What if LeBron James chooses the Minnesota Timberwolves?

With all signs pointing to either out west or in Cleveland, let’s take a look at what would happen if LeBron James decided to call the Minnesota Timberwolves home.

The land of what if is an interesting place. It is a place that Minnesota Timberwolves fans are quite used to. What if Ricky Rubio was surrounded by shooters his entire career? What if Flip Saunders was still alive, how would this team look different? What if we drafted Steph Curry instead of Jonny Flynn?

Now that we have a very good team in place, the what ifs are more fun. What if the Wolves make the playoffs for the first time since the KG era? What if Minnesota takes on the Warriors in the West finals?

One of the most unlikely, but exciting, what ifs fans can think of would change the game big time.

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What if LeBron James came to the land of 10,000 lakes?

The man many people consider the best player in the league today seems like the longest of long shots to come to Minnesota if he decides to leave Cleveland. Even though oddsshark.com has the Wolves 6th highest in terms of odds, there is almost a virtual certainty he will not end up here.

While the odds are stacked against James heading to the Twin Cities, the land of what if lets us look at what would happen if he ended up in the North Star State.

With the already great core of Andrew Wiggins, Karl Anthony Towns, and Jimmy Butler, King James would have his best team since he was in Miami.

Towns is widely characterized as a top five big man, if not number one. His ability to score from anywhere and command double teams would work great with LeBron. Just imagine a pick and roll with James and Towns. It would be the most deadly pick and roll combo in the league. With KAT expected to take big steps forward defensively, he would be a much better version of Tristan Thompson, who LBJ has played with since returning to Cleveland.

Butler has already cemented himself as a top 15 player with his ability to play elite level defense while also putting up very good numbers on offense. As he has shown throughout his career, LeBron loves playing with already established veterans, so he would love to play alongside Jimmy Buckets. With LeBron and Butler, as well as the steps we hope to see from Andrew Wiggins, the Wolves could have three legitimate lock down defenders to cover Durant, Curry, and Thompson.

Wiggins would be chomping at the bit to play with a guy like James. With him being selected number one overall by Cleveland originally, he would have a chance to do what he imagined doing when he was drafted, learn from one of the best to ever play. Even better, he can do it in a situation where he doesn’t have to be the number one or two option. He can learn and thrive off of people paying attention to Butler, Towns, and the Chosen One. Plus, his improving three-point shooting stroke would be music to LeBron’s ear.

That is one of the negatives that James could see in Minnesota: lack of perimeter shooting. With his drive and kick style, LeBron doesn’t have anyone he could kick it out to and feel supremely confident in. Wiggins has improved his three ball and Towns has a very good shot, but having your center be your best three-point shooter is not a good thing. The additions of Jeff Teague and Jamal Crawford would help though.

Another pitfall is cap space. With Wiggins on the verge of signing a max contract and Towns about to do the same, money would be tight. Basically, everyone but the 2 young studs would be forced to take a pay cut. Would it be worth it to bring in James? Yes. But it’s not always that cut and dry. Egos get in the way and it gets messy.

Enough with the negatives. What if land doesn’t know the word negative. With a great core already in place as well as solid role players and a coach in Thibs who is well-respected around the league, LeBron would be a fool to pass on this opportunity.

Too bad he will.