Minnesota Timberwolves: The Wolves are in the ‘Netherworld’

It’s preview season, and that means it’s time to talk about where the Minnesota Timberwolves show up on Zach Lowe’s preseason rankings. Hint: it’s in the “netherworld.”

In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s prediction season.

With preseason basketball about to kick-off, it’s officially time to dig deep into the various season predictions that are being made in various places about the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Wolves’ projected win total opened at 35.5 in Las Vegas, which would put them on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs, and likely by at least seven or eight wins in the rough-and-tumble Western Conference. But, as we’ve predicted here at Dunking With Wolves, Minnesota should have a real shot at hitting the over this season.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe went through his preseason exercise of ranking everyone in the league in tiers, from contenders to playoff teams to everyone else.

The Wolves clearly weren’t included in that first group, and they weren’t in the “Prove It” group, which was reserved for the Denver Nuggets. Then there was a tier reserved for the “contenders” in the Eastern Conference (Lowe calls this “Strongish Playoff Teams/The East stinks again” tier), and the Wolves obviously don’t fit there.

Then, there were 10 teams included in Lowe’s “Borderline Playoff Teams” tier, and the Wolves weren’t included there. Through this tier, 11 teams in the Western Conference have been included.

Then, the “Netherworld of the West”, which the Wolves are absolutely a part of, along with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Lowe essentially says that the Thunder win total hinges on Chris Paul‘s play and whether or not he’s traded. As for the Wolves, Lowe acknowledges that many projection models rank the Wolves a bit higher, based on Towns’ superstardom and a healthy Robert Covington.

Here’s an excerpt from Lowe:

"They made a bunch of nice fringe moves: Shabazz Napier, Treveon Graham, Jake Layman, Noah Vonleh, Jordan Bell and Tyrone Wallace. Some of those contracts could be handy in two- and three-team trades; Minnesota figures to be active.Towns is a god on offense, and having just one scorer so talented — a legitimate fulcrum — tends to push even blah teams toward .500. He has missed five games in four seasons. The wrenching, energy-sapping melodrama of the Jimmy Butler/Tom Thibodeau saga is behind them."

Lowe goes on to talk about the obvious talent gap between Towns and the rest of the roster. But hey, at least the Wolves ranked higher than the final seven teams ranked by Lowe as part of the final tier.

This ranking puts the Wolves at tied for 12th in the Western Conference this year, which isn’t too far off but still seems a bit low.

So much of the Wolves’ season hinges on the health of Covington, as well as the continued progression of Towns, among others. Lowe’s analysis is sound, albeit a bit pessimistic.

Stay tuned for any additional predictions on the Western Conference and the Wolves, as we’ll dissect them and debate whether or not the prediction seems to be in line with our expectations for upcoming season.