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| Through the draft, the Wolves have slowly assembled a Big Three to be reckoned with. |
Oh, how the mighty have fallen stumbled. After a little over a week of regular season action the defending champion Dallas Mavericks(1-4) find themselves at the bottom of the Southwest Division. The Lakers (3-3) lost their Christmas Day opener on a last second shot by Derrick Rose and after starting the season with consecutive loses have leveled out. And though every year looks to be the year age catches up to the Boston Celtics (2-3,) their three losses to start the season, followed by two unimpressive wins over the lowly Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards look to be a bad omen.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder both sit undefeated, with the Heat seemingly more composed as the Thunder continue to deal with slight growing pains.[1] The Bulls (4-1) and Pacers (3-1) look like they will be fighting for the Central Division crown as both teams are off to solid starts. Out west, Portland (3-1) and Denver (3-2) will at least keep OKC from walking off with the Northwest Division, and the same goes in the Southeast, with Orlando (4-1) and Atlanta (3-1) on Miami’s heals. But the rest of the league has been leaning more toward mediocrity.
A handful of teams, the Knicks (2-2), Clippers (2-2), Warriors (2-3), Kings (2-3), Rockets (2-2), Bucks (2-1), 76ers (2-2) and Grizzlies (1-3) have had competitive showings but either lack a sense of identity[2], need time to gel with new teammates[3], lack the experience[4], maturity[5] or all-around talent[6] to make a claim as anything more than a first/second round exit or a playoff hopeful.
On a positive note, the list of perennial cellar dwellers seems to be dwindling as many teams are seeing decent production from their draft picks and that has translated to more competitive play. Kyrie Irving looks like he does indeed know how to play the point guard position after only playing eleven games for Duke and four games for the Cavs (2-2.) Irving’s teammate and fellow rookie, Tristan Thompson, is slowly making a push to be one of the top rookies of the class joining Kemba Walker (CHA), Marshon Brooks (NJ), Brandon Knight (DET), Markieff Morris (PHX) and Jimmer Fredette (SAC) as standouts from this years draft. Though none of these players will be leading their teams to the playoffs this year, they are all living (mostly) up to their hype.
Most impressive of all though has been the sudden promise of the Minnesota Timberwolves (1-3). For the past several years the lifeless Wolves have been at the hands of their clueless GM David Kahn, who it turns out, may not have been as clueless as critics have claimed. Joining the organization in 2009, two years removed from the trading of franchise player Kevin Garentt to the Celtics, Kahn was brought in to lead the rebuilding process of the Wolves. His first draft can best be described as laughable, after taking three point guards in the first round[7] and having the one with the most upside (Rubio) hold out on coming to the NBA and then trading the most NBA ready player (Ty Lawson) to the Nuggets. Don’t forget to look over the list of soon-to-be all-star caliber players he passed up including Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozen, Brandon Jennings and Jrue Holiday. Then, in 2010, he took Wesley Johnson with the fourth pick over the more talented DeMarcus Cousins[8] and topped off a long list of questionable moves when he traded for Darko Milicic[9] and then extended him to a 4 year, $20 million deal.
Though in 2011, the draft may have haphazardly fallen in Kahn’s favor and has since led to a series of fortune changing events. The Wolves were awarded the 2nd pick instead of the 1st in the draft and had the Wolves gotten the 1st pick, Kahn would have almost been forced by the media to take PG Kyrie Irving, adding to Kahn’s odd draft stockpile of PGs. Instead the Wolves were able to take SF/PF Derrick Williams with the 2nd pick. This, along with Kevin Love’s 2010 breakout season[10] played essential in finally convincing Spanish prodigy Ricky Rubio to make his way across the pond.
The Wolves now carry an interesting shell of talent and promise. Their starting lineup is anchored by Kevin Love, who continues to improve and could be a future MVP candidate, the aforementioned Milicic, who has proved productive as a role player, the oft-troubled 2008 2nd pick Michael Beasley has become a solid scoring threat, the 2010 4th pick, Wesley Johnson, has been a bit of a disappointment, but the Wolves have avoided a competitive collapse thanks to the leadership of veteran PG Luke Ridnour. But where the Wolves show their true promise is on their second team, which is lead by rookies Derrick Williams and Ricky Rubio. Rubio has already made a mark after going for 12 points and 12 assists in a close loss to Miami on Friday[11] and Williams has been impressive, breaking the ten-point barrier twice and doing some dirty work on the boards, averaging 5 boards in only 21 minutes a game.
Though the Timberwolves record still stands at one win and three losses, they have been extremely competitive thus far. Their lone win was a commanding one against the defending champ Dallas Mavericks and their three losses have been by a combined 9 points to the top two title favorites in Oklahoma City and Miami and the always scrappy Milwaukee Bucks. In this shortened, up-tempo season, the Wolves could be a surprise team in the West and sneak away with the 8th seed. Though I find that outcome unlikely, the core of Love-Rubio-Williams looks as impressive and promising as any rebuilding project in the league. It’s not a matter of if, but when for these Wolves.
[2] The Knicks need to decide how much defense they would like to play and if there is a need for a true point guard.
[3] Lob City hasn’t quite found a winning formula with Paul and Griffin yet
[4] Grizzlies and Warriors
[5] Kings, i.e. DeMarcus Cousins is straight bonkers
[6] Rockets (talent voided by David Stern,) Bucks and 76ers
[7] Starting with Rubio at 5, Johnny Flynn at 6 and Ty Lawson at 18
[8] In fairness to Kahn, Cousins is starting to show us why so many teams passed on him with his selfish, destructive attitude and behavior.
[9] Drafted 2nd by the Pistons in 2003 and widely considered known as a bust
[10] Love exploded for 20 ppg and 15 boards
[11] On the season Rubio is averaging 9.5 ppg, 7.3 assists and 4 boards, he looks like the real deal.
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