2024/2025 NBA SEASON – Who will succeed the Boston Celtics as NBA champions? For a month, the Dicodusport editorial staff presents to you in turn the 30 franchises of the big American league. Among the title contenders, are Wolves well placed to win? Time for their preview!
2023/2024 review: A crazy regular but a bitter end
What regular season for the men of Chris Finch ! With the 3th best record in the West and the best defense in the NBA, the Minnesota Timberwolves surprised most observers after a failed 2022-2023 season. The continuity in the roster, the progress of Naz Reid (6th man of the year) and the collective lead defense (symbolized by a new title of Defender of the Year for Rudy Gobert) allowed the Wolves to seriously contend for the title last year. The offensive level of the team (16th offensive rating) could be a weakness, but it was compensated for by the enormous individual talent ofAnthony Edwardswhich also finishes 7th votes for the MVP.
Unfortunately, this will not be enough in the Playoffs, despite a good run. THE Minnesota Timberwolves will make short work of the Suns in the first round, a nice sweep 4-0 without any possible dispute. The feat will come in the semi-finals of the Western Conference, with the elimination of the Denver Nuggets, defending champions. The anti-Jokic game plan (individual marking of Towns with Gobert help who gives up Aaron Gordon off) will work and, in Game 7, the Wolves will score a big blow by qualifying for the Conference finals. Finals lost to the duo Luka Doncic–Kyrie Irvingwell helped by the roles players of the Mavericks who will catch fire in this series. A disappointing defeat (1-4) given the good season of the Minnesota franchise, but which should not make us forget the many positive things seen during the past year.
NBA 2024 review: Was it the best season in Minnesota Timberwolves history?
2023-2024 NBA SEASON – With the Finals over, the time has come to take stock of the season for the 30 NBA franchises. Today, we’re heading to Minneapolis to talk about the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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Offseason movements
Departures
Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks), Kyle Anderson (Warriors), Jordan McLaughlin (Kings), Wendell Moore Jr (Pistons), TJ Warren (libre), Monte Morris (Suns)
Extensions
Luka Garza, Daishen Nix (two-way)
Arrivals
Julius Randle (Knicks), Donte DiVincenzo (Knicks), Keita Bates-Diop (Knicks), Rob Dillingham (8th pick in the 2024 Draft), Terrence Shannon Jr (27th pick in the 2024 Draft), PJ Dozier (Partizan Belgrade), Joe Ingles (Magic), Jesse Edwards (two-way)
The major 5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves
Mike Conley – Anthony Edwards – Jaden McDaniels – Julius Randle – Rudy Gobert
Rotation on the bench
Leaders : Rob Dillingham, Daishen Nix (two-way)
Rears : Donte DiVincenzo, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, PJ Dozier
Wingers : Keita Bates-Diop, Joe Ingles, Terrence Shannon Jr
Strong wingers : Leonard Miller, Josh Minott
Pivots : Naz Reid, Luka Garza, Jesse Edwards (two-way)
Weaknesses/strengths
Weak points: The loss of Karl-Anthony Towns will it be detrimental, both on the pitch and in the locker room? Its very complementary association with Rudy Gobert will be missed, especially since we don’t really know who will take over at position 4. Julius Randle before it is transferred or Naz Reid directly holder and not in 6th luxury man like last year? While continuity bore fruit last year, we will have to find alchemy with new rotations and new systems.
In the locker room, we will also have to see if the sudden transfer of KAT will not lead to a drop in morale among the players, especially since Towns was an icon of the Wolves and carried the franchise since his Draft in 2015 and before the emergence of‘Anthony Edwards. The unknown around the future of Julius Randle is also a worrying subject, unless the leaders already have a very specific plan in mind. If the ex-Knicks player is the starter, Naz Reid could feel barred from his position and conversely, if Reid is holder, the discontent of Randle could impact the locker room.
It is likely that Randle is only aligned in the 5 major to raise his rating on the transfer market and sell him against good rewards, in order to make room for Reid in a second step. In short, a lot of questions from an outside point of view, but the situation could still be managed well by the Wolves management, to be continued!
Points forts : Offensive reinforcements that will do good for an average attack in the NBA. Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo et Rob Dillingham are three quality offensive weapons and especially with different qualities, practical when your team only had the 16th best NBA offense last year. We can even add the explosive rookie Terrence Shannon Jrbut he will probably only have a little playing time.
All this while only losing Karl-Anthony Townscar Kyle Anderson, Jordan McLaughlin et Monte Morris are fairly negligible losses. THE Minnesota Timberwolves have therefore gained in quantity of good players compared to last year, we must now see if the squad is more qualitative than last year. This will be confirmed or not in the Playoffs, where the abundance of offensive options is often a good thing for adapting to the opponent.
Player to watch: Rob Dillingham
It was one of the surprises of the 2024 Draft: pick 8 was initially supposed to go to the San Antonio Spurs but was exchanged for the unprotected 2031 first rounder from the Wolves and a swap on the 2030 pick. Without giving up a huge consideration (although , the Wolves can be at the bottom of the abyss in 5 years), the Minnesota Timberwolves were therefore able to recover the Kentucky leader Rob Dillingham with choice 8. Dynamic and agile with the ball in hand, skilled from afar (44.4% at 3 points last year in 4.5 attempts per game), he is a very complete player offensively, capable of creating for himself and for others. It would not be surprising to see him get hot in certain matches coming off the bench and to put out big accounting performances, especially when there may be injured or resting players on the outside lines.
However, there are still a few aspects of his game to improve, first and foremost defense. He should be targeted by opposing attacks because of his physique, perhaps still a little light in the NBA, 1.90 m and 80 kg. Compared to Darius Garland or Lou Williamsit is for the moment more to the latter that he should be compared, a sort of microwave player coming off the bench who can reach 20-30 points in certain matches. The advantage is that the competition is not huge on the Wolves bench for this position and that his profile could be interesting at position 1 next to a Nickeil Alexander-Walker or a Donte DiVincenzo more defensive, which would form quite complementary duos.
To finish, Rob Dillingham could be one of the surprises in the race for Rookie of the Year in the NBA. As the defensive level often never counts in the minds of voters, this advantage Dillingham compared to other more complete and selected prospects ahead of him in the Draft (Sarr, Castle, Clingan, Hall or even Holland). He will undoubtedly have between 10 and 15 minutes of playing time per match, but could make an impression during hot spells in certain matches with a greater volume of minutes. He will certainly not be the best player of this vintage in the long term, but we will have to watch him this season!
Prediction at the end of the season: 2ths to the West
Top 3 in the Western Conference appears to be a realistic goal for the Minnesota Timberwolves this season. The squad remains very strong compared to last year and the base is solid, especially with a promising young leader such asAnthony Edwards. Difficult to predict whether this team will go far in the Playoffs or not, the key point to watch will be Julius Randlehis integration into the game and the locker room or his potential transfer could change everything negatively or positively for these Wolves.
