Wolves 2014-15: Starting Over

Washington Wizards v/s Denver Nuggets January 25, 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Timberwolves have been a train wreck for most of its 25-year history.  Bad teams, bad deals, turnovers in the front office and in the coaching ranks, etc. have turned this franchise into not just one of the worst in the NBA, but in all of pro sports.  Even the once-in-a-lifetime players--Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love, to name a couple--that have passed through have honored the new Minnesota tradition of doing better somewhere else.

So here we are again, about to start another NBA season of the Timberwolves' commitment to mediocrity.  The big news, of course, is that Love has gone to the Cleveland Cavaliers to play with his new best friend LeBron James.  In Love's place are the Cavs' #1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, Zach LaVine and Thaddeus Young--all highly-touted young players who haven't had much (or any) NBA experience.  Ricky Rubio, Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic are still here, of course.  None of them have yet to whine their way out of Minnesota.

All of this dealing was engineered by general manager Flip Saunders, who has gotten good marks for getting whatever he could from the Love trade.  Now the task of taking these new players and molding them into a competent basketball team falls on coach Flip Saunders, who took the job for the second time when no one else wanted it after Rick Adelman resigned.

It goes without saying that the Wolves will not make the playoffs this season.  They haven't been there since the last time Saunders coached here, and that was over a decade ago.  Instead, they could end up challenging the Philadelphia 76ers for the worst record in the NBA.

Until then, enjoy Wiggins, LaVine and Rubio while you can.  It won't be long before these players get attractive offers to jump to competitive teams in bigger (and warmer) markets.  Or they become complete busts.  And the Wolves will once again be starting over.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As for the rest of the NBA . . .

• LeBron James returns to Cleveland as the conquering hero.  Is it possible that James has already won his championships in Miami, and is winding down his career?
• Oh, by the way, the San Antonio Spurs are the defending champions.
• The Charlotte Hornets are back, but only after New Orleans gave up that nickname to become the Pelicans.
• The NBA no longer has a Donald Sterling problem, having forced him and his wife to sell the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer.  For two billion dollars.
• But they do have an Atlanta Hawks problem.  That team is for sale because their owner also uttered racially insensitive remarks, forcing him to sell his stake.
• The Sacramento Kings and Milwaukee Bucks are still in the league under new ownership.  Seattle continues to wait its turn.
• The NBA has re-upped with TV partners ESPN/ABC and TNT for the next decade.  Which means that the only way Rupert Murdoch can get Fox's foot in the door is to buy out Time Warner, TNT's parent company.  Oh wait . . . Murdoch tried that already and failed.

Here's who we think will survive the 82-game schedule come April.

EAST:  Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks.

WEST:  San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers.