***OFFICIAL 2024-25 WINS PREDICTION THREAD + PLAYOFFS PREDICTION***

[FNG]

52 wins

I'm happy to share the title with you this season, Sab...very good prediction.

[TheFuture]

57, Semi-finals

Western Conference Finals or Western Conference Semi-Finals? Wasn't sure if you meant overall NBA semi-finals which would mean the Western Conference Finals. I'll assume that for now.

Oh, I meant Western Conference Semi-Finals.

Like Kek, this team freaks me out. I don't know how well Ant/Randle/Gobert will gel.

We have nobody who can comfortably cover defensively at C behind Rudy. Whether he gets hurt or gets into foul trouble.

Say what you want about KAT (I've warmed up to the trade return, and know it had to be done with that contract), but he allowed us a lot of flexibility.

There are just too many teams at the top who I can see taking our lunch without KAT. OKC simply because they're so deep and talented - they can now throw Caruso (fuck you Chicago) and Dort at Ant, Dallas we already saw cook us, Memphis Ja, JJJ, Smart, Clarke, Edey whoever else scare me, Denver was a tough out and that was when we had KAT to guard Jokic, hell the Lakers won't even be easy as I see AD destroying us and they get such a favorable whistle - LeBron will do what he does and we don't have a guy like SloMo to throw at him. Though I admit I do not know how Randle does guarding an AD.

I see us getting matched up with one of these teams in the first round: Suns, Kings, Clippers, Rockets, Pelicans, Warriors. I am not as worried about any of them, but none are easy outs. Then I see us getting bounced by one of the further above teams in the 2nd round.

I think the we are the same juggernaut regular season team after the trade because of our talent/depth, but I believe we are a worse playoff team in this Conference now.

[KG4Ever]

I was thinking 47 or 48 wins as I think the Wolves take a step back but Ant alone (if healthy) makes them a playoff team. I'll go 47 just to have my own spot.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

If it's not too late, put me down for 53 and losing in the WCF.

I lowered the number from last year's win total because I have to believe there will be some adjustment with Randle and in a normal year we'll have more lost time to injury than last year. But I do think this team is deep and will still make the playoffs and make a nice run in the playoffs. I don't know who we'd lose to in the West, but it's tough not to see OKC and Dallas as the favourites. Denver should be right there. Memphis could be dangerous if they have everybody healthy and playing well. Maybe Phoenix gets more balanced this year. Can Zion stay healthy and dominant for the Pelicans? Seems like a long shot, but it's possible, and if so, they could be dangerous. The Kings? Lakers? Golden State? I'm less concerned about those teams, but . . . The Rockets--could be a scary team to face in the playoffs this year because they'd be playing with house money. The Spurs--ditto--plus if they make it to the playoffs, it'll probably mean Wembanyama is already playing like a top 5-10 player in the league, which is also dangerous.

Should be a good season! Let's win some games and have some fun!

[Q-is-here]

57, Semi-finals

Western Conference Finals or Western Conference Semi-Finals? Wasn't sure if you meant overall NBA semi-finals which would mean the Western Conference Finals. I'll assume that for now.

Oh, I meant Western Conference Semi-Finals.

Like Kek, this team freaks me out. I don't know how well Ant/Randle/Gobert will gel.

We have nobody who can comfortably cover defensively at C behind Rudy. Whether he gets hurt or gets into foul trouble.

Say what you want about KAT (I've warmed up to the trade return, and know it had to be done with that contract), but he allowed us a lot of flexibility.

There are just too many teams at the top who I can see taking our lunch without KAT. OKC simply because they're so deep and talented - they can now throw Caruso (fuck you Chicago) and Dort at Ant, Dallas we already saw cook us, Memphis Ja, JJJ, Smart, Clarke, Edey whoever else scare me, Denver was a tough out and that was when we had KAT to guard Jokic, hell the Lakers won't even be easy as I see AD destroying us and they get such a favorable whistle - LeBron will do what he does and we don't have a guy like SloMo to throw at him. Though I admit I do not know how Randle does guarding an AD.

I see us getting matched up with one of these teams in the first round: Suns, Kings, Clippers, Rockets, Pelicans, Warriors. I am not as worried about any of them, but none are easy outs. Then I see us getting bounced by one of the further above teams in the 2nd round.

I think the we are the same juggernaut regular season team after the trade because of our talent/depth, but I believe we are a worse playoff team in this Conference now.

OKC, a small market team that normally would ingratiate itself to other "flyover" country fan bases, became one of my most hated teams last year. Their incredible injury luck, SGA's foul-baiting antics, and them becoming the cute, little darlings of the NBA media last season soured me on them.

One of the ways I see Randle potentially helping us in the same way KAT did last year in the playoffs is by sacrificing some offense to take on some tough defensive assignments. Is there any reason he can't guard Doncic for a spell? He certainly can't be bullied by him. How about guarding Jokic? Or LeBron? This is where backing off on his minutes and scoring load versus his Knicks tenure could really be a boon for us. If he truly is willing to do whatever it takes to help us win, some of that may involve doing some of the defensive dirty work and he'll need the extra energy to do so.

[Q-is-here]

If it's not too late, put me down for 53 and losing in the WCF.

I lowered the number from last year's win total because I have to believe there will be some adjustment with Randle and in a normal year we'll have more lost time to injury than last year. But I do think this team is deep and will still make the playoffs and make a nice run in the playoffs. I don't know who we'd lose to in the West, but it's tough not to see OKC and Dallas as the favourites. Denver should be right there. Memphis could be dangerous if they have everybody healthy and playing well. Maybe Phoenix gets more balanced this year. Can Zion stay healthy and dominant for the Pelicans? Seems like a long shot, but it's possible, and if so, they could be dangerous. The Kings? Lakers? Golden State? I'm less concerned about those teams, but . . . The Rockets--could be a scary team to face in the playoffs this year because they'd be playing with house money. The Spurs--ditto--plus if they make it to the playoffs, it'll probably mean Wembanyama is already playing like a top 5-10 player in the league, which is also dangerous.

Should be a good season! Let's win some games and have some fun!

I also think Finch and Co. will be a bit more generous with rest days. He had to spend his first few seasons with the Wolves implementing a winning culture. That started with pre-season wins and intensity and then carrying that through into the regular season. Now that we are at the big boy table, I think he backs off a bit. It was clear that Conley and Ant especially weren't 100% as the playoffs wore on last season.

[Q-is-here]

Here is the latest! Tip-off in 12 hours!

WolvesFan21 - 61, NBA Champions! Ant MVP!
60WinTim - 60, NBA Champions!
Crazysauce - 59, NBA Finals
Jester, Bleedspeed - 58
Coolbreeze - 57, NBA Finals
TheFuture - 57, Western Conference Semis
cpg29 - 57
Monster, Kiwi - 56, NBA Finals
Leado - 55, NBA Finals
SagaciousMagnanimous - 55
LongGame, Phenom - 54, NBA Finals
Volans - 54, Western Conference Finals (lose)
Q-is-here - 53, NBA Finals
SameOldNudityDrew - 53, Western Conference Finals (lose)
BloopOracle - 53
FNG - 52, Western Conference Finals
ItsJustSoSab - 52
D'Natagal - 51, Western Conference Semi-Finals (lose to OKC in 7)
TAFKASP - 50, Wester Conference Semi-Finals (lose)
Sundog - 49, Western Conference Finals
Wildwolf, Porkchop - 49
Kekgeek - 49, First Round (lose)
Doper - 48
KG4Ever - 47
mjs34 - 45, First Round (lose)
AbeVigodaLive - 44

[Q-is-here]

Kekgeek, damn, I didn't realize how pessimistic you were until now. A first round exit!? What troubles you about this squad? Or is it just a feeling of doom, something not unusual for Minnesota sports fans. May be you should stop hanging around with Abe so much.

[FNG]

Kekgeek, damn, I didn't realize how pessimistic you were until now. A first round exit!? What troubles you about this squad? Or is it just a feeling of doom, something not unusual for Minnesota sports fans. May be you should stop hanging around with Abe so much.

Yeah, Kek seems to be "righter" than many of us here with his takes, so I also have concerns about his relative pessimism. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we just don't know what Randle is going to bring us...it's still a big mystery.

This is what makes me optimistic though. Only the Wolves and the Celtics had 7 players in ESPN's top 100 list that just came out. With 30 teams in the league, it means that you are equivalent to being a top 3 player on an average team if you make the list...so we have 7 players who are considered the equivalent of a top 3 player! All of our rotation players except NAW made the top 100, and Ant was #10. That's recognition that we are one of the deepest, if not the deepest, rosters in the Association. And that's without including guys like Ingles, Minott, Rob, TJ and Garza.

[FNG]

Paging Mr. Lipoli

I just talked with him. He's still crunching numbers and comparing standing reaches, but he promises to get his pick in before Christmas .