A year ago Minnesota Timberwolves fans were on the edge of their seats waiting to see whether or not Ricky Rubio could be an impact player in the NBA. It didn’t take long (after the lockout ended) to see that Rubio could, indeed, lead an NBA team. Unfortunately, injuries soon became the story in Minnesota and what looked like a budding playoff team had to spend one more postseason on the outside looking in. That won’t be the case for much longer, however, and it seems very likely that 2012-13 could be the year Minnesota returns to the playoffs.

HOOPSWORLD takes a look at the 2012-13 Minnesota Timberwolves:

Five Guys Think…

This is the year where the Minnesota Timberwolves should make their big leap into playoff contention. They rebounded nicely from missing out on small forward Nicolas Batum, their top target in free agency, by signing veterans Brandon Roy and Andrei Kirilenko. Their play will likely be as important as anyone on the team, Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love included. Chase Budinger and Alex Shved, the other newcomers, should be solid additions to their bench. The leader of the second unit has to be Derrick Williams, though. The Timberwolves didn’t exactly show major faith in him this offseason by offering him up in several trades. On top of that, he was awful in summer league. Despite all of that, he has to step up this season for this team to maximize their potential. Even if he doesn’t, the Timberwolves are still a good bet to move out of the division’s cellar for the first time in three seasons.

3rd Place – Northwest Division

– Yannis Koutroupis
 

Last season the Minnesota Timberwolves looked very much like a playoff team before injuries derailed their season. Ricky Rubio was better than anyone had dared hope, Kevin Love had an All-Star year, and the team responded extremely well to the leadership of head coach Rick Adelman. With Andrei Kirilenko, Alexey Shved, Chase Budinger and Brandon Roy, in particular, now in the mix, the Timberwolves should be ready to resume their course for postseason play. If Brandon Roy can contribute at a level anywhere close to his previous form and Nikola Pekovic takes the next step at center, the Wolves could be one of the best teams in the Western Conference.

3rd Place – Northwest Division

– Bill Ingram

 
Last season, the Minnesota Timberwolves seemed poised to make the playoffs. Kevin Love made huge strides, Ricky Rubio was extremely impressive in his rookie season and Nikola Pekovic emerged as a significant contributor. If it weren’t for injuries, Minnesota would’ve been in the playoff hunt at the end of the season, possibly stealing the eighth seed away from the Utah Jazz. The Wolves will enter this season with the same goal. Not only are they bringing back all of the key contributors from last year’s team, they’ve added veterans such as Brandon Roy, Andrei Kirilenko and Chase Budinger to ensure that they won’t be watching the playoffs from home this time around. If Minnesota can stay healthy, they should be able to take that next step, which would be extremely beneficial for the young team.

3rd Place – Northwest Division

– Alex Kennedy

 
Ricky Rubio says he expects to be back with the team in December, and that’s when I expect the Wolves to start looking like a really sneaky-good basketball team again, just like they did for the first half of last season. The addition of veterans Brandon Roy and Andrei Kirilenko are both extremely interesting because both have the potential to be really, really good players. Of course, both have the potential to be kind of uninteresting, too, so we’ll see. Alexey Shved makes his NBA debut this year, too, and Kevin Love, in my opinion, is the best power forward in the game right now. That’s a whole lot of good stuff (and there’s actually more that I don’t have space to gush about), so I’m of the belief that Minny gets back in the postseason this year. If nothing else, they should be one of the most entertaining teams in the league to watch.

3rd Place – Northwest Division

– Joel Brigham

 
T’Wolves power forward Kevin Love aspires to be great and has jabbed at the team’s front office to surround him with the necessary talent to compete with the league’s best squads. After a summer full of reloading the roster, Minnesota’s front office has now put the pressure on Love to produce – on the court. The team added Andrei Kirilenko, Brandon Roy, Chase Budinger, Alexey Shved and Greg Stiemsma to a core, which was in the thick of playoff contention before Ricky Rubio was lost for the season to a knee injury. This is the most talent the T’Wolves have had on their roster in years and now the pressure is on Love to etch his name amongst the league’s elite and carry the franchise back to the postseason.

3rd Place – Northwest Division

– Lang Greene

Top Of The List

Top Offensive Player: One of the most exciting young stars in the game, Timberwolves All-Star Kevin Love is proving to be one tough customer for opposing defenses. Not only is he one of the game’s top rebounders, he is also capable of scoring from anywhere on the court. Last season, Love averaged 26.0 points per game while shooting 45 percent from the floor, 37 percent from three and 82 percent from the free throw line. He also averaged 4.1 offensive rebounds per game as part of his 13.3 overall boards per game average. The Timberwolves will go as far as Love takes them, and he looks prepared to take them very far, indeed.

Top Defensive Player: The Timberwolves are looking to push things to another level this season, and that starts with improving their overall defensive game. With that in mind, the team added renowned defensive specialist Andrei Kirilenko to the mix. Kirilenko is a capable scorer, but in ten years with the Utah Jazz he hung his hat on the defensive end of the court, where he has career averages of 1.7 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Love will need to step up in the front court for the Timberwolves to realize their dreams of returning to the playoffs, but the defensive x-factor and the one who sets the tone for the team will be Kirilenko.

Top Playmaker: There were plenty of questions about Ricky Rubio as he embarked on his rookie campaign last season, but he wasted no time silencing his critics. After hearing rumors that perhaps Rubio was overrated due to struggling on his Spanish team, fans back in Minnesota were a little nervous about their heralded rookie point guard. Once the ball went up on the lockout-shortened season, however, those concerns melted away. Rubio averaged 10.6 points, 8.2 assists and 4.2 rebounds before suffering a season-ending injury, showing that he can, indeed, be the point guard of the future for his new team.

Top Clutch Player: Throughout his career with the Portland Trail Blazers, Brandon Roy proved that he was as clutch as any player in the NBA, even if the clutch bucket came from half court just before the buzzer. It’s probably too much to put that burden on Roy’s shoulders in Minnesota, though. The Timberwolves are Kevin Love’s team, and more often than not it will be his number that’s called when the Timberwolves need a bucket late in a game. Of course, with his propensity from grabbing offensive boards, even if head coach Rick Adelman calls a different play, Love may be the one finishing it off.

The Unheralded Player: He doesn’t get much love, but point guard Luke Ridnour will continue to be an important part of the Timberwolves’ success this season. He will be one of the primary influences on Rubio as he continues to learn the NBA game, and he will also shoulder a significant part of the floor leadership duties both on and off the court. Behind every hot young rookie point guard is a veteran showing him the ropes, and on this team Ridnour plays that all-important role.

The Best New Addition: The Timberwolves have a handful of interesting new additions this season, but none more interesting than Brandon Roy. There is definitely a feeling of cautious optimism around Minnesota, as the team and its fans wait to see just how effective Roy will be on the knees that forced him to retire in Portland. The early word is that Roy is ready to be an impact player, and thinks he’s ready to be a starter once again. There are also experts who are familiar with his knees cautioning that starting Roy and playing him major minutes could result in further issues with his knees. Whatever happens, there is a great deal of excitement about Roy joining the team, and he is the most anticipated addition to the squad.

– Bill Ingram

Who We Like

1. Rick Adelman: When the Minnesota Timberwolves hired Rick Adelman as their new head coach they were looking for a lot more than just a head coach. They were looking for someone who could lead the team in a new direction, and that’s just what Adelman has done. After his first full season he asked for more veterans to help lead the team back to the playoffs, and president of basketball operations David Kahn has given him exactly what he asked for. Adelman’s uncanny ability to get the most out of his players is a big reason why the Timberwolves can expect to be back in postseason play this season.

2. Kevin Love: When a team looks for a franchise player they’re looking for more than just someone who fills the stat sheet; they’re also looking for a player who will take the success of the team personally, and the Timberwolves have that in Kevin Love. One of the league’s premier power forwards, Love is also quite vocal about what he expects from the team and what they need to do to improve. He expects excellence from himself, and he expects his team to follow suit. That kind of personal excellence and vocal leadership is rare, and having it in Love spells success for this franchise.

3. Nikola Pekovic: When the Timberwolves drafted Nikola Pekovic with the first pick in the second round of the 2008 NBA Draft, it was with the hope that maybe, one day, he would turn out to be a serviceable big man in the NBA. He had a decent rookie year in 2010-11, but really came into his own last season, when he became a fulltime starter for the team. He averaged 13.9 points and 7.4 rebounds in his sophomore season, shooting 56 percent from the field in the process. His best month of the season was in March, when he averaged 17.4 points and 8.5 rebounds. If he is as good to start this season as he was when he finished the last, the Timberwolves are more than set at center.

4. Chase Budinger: Every great team needs solid role players, and in the case of the Timberwolves they came into the offseason needing outside shooting, as well. Chase Budinger played for Rick Adelman in Houston, so he very much a known commodity, and his propensity for knocking down the three ball makes him a great pick-up for the team. He knows the system, he has been successful in it before, and he brings an element that the Timberwolves desperately need.

5. Brandon Roy: Roy may be the biggest x-factor in the NBA this season. If he can play anywhere close to the level at which he played in Portland, the Timberwolves could challenge for home court advantage in the Western Conference. Unfortunately, that’s probably overly optimistic. What’s more likely is that Roy comes off the bench to contribute important minutes in a reserve role, likely finishing games due to his high basketball IQ and his knack for dropping huge clutch baskets. Whatever his role on the court, his voice and leadership in the locker room will make him as popular with his teammates as he will be with the fans.

– Bill Ingram

Strengths

Last season the Timberwolves were the best in the NBA at scoring with the shot clock under four seconds, and they were also fourth in the NBA in scoring with a pick-and-roll. They were also exceptionally good at converting on out of bounds plays. They were slightly more effective against zone than they were against man defense and ranked eighth in the league in scoring on put-backs. It helps to have Kevin Love among the best in the league on the offensive glass. Having Love and Pekovic together down low also helped the Timberwolves rank sixth in the NBA in defending post-up situations. Last year’s squad was also second in the league in defending in pick-and-roll situations. They will only be better with Roy in the mix and Rubio improving daily.

– Bill Ingram

Weaknesses

By far the Timberwolves’ greatest weakness last season was their spot-up game, which nonetheless accounted for 18.5 percent of their offense. This was because they didn’t have shooters who could knock down open jumpers, something they have remedied in preparation for 2012-13. Brandon Roy and Chase Budinger, in particular, will greatly enhance the team’s ability to make opponents pay for doubling down on Love and Pekovic. The Timberwolves also ranked 25th in the NBA in transition offense, which means they didn’t get nearly as many easy baskets as they should have. Adding Andrei Kirilenko to the mix will help change that, as he will come up with steals and break up plays that lead to fast break opportunities for Minnesota.

– Bill Ingram

What Needs To Be Said On Opening Day….

There is no doubt that this group is capable of being a playoff team this season. We shouldn’t be content with building for a competitive future any longer. We know Kevin will beast it up on the boards and Ricky, when he’s back, will help spread the ball around. We know that Luke, Alexey and J.J. will put pressure on our opponents with their pick-and-roll play. But we can’t get caught up in trying to outscore everyone we play. In order to make real progress, this group must put forth consistent effort on the defense end. Andrei, we need you to talk up in the role of a stopper and set the tone for the level of play we need to be successful. If we can compete hard on a nightly basis on that end of the floor, we will be able to take the next step.

– Anthony Macri and Brett Koremenos

The Burning Question

Can the Timberwolves stay healthy this season?

There is really only one thing that looks like a true deterrent to the Timberwolves’ hopes of returning to postseason play in 2012-13, and that’s health. Only Derrick Williams appeared in all 66 games for the team last season, and that’s a trend that must stop now. If Kevin Love, Brandon Roy, Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic and JJ Barea can all log at least 75 games this season the Timberwolves are going to be very tough to beat, and practically a lock to make the playoffs. If, like last season, injuries become the story again, they’ll be watching the playoffs again for the ninth-straight season.

– Bill Ingram