Mid-Week Matchup: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Portland Trail Blazers
By Max Neuhaus
We continue our mid-week matchup series by taking a look at how the Minnesota Timberwolves stack up against the divisional rival Portland Trail Blazers.
Nearly team in the Northwest Division made at least one move of value this offseason.
The Timberwolves’ headlining move was trading for Jimmy Butler. The Oklahoma City Thunder swung trades for both Carmelo Anthony and Paul George. The Utah Jazz lost both Gordon Hayward and George Hill, but gained Ricky Rubio. The Denver Nuggets even tried to jump into the playoff picture with the free agent signing of Paul Millsap.
The Portland Trail Blazers, however, are a different story.
Quite frankly, they did not do much of anything this offseason. Their biggest moves were signing their draft picks, Zach Collins and Caleb Swanigan, and trading Allen Crabbe to Brooklyn for big man Andrew Nicholson.
If you only looked at the moves they made, you would think that they would be at the bottom of the Northwest Division. You would also be mistaken, however.
This roster has plenty of talent. The electrifying combination of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum is always in the conversation for top-five backcourts in the NBA. When you add a very solid big man in Jusuf Nurkic and you have a solid “Big Three”, that can pose a threat for many teams around the league.
When you put them up against the Big Three of Butler, Karl Anthony Towns, and Andrew Wiggins, it poses some interesting matchups. Pitting the offensively talented Lillard up against the defensively-challenged Jeff Teague, well, those could be nights when both point guards blow up and score 40 in the same game.
The Northwest Division is filled with talent, that much is obvious. Let’s take a position-by-position look at how Portland and Minnesota stack up against one another.