ESPN has completed their player rankings for the 2017-18 season with a pair of Timberwolves ranking extremely high on the list. Plus, the release of the Wolves’ new Statement jerseys.
Only a week remains until training camp, which means we won’t have to quench our NBA/Timberwolves thirst with stories of player rankings and jersey designs for much longer.
But in the meantime, here we are. And after SI.com’s player rankings at The Crossover included two Timberwolves in the #51-100 range, one in the #31-50 range, and a pair of stars on the #11-30 list, let’s take a look at where the Wolves’ two best players landed in ESPN’s annual #NBArank.
After Karl-Anthony Towns was ranked #14 and Jimmy Butler #11 by The Crossover, the Wolves’ best two players came in at #12 and #11, respectively, on ESPN’s list. Strangely enough, Towns was actually #11 on ESPN’s list a year ago and slipped a spot, while Butler vaulted from #21 to #11 after a monster year in Chicago.
The commentary on these rankings is far thinner than Sports Illustrated’s; ESPN notes that Towns was voted as most-likely first-time All-Star by their panel of experts last month, as we noted here at Dunking With Wolves.
As for Butler, his proficiency in the clutch is the focus:
"Butler is a late-game assassin as he posted a clutch-time PER of 44.5 last season, which ranked second in the NBA behind only Russell Westbrook. One of the game’s best at drawing fouls, Butler sank 59 of 62 free throws in clutch situations last season."
Once again, these rankings seem about right. As noted when we discussed SI.com’s rankings, both Butler and Towns ought to fall somewhere in the #10-15 range league-wide. A couple of notable players that SI.com had ranked ahead of Towns but came in just below him on ESPN’s list include Oklahoma City’s Paul George and Washington’s John Wall.
Also, in case you missed it, the NBA released each team’s Statement jersey on Friday evening using players from each squad as models for the new threads.
Ready to make a Statement. #NIKExNBA #NewEraNewThreads pic.twitter.com/DuaiqtnraN
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) September 16, 2017
Our own Cooper Langby ranked the three uniform designs that have been released thus far for the Timberwolves. There still is one design to be revealed, but we do not know when and how those will be shown to the masses.
My opinion? The bright green Statement jerseys are rather boring and predictable. The idea isn’t bad, but what amounts to a loud version of both the Icon and Association designs is somewhat disappointing. Of course, the fourth jersey to be announced could very well be completely off the wall and far better than the first three…
Next: Which new Timberwolves jersey is best?
Stay tuned throughout the weekend as we get you through the final days before NBA media days, training camp, and preseason finally get underway.