Timberwolves ranking in Western Conference – Part One

Oct 23, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio (9) dribbles in the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at Target Center. The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Milwaukee Bucks 112-108. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

13. Minnesota Timberwolves

Here we are. The Minnesota Timberwolves come in at thirteenth on my list — which was a hard place to put them considering I said earlier this off-season that their ceiling is at eight.

The complication with predicting their “ceiling” is that a ceiling year would ultimately be a perfect year for the current roster. With the amount of injuries this team had last year, it would be hard to imagine that the Timberwolves stay completely healthy next year — the total amount of missed games should decrease tremendously, but with a relatively injury-prone roster, you’ll still see a few injuries.

Aside from the inevitable amount of injuries, this team has a good core but lacks a superstar — in five years, of course, this should change as well. Wiggins is almost there and Towns should be on his way, but for now, Minnesota doesn’t have that guy that they can rely on to carry them in large stretches of the season. This is the difference between them and, say, the Kings and Lakers, who have DeMarcus Cousins and Kobe Bryant (though he’s not where he once was), respectively.

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The young talent that will soon propel this team into the playoffs in the near future should have plenty of time to develop in this upcoming season. Head coach Sam Mitchell announced and un-announced that Zach LaVine will be the starting shooting guard but he’ll still figure prominently into the rotation, and Towns should start from the get-go. S

habazz Muhammed and Gorgui Dieng will have a lot of opportunities to flourish off the bench, and Tyus Jones has the “Professor,” Andre Miller, as a mentor to guide his develop. Andrew Wiggins is, well, Andrew Wiggins.

There’s a reason to be optimistic in Minnesota because of the aforementioned young talent on the Timberwolves’ roster. However, they’re not all quite there yet, meaning next year will be better than last, but not by too much.

Next: #12 - Bare Bones Roster and a Great Coach