via RateYourSeats.com

Rookie Class:

There are many rookies on this roster coming season, but only a few that I am really keeping a close eye on. Naz Reid was undrafted out of LSU, but I believe that with time he can develop to be a solid role player in this league. He made the SEC All-Freshman team, showing that the potential is there should he find a way to capitalize on it. They also drafted Jaylen Nowell in the second round. He played two seasons at Washington and showed significant improvement from his freshman year to his sophomore year. Taking a similar number of shot attempts he improved to 50.2% from the floor and 44% from three-point range. He can be a crucial part of this new process for the team. Most importantly, this NBA draft, Minnesota acquired Jarrett Culver through the draft. His time in college showed a ton of promise but also left a lot to be desired. His scoring did improve to 18.2 points per game but this had a lot to do with a significant increase in his role. His defense was also improved, and that is a great building block for a young player to build upon. On this roster, he will get plenty of opportunities and Minnesota would be wise to give him the chance to develop his game a lot this year.

Most Exciting Player:

Karl-Anthony Towns is the most exciting player in Minnesota. Last season he made a big leap and started to get comfortable under new coach Ryan Saunders. Something about that coaching change, and also the contract incentive, really lit a fire under him. Unfortunately, he did not make an All-NBA team and thus he missed out on the opportunity to sign an even bigger max contract. Instead of $191 million, he can now only sign for $158 million, and even though that’s still a lot of money, nobody wants to lose out on $33 million. There are two ways KAT can approach this season, he can either look to prove the All-NBA voters wrong or he can let last season be his peak and have a drop off now. With a talent like KAT and the young coach Ryan Saunders, he will look to take his game to a new level. I look for him to try and establish himself as the best big man in the league. There are a lot of good players at that position, but he will very much be right in that conversation.

Westgate Over/Under: 35.5

The Minnesota Timberwolves went 36–46 on their way to an 11th place finish last season. They have lost a few players and the depth is not there as much as last season. Ultimately this should be a cause for concern throughout the year for this team. From the beginning of last season to the start of this season there has been a good amount of roster turnover, most notably the loss of Jimmy Butler. Of course, they have had plenty of time to adjust to this change, but regardless they have not been able to make up for this loss. In return for Jimmy Butler, they received Robert Covington and Dario Saric, and only RoCo is still there. With the lack of depth, and a big youth movement on this team I expect them to go under 35.5 wins.

Happiness is a Function of Expectations:

It’s funny how quickly things can change with the ever-evolving NBA landscape. Just in 2017, the Timberwolves made the playoffs as an 8-seed and fully intended to build upon this last year. However, the plan had to be quickly adjusted and this lead to an 11th place finish. Coming into the 2019–20 season Minnesota has to once again adjust their goals. They should look to get out from underneath some bad contracts, namely Andrew Wiggins and Gorgui Dieng if the correct opportunity arises. With this, they can gather future draft picks and plan for a quick re-tool rather than a rebuild. With someone as talented as KAT on the team already and the addition of Jarrett Culver they can look to get back into playoff prominence within a couple of seasons if they re-tool or next season if Wiggins is able to get back on track.