Minnesota Timberwolves roundtable: Reviewing the schedule

3. Quick prediction about Wolves record next year based off newly released schedule.

Dan: Schedule releases don’t really do much for me. My interpretations don’t change, even when you factor in strength of slates based off last year. The Timberwolves have the look and feel of a playoff team, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they churned out 50 wins.

All this in mind, I’m rolling with 46-36. The West is freaking brutal, the Timberpups have a lot of new faces, and quite frankly, I don’t yet trust their spacing. Bake in the fact that every half-competent team in the conference will be stealing wins from one another throughout the year, and this feels like a good middle ground.

Max: I am not a huge fan of predicting records. Before there the season, everything is perfect and everyone is optimistic. Injuries haven’t happened and sleeper teams haven’t either been woken up or continue to slumber.

The Wolves last season are a perfect example of that. They had many people thinking playoffs and they feel very short. This Timberwolves, however, is different. They have plenty of veteran players who are making a big impact both offensively and defensively.

This years team will be able to compete with any team on any night. The combo of Butler, Towns, and Wiggins will lead the biggest turnaround in the NBA.

While I am not a fan of predictions, I will make an exception for you guys. Minnesota will reverse its record from last year and finish at 51-31.

Jaime: Looking at the schedule as a whole, the Wolves did catch a few breaks. For instance, they only play the Warriors and the Spurs three times each. That’s two more games against, let’s say, the Suns or the Lakers.

And, if we’re being honest, the Western Conference will be a nightmare for all teams this side of Golden State, so the Wolves will be facing great competition most nights of the year. Frankly, we Wolves fans all know that Minnesota naturally should be in the East with Chicago, Milwaukee, Indiana, Detroit, and Cleveland. But, that’s a topic for another day.

Looking at this year’s schedule, here’s my month-by-month breakdown of the Wolves’ record.

October: 4-3

November: 10-5

December: 11-4

January: 9-8

February: 7-3

March: 5-8

April: 3-2

Total record: 49-33

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That should put the Wolves right around the fifth seed in the Western Conference come playoff time. Target Center will host Oklahoma City in Minnesota’s first postseason basketball games since 2004.