Timberwolves Season Review - A Year to Forget

[AlexS]

The Minnesota Timberwolves entered the 2023-2024 season with tempered expectations to contend for one of the last Western Conference playoff sports, however ended the season with the 2nd worst record in the league. The Wolves front office was hoping that with a veteran starting 5 and core of Tyus Jones, Briante Weber, Bradley Beal, Caleb Swanigan, and Demarcus Cousins the Wolves could at least be competitive throughout the season and give the long suffering Minnesota Timberwolves fans something to cheer about during the long, cold winter. And at least to start, things were looking promising as the Wolves jumped out of the gate to a surprising 4-1 record, thanks in large part to a very ease schedule to start the season. The Wolves would then battle injuries which only enhanced significant depth issues and a poorly constructed roster, resulting in finishing the season 14-63. Head Coach Randy Wittman was forced to play his young rookies extended minutes, pushing them into playing time and often times positions, not best suited for their game. Rookie review :viewtopic.php?f=19&t=10360

It's safe to say that the 2024 off season for the Timberwolves will be franchise altering. Demarcus Cousins will be leaving as a FA after playing 126 games over 2 largely disappointing years in a Wolves uniform. Sharpshooter Bradley Beal has a TO for the '24-'25 season, and rumors have been swirling of Beal not being happy with the pile up of losses and direction of the franchise, and maybe looking for an exit from the Twin Cities by any means possible. After a catastrophic fall in the draft lottery, the Timberwolves will have their choice from the second tier prospects of the upcoming draft and need to hit a home run to begin turning the franchise around. Along with their 1st rd pick, the Wolves own both the OKC and TOR 2nd rounders, and will continue to look to add cheap, competent NBA players on to the roster as the Wolves will be looking to be active in FA and exploring trades.

Now onto the awards.

Player of the Year : PG Tyus Jones
The local kid had his best season as a pro. Tasked with an increased role in the Wolves offense, Jones had career highs in PPG, APG and 3PM while leading the team in jersey sales for the 2nd consecutive season. Still only 23 and just reaching his prime, Jones has blossomed into a solid, however not spectacular PG that any winning team can build around.

Rookie of the Year : PF Ray Spalding
The Lousivile product produced as advertised, however many draft pundits were not sure he would be able to produce at this level this early in his career. Averaging 6ppg/5rbg/1bpg, with efficient scoring and an outstanding work ethic that led to improvements throughout the year, Spalding looks to be a 2nd round steal.

Worst Player of the Year : Tie James Siakam and Dwight Powell
Dwight "DNP -CD" Powell managed 18 minutes spread over the course of 4 games over the entire season despite never being injured. He made $77,777/minute this season, with the front office only hoping he will decline his $1,400,000 PO for next season. Siakam has bounced around the league, and will likely maintain a job for a few more years because he is a pitbull defensively, he just does not know that he should never shoot the ball, ever.

Surprise Player of the Year : Kyle Wiltjer
The 24 year old rookie was expected to produce right away, as he boasted a polished stretch 4 game coming out of Gonzaga. Wiltjer really struggled with the physicality of the CSL in his rookie season, as he was bullied out of the paint for rebounds and really struggled to make shouts outside of spot up 3 pointers. There were some bright spots from Wiltjer however, as he shot the 3 ball and blocked shots at a good clip.

[Flaming Homer]

I was surprised how much Beal's injury derailed the Timberwolves season early on. Maybe it was a result of the schedule too, but it seemed nothing was working anymore right after the injury.
And, as for the Hawks too, if you are on a loosing streak it can be very tough to break out of it.

But Jones really looked like the first part in place for the rebuild and I hope he can be even better in 19, I'm pretty sure actually. His 3pt shooting should be money there. And then of course this years 1st will be important.

Good luck

[emplep7]

Nooo, James Siakam had so much potential as a lockdown defender. It hurts me to see him tied for Worst Player of the year for you guys. Not getting a top 2 pick hurts this team a lot, but you will still be adding talent to his team which you desperately need. I'm not sure what your salary CAP space looks like this off-season but I expect you guys to be pretty active to try and improve this team as much as possible in short order. its going to be an uphill battle, but keep at it.

[Dennis]

Tough spot to be in and probs for staying around despite having such a Talentfree roster! Having the 6th pick is really tough luck as it looks like the best player you can get there is a Mikal Bridges/Justin Anderson clone in Johnson (I think that was the SF). The franchise will need some years to be back in the hunt for a playoff spot - even in the weaker west.

[atsather]

Cool stuff!