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Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 things to watch for in season opener

By Ben Beecken

TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 30: Jimmy Butler #23 of the Minnesota Timberwolves tries to stop a pass from Kyle Lowry #7 of the Toronto Raptors in an NBA game at the Air Canada Centre on January 30, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Raptors defeated the Timberwolves 109-104. NOTE TO USER: user expressly acknowledges and agrees by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Licence Agreement. (Photo by Claus Andersen/ Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 30: Jimmy Butler #23 of the Minnesota Timberwolves tries to stop a pass from Kyle Lowry #7 of the Toronto Raptors in an NBA game at the Air Canada Centre on January 30, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Raptors defeated the Timberwolves 109-104. NOTE TO USER: user expressly acknowledges and agrees by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Licence Agreement. (Photo by Claus Andersen/ Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Timberwolves
MILWAUKEE, WI – OCTOBER 12: The Minnesota Timberwolves. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images) /

After a rocky offseason, the Minnesota Timberwolves will kick off the 2018-19 campaign on Wednesday night in San Antonio against the Spurs.

Finally, real basketball is starting.

After an offseason that is best described as shrouded in grim uncertainty, the Minnesota Timberwolves will be taking the court for real for the first time since losing Game 5 of their first-round series against Houston back in April. And Jimmy Butler will apparently be part of the festivities.

On paper, the Wolves aren’t all that different from last year’s 47-win squad. Although the back end of the rotation was turned over (Jamal Crawford, Nemanja Bjelica, and Marcus Georges-Hunt are out and Josh Okogie, Anthony Tolliver, and Keita Bates-Diop are in), the top seven or eight players, including Derrick Rose, have returned.

But the feel surrounding the team has completely changed, with Butler’s awkward presence very much still part of things. The on-court chemistry was never really there last year, anyways, but it will only be worse with Butler having both feet and his torso out the door and only really peaking his head around the corner to be able to say he showed up for work.

Karl-Anthony Towns is back to saying all the right things as things get rolling.

The Wolves will be taking on the San Antonio Spurs, who had an identical regular season record as Minnesota last year but landed the No. 7 playoff spot by virtue of the tiebreaker, the Spurs won two out of three against the Wolves last season.

San Antonio traded Kawhi Leonard over the summer, although they replaced the nine games he appeared in last year with a healthy All-Star in DeMar DeRozan. But the rest of their offseason wasn’t as great, losing Tony Parker, Kyle Anderson, Danny Green, and Manu Ginobili.

It’s hard to see the Spurs being as good as they were last year as so many of their complementary pieces have been turned over and the ones that remain, such as Pau Gasol, Rudy Gay, and LaMarcus Aldridge, are all on the wrong side of their respective primes.

Without further ado, let’s get into the three things to look for on opening night.

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