parker for 27 games, Rudy Gay for 25 games and Aldridge for 7 games; (3) the Pelicans missing Cousins for 35 games, Rondo for 17 games and Anthony Davis for 7 games. The Blazers and Thunder were healthy and finished ahead of us as well. Meanwhile, the Nuggets almost passed us in the standings while the Clippers, in spite of all that happened to them, finished only 5 games behind the Wolves.

Looking ahead, the Thunder are the only team in danger of falling back in the event that Paul George decides to leave. All the others teams that finished ahead of us, as well as the Nuggets, are all young and likely to get better or at least not backslide. Meanwhile, the Clippers have two high first round picks and could end up with two really good prospects or Kawhi Leonard. The Lakers are likely to end up adding either LeBron James or Paul George to an already talented young team that won 35 games this season without their starting rookie PG a big chunk of the season. The Grizzlies will get Mike Conley back next season and will likely have a top 3 pick pick in the draft. Assuming the Spurs trade Kawhi to the Clippers, its safe to assume the Wpurs will end up even bettter than they were this season playing without him.

So the going gets even tougher next to season for the Wolves who were very healthy this season except for Butler and to a limited extent Teague who missed 12 games. I can see the Clippers and Lakers contending for playoff position next season while all the other teams we competed with this season contending again.

What does all this mean? It means Monster is right. The Wolves are going to have to become a luxury tax team next season -- re-signing Belly, spending the full $8.5 million MLE and possibly using the semi-annual $4 million exception to sign free agents. The Wolves need better depth, especially at the wing position. The Wolves also need better three-point shooting and could use a rim protector. I don't see any realistic trades involving Gorgui, Teague or Wiggins that would improve the team. So it's all about free agency and the draft this summer. Target the right free agents, recruit them effectively and be willing to spend into the luxury tax to sign them. Also, get a good NBA-ready player like a Kyle Kuzma or Josh Hart with the 20th pick in the draft.

And in the meantime, maybe we can steal a game or two from the Rockets in the next couple weeks. :)

[Phenom]

I'm in favor of a top 16 playoff format. It would suck to see a 46 win team constantly be on the bubble plus there would be some cool new matchups each year. Wolves could have been in Boston round one. Is that much of a travel difference compared to Houston? Think about Kobe's final few years. We could have had a Kobe vs LeBron first round matchup. They were not going to meet in the finals anyway.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

We were beating all these teams at the beginning of the year. I'm not worried about anyone but the Rockets and Warriors and if Lebron comes over to the West. I'm comfortable in a 7 game series against anyone else.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

We just need depth to keep up.

I like our staters as is. They aren't the problem.

[Lipoli390]

We just need depth to keep up.

I like our staters as is. They aren't the problem.

Depth is definitely the key. We finished 8th this season. Right now, there's no obvious reason to believe we'll finish higher next season. Yes, Jimmy Butler missed 23 games. But he's averaged 15 missed games over his career and he's not getting any younger. Teague missed 12 games. Otherwise, Towns, Wiggins, Gibson and Tyus Jones played in all 82 games. How likely is that to continue? I'm assuming no coaching upgrade. So we need a major bench upgrade and it has to be a quality, not just quantity, upgrade to keep pace and make up ground in a Western Conference that is just getting stronger.

[Lipoli390]

Speaking of bench strength, have you been watching Ilyasova and Belinelli in this Sixers' series?

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Speaking of bench strength, have you been watching Ilyasova and Belinelli in this Sixers' series?

Not anymore, because I just end up cursing thibs every time I watch those 2 do something good.

[Shumway]

Lip, I like to think the rest of the West is looking at us as an example of the West continuing to get tougher.

I'm sure they're all saying something like "The Wolves will continue to improve with a year of playoff seasoning under their belt and with the stars they have in place should be able to fill out the depth they need with the MLE this offseason".

[Monster]

It feels like we can get a lot better and be a team legitimately challenging Houston and GS or whoever emerges than worrying about just being an also ran. Will it happen? Idk but yes the west will likely continue to be tough and there is potential for the East to not be a cakewalk either.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

It feels like we can get a lot better and be a team legitimately challenging Houston and GS or whoever emerges than worrying about just being an also ran. Will it happen? Idk but yes the west will likely continue to be tough and there is potential for the East to not be a cakewalk either.

I still think the guy to keep an eye on is Tyus Jones. He had the second highest net rating of the regular rotation players this season, just under Jimmy Butler. Net rating can be noisy since there are four other players on the floor. But guess who had the highest net rating last season? Tyus Jones.That's two years worth of data across a couple thousand minutes. Good things happen when Tyus is on the floor.

I really believe Thibs needs to think about swapping him and Teague sooner rather than later. Or at least give Tyus the Patty Mills treatment when he backed up Parker and get him off the bench much earlier in the half and getting 20+ minutes a night. Then let Teague play more with the bench to give us a more efficient shot creator than Crawford.

(I'm really hoping Crawford takes a back seat next season and becomes more of a player/coach/motivator on the bench. Thibs HAS to know that we need to upgrade that spot).