Minnesota Timberwolves: ESPN says Wolves could have turnaround — or turmoil

The NBA media landscape is officially in preseason prediction mode, and that means that there are some Minnesota Timberwolves takes that are all over the map.

There’s perhaps not a better way to summarize this than a recent ESPN Insider article that includes panel predictions (subscription required) on both sides of the ledger when it comes to the Wolves’ upcoming season.

ESPN panelists suggest Minnesota Timberwolves could have ‘sudden rise’

The ESPN article first asks the question, which team “is poised to bounce back or improve the most in 2021-22?” There are no qualifiers, so this question includes both teams that were injury-riddled last year and potentially up-and-coming squads.

The obvious answer to this question is the Golden State Warriors, who get Klay Thompson back from injury this year and should have a healthier version of Draymond Green, as well.

Indeed, the Warriors received 30 percent of the vote and ended in first place. (There’s no explanation on the points system used, but for what it’s worth, the Warriors had 39 points to the Miami Heat’s 26 points in second place.)

Somewhat surprisingly, the Wolves landed at No. 7 on the list. They were one of just nine teams to receive votes and ultimately finished with 10 percent of the first-place votes.

When picking just one team to have a major turnaround, it makes sense to put the Warriors first. Having veteran teams who underperformed last year such as the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics in the top checks out, too.

However, putting the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors ahead of the Wolves is iffy. The Wolves were both hindered by bad injury luck last year and improved the roster this offseason. Coupled with natural progression from Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards and it’s easy to make a case for the Wolves being in the top 10 of teams expected to be much better in 2021-22.

ESPN panelists also think Minnesota Timberwolves could have ‘drama’

There are a handful of panelists from that same group that apparently feel as though the Wolves are liable to have “drama” looming this season.

Unsurprisingly, the Philadelphia 76ers are No. 1 on the list. They somehow only received 55 percent of first-place votes, however, which is possibly because a decent chunk of voters could believe that Ben Simmons is no longer on the roster when the season starts, which would certainly go a long way towards limiting the drama.

The Wolves were the final team listed at No. 7, landing five percent of the first-place vote (which presumably means that a single panelist had them at No. 1) and a total of nine points.

The only way that one could think the Wolves will be a top drama-filled franchise this year would be if there’s any lingering expectation of the prospect of Simmons joining the team, which in turn implies that the likes of D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley need to stand ready for a trade.

Barring some questions surrounding Simmons and a roster potentially still in flux, it’s hard to see this year’s Wolves team being filled with too much turmoil.