July 9, 2012; St. Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter (left) and forward Zach Parise (right) speak to the media during a press conference at the Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

Let’s not forget about why we all come to Dunking With Wolves in the first place, the Minnesota Timberwolves.  It was a widely anticipated season for the team.  Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio and Arizona star Derrick Williams joined the Wolves for their rookie seasons.  While Williams had an up and down season, it was clear that Rubio is looking like the real deal.  He is also somehow justifying for David Kahn selecting 3 point guards (Rubio, Jonny Flynn, and Ty Lawson) in the first-round of the 2009 NBA draft.  Power forward Kevin Love finished sixth in MVP voting in addition to making his second All-Star appearance, being voted to the All-NBA 2nd Team, and most recently winning a gold medal in the London Olympics as a member of Team USA.  The front office had a very busy off-season bringing in international stars, former all stars, and a couple of young and developing players who have proven they can play in the NBA.

So let me just state that we already know why we’re excited about this year and who we know to get excited for, but there’s always the guys who casual fans have never heard of that come in and blow people away.  Jeremy Lin is the perfect example of this type of player.  New York Knicks fans didn’t expect them to be in the postseason because Lin carried the team on a couple winning streaks this year, and they loved him for doing so.  His efforts were handsomely rewarded in the form of 3 years and $24 million from the Houston Rockets, a team that previously waived Lin.

Unknowns breakout all the time in the NFL.  Tom Brady was a 6th round pick and didn’t get a shot until Drew Bledsoe got hurt.  One of the single season 2000 yard club members, former Broncos running back Terrell Davis, went undrafted out of college.  Vikings fans are already getting excited about linebacker Audie Cole, a 7th round pick who made a showing in last nights preseason game by intercepting 2 consecutive passes and returning them for touchdowns.  Things like this happen all the time around every league, so I’m going to let the readers know who I believe will breakout from relative “obscurity” and be big players on the Wolves.  Nikola Pekovic doesn’t qualify because of his performance last year.

Jan 22, 2012; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (center), owner Robert Kraft (right) and former quarterback Drew Bledsoe (left) talk after the Patriots defeated the Ravens 23-20 in the 2011 AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-US PRESSWIRE

Alexey Shved

Yes, he is getting a lot of hype.  Not Ricky Rubio hype, but still a good amount of it.  He did impress a couple of times in the London Olympics while Russia won bronze, and for all of you that watch the Euroleague religiously, you already know what a talented player he is.  The sole reason he is on the list is because he is an undrafted international rookie, and because of that I am placing rather low expectations for this young man’s performance this season that he is fairly capable of reaching.  Most Americans can only evaluate him right now based on a couple of YouTube highlight videos, but those videos just show the good things he does.  While I’m personally excited to see him play for Minnesota this season, we are better off putting our faith in fellow Russian Andrei Kirilenko to help the team reach the playoffs.  AK-47 played in the league for 10 years, and he knows the NBA game very well compared to most international players.

Malcom Lee

Another young and talented combo guard, but he finds himself unsure of whether or not he will be on the active 12-man roster.  Shved is going to be given more time because Minnesota is paying him $3.3 million, significantly more than Lee’s $762,000 salary.  Lee is also stuck on the bottom of the depth chart behind more proven players in Luke Ridnour, JJ Barea, Brandon Roy, and Ricky Rubio.  Now Ridnour and/or Barea might be traded, and Roy might get hurt again, but these are realistically the only ways Lee gets good minutes this year.  In 19 games averaging 12mpg, he never broke double digit scoring, and his high assist total was 5, so we have very little to work with here.  Look for Lee to be the guy who might breakout in the wake of injury.

Brandon Roy’s Knees

It’s well known that when healthy, Brandon Roy is an All-Star player with the ability to hit key shots in close games.  The knees underwent the “Kobe Treatment,”  the same one that relieved the pain in Kobe Bryant’s knees this season.  Bill Simmons has a great article about the treatment if you click on his name.  Roy’s knees are supposedly going to have fewer inflammatory issues after this treatment, and if this holds true then look for Roy to have a good year.  He won’t be near the numbers he used to put up, but if he can somehow breakout and be the 2nd or 3rd leading scorer on a playoff team, then Minnesota clearly wins on the gamble of his 2 year contract.  Everybody already knows he is a great basketball player, but the question here is whether or not he will become relevant again.  Nobody, except Portland, seemed to notice his absence during the shortened season.  Roy’s knees can make people remember why he was great.

With all due respect, I would have put Greg Steimsma on this list, but he was only brought to the team to do the following: block shots, be big & tall, and give the Love/Pek front court some needed rest every night.  The team still faces a few obstacles if they want to become a legitimate title contender, but these guys can help us overcome those in a big way.

/a

PG Steve Nash

SG Kobe Bryant

SF Metta World Peace (I can’t believe writers of any level have to use this name)

PF Pau Gasol

C Dwight Howard

August 10, 2012; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard was introduced to the media after he was aquired in a four-team trade from the Orlando Magic. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Barring a career-ending injury to Howard, this team has three future hall of fame players on it.  Some loyal Gasol fans might argue that he is a hall worthy player, but I’ll consider him fringe at best right now.  For now the focus will be about how Howard’s arrival impacts the playoff race in the western conference.

The top seeds are unfortunately pretty predictable this year. Oklahoma City and the Lakers will without a doubt be battling for that #1 seed.  Last year’s top team, San Antonio, faces even more questions as they continue to age (albeit rather gracefully).  As long as Gregg Popovich is coaching this team, the Spurs will more than likely be a Top-4 seed in the west.  Things begin to get a little interesting as we go on to the lower seeds.  Are Memphis and the LA Clippers going to be able to be as good or better than they were last season?  The series between these teams was probably the best matchup not involving OKC or Miami.  So now we’re at the bottom half of the seeding, a place where Minnesota has a realistic shot at ending up this year.  These teams did a lot in order to improve upon last year, but as we all know sometimes the effort doesn’t equal success.

Denver Nuggets (#6 seed)

Javale McGee can block shots, and while he is often on the wrong end of jokes in the NBA circle, he is long and athletic enough to keep up with Howard.  Kenneth Faried burst onto the scene last year, and this guy never looks tired at any point in the game.  An offensively raw player, but he does the little things on the defensive end in order to help this team succeed.  The problem with the Nuggets front court is their main backup big man, Timofey Mozgov, is Blake Griffin’s personal poster boy.  The addition of Anthony Randolph is a big mystery, as you never know what to expect from him.  Overall, expect the addition of Andre Iguodala and the “we don’t need superstars to win” concept implemented by coach George Karl to vault the Nuggets into the playoffs once again.

Javale McGee looking confused. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Dallas Mavericks (#7 seed)

The Mavericks tried to do a couple of things this offseason.  Get younger and more talented.  You could say that at this point, their somewhat at a stand still.  Yes, they acquired O.J. Mayo, Darren Collison, Chris Kaman, and Elton Brand in addition to drafting Jaw Crowder and Bernard James.  They did, however, lose Jason Terry to Boston.  Terry was getting older, but he was the pacemaker for this team’s bench.  He was the second best player behind Dirk Nowitzki in that 2011 championship run.  The team also lost the veteran presence of Jason Kidd, one of the best point guards to ever set foot on an NBA court.  While the team did do a good thing in shedding the contract of Brendan Haywood, Chris Kaman will not be a sufficient replacement defensively.

In summary, the team got better and younger, but older and less mature as well.

Utah Jazz (#8 seed)

Some people will tell you that Utah’s playoff run this year was a fluke.  An argument can be made both ways.  They have a wonderful group of post players who can size up against the Lakers and attack them in many different ways.  Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap seemingly score at will.  They both have some defensive limitations, however, but the two youngsters in Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter make the Jefferson/Millsap duo increasingly expendable.  Look for Utah to make a deal in order to improve the aging and somewhat talentless backcourt.  Alec Burks is still developing, and I believe he will be a good player in this league.  No disrespect to Mo Williams, but the team is going to need a better facilitator at the point guard position.  His scoring will be great, but not when he can’t pass the ball to the other guys consistently.  Utah can make the playoffs again this year, but only if they make a deal to improve the back court.

The other guys

While I love what New Orleans did this offseason, expect them to take a couple years until they make some noise.  Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers should team up well with Eric Gordon to get off to a good start.

Houston lost way too much talent in Luis Scola, Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragic, Chase Budinger, and Samuel Dalembert to contend.  Overpaying for Jeremy Lin and drafting a player too afraid to fly in a plane (Royce White) was not the answer.

Golden State is a team always up in the air.  They stole Harrison Barnes in the draft, and when a healthy Andrew Bogut returns expect a solidified defensive front court. Stephen Curry will be the x-factor.  Will he be healthy enough for an 82 game season?  Expect Klay Thompson to step his game up and be the team’s MVP this season.  Barnes should also project to be a strong Rookie of the Year candidate.

Sacramento has troubled, yet extremely talented DeMarcus Cousins to pair with Kansas star Thomas Robinson down low.  While this should produce a lot of points, there are too many question marks in other spots.  Who is the point guard of the future? Jimmer Fredette or Isiah Thomas?  Will Tyreke Evans break out to become a bonafide superstar?  He has all the tools to do so, but health is a key issue.  Too many questions to contend.

Portland got younger and has two good lottery picks in Meyers Leonard and Damian Lillard to build around LaMarcus Aldridge with.  Is Aldridge willing to stay around for rebuilding?  That’s the key question.  The rebuilding process may take a few years, and the fans will grow impatient.

Phoenix is an interesting story.  They managed to at least get something for Steve Nash in the form of draft picks.  Their first round pick Kendall Marshall was one of, if not the best, passers in college basketball last season.  Michael Beasley swore off marijuana, Wesley Johnson gets a fresh start, and they stole Luis Scola from Dallas and signed rising guard Goran Dragic.  Throw in the development of Markeiff Morris with Marcin Gortat stabilizing the post and you have a team with a legitimate shot at contending for a playoff spot.

Minnesota

Without a doubt the most active team this offseason.  Only 7 of 15 players from last year are returning.  Kahn signed two Russian stars in AK-47 and Alexey Shved.  Former all-star Brandon Roy came out of retirement to don a Wolves uniform.  Chase Budinger consistently stretches the floor and displays stellar athleticism.  Derrick Williams lost weight and became more explosive in the process.  Greg Steimsma will simply add interior defensive depth to a team that has a rising player in Nikola Pekovic and an MVP-type player in Kevin Love.

Apr 26, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Fans don't want to see this image at all during the season. Mandatory Credit: Greg Smith-US PRESSWIRE

The most vital part to a successful season is the return of Ricky Rubio.  A healthy Ricky guarantess a playoff appearance.  An injured Ricky decreases chances only slightly due to the talent added.  Roy and Shved have terrific ball handling abilities to compensate for any Rubio injury.

So why do Minnesota’s playoff chances increase with Dwight going to LA?

Minnesota’s main advantage of the other teams is that they addressed all of their needs in order to become a more well rounded team in all areas of basketball.  Their front court tandem of Pekovic and Love will be a Top-3 post scoring tandem, and the emergence of other players like Shved and Rubio will only pay dividends to Kahn’s efforts.  Other teams simply don’t have the personnel or firepower to keep Dwight and Pau that occupied on the defensive end. Even Rubio, Roy, and Shved should be trouble for the Kobe/Nash duo.  They’re both amazing players at their age, but how long can we realistically expect their twilight revivals to last?  Most of the Lakers’ losses will be from he result of sub-par guard play, but Minnesota is one of the few teams in the conference that can make the Lakers lose due to sub-par post play.  Another important factor is Steve Nash and his historical playing tempo.  Phoenix did so well because Nash is a very aggressive, yet poised, point guard.  This caused teams to force themselves into track meets with Phoenix, mostly ending in agonizing defeat.  Don’t expect much 6-seconds and shoot basketball under Mike Brown’s watch.  Nash working at a slower tempo should warrant a mildly rocky adjustment period.  Look for The Unicorn (one of Rubio’s nicknames) to take advantage.

My prediction for is for the team to sneak into the playoffs, potentially as high as the #5 seed.  To be fair, #7 or #8 would be more realistic, but hey a man can dream.  Optimism will be in the air this season, and the team won’t disappoint.