What if luck is in the Timberwolves favor this year?

What would it all look like?

This is not a whiney oh-woe-is-me article. The Minnesota Timberwolves were battered with injuries a year ago, injuries that would have derailed the entire team’s chances to earn a berth in the NBA Playoffs a year ago. And while the Minnesota Timberwolves struggled against bad teams in the 2022-23 NBA season, why is there less discussion about how well these same Timberwolves competed against good teams?

So how do we quantify how well the Minnesota Timberwolves will play in the 2023-24 NBA season if luck was on the team’s side?  Well, believe it or not, I’ve had some time to think about that, and it’s really not as difficult or as far-fetched as it seems to be. In fact, with just a few tweaks, the Timberwolves could become an NBA powerhouse this year. Let’s go over what that would mean.

Timberwolves News flash: A superb starting five

For starters (pun intended), the Minnesota Timberwolves starting five would be at or better than their career averages, and would all play at least 74 regular season games. So what would that look like:

1. PG Mike Conley Jr. –  74 G | 32.0 MPG | 14.7 PPG | 38.2 3P% | 5.7 APG | 3.0 RPG | 1.4 SPG
2. SG Anthony Edwards – 82 G | 36.0 MPG | 28.0 PPG | 37.5 3P% | 5.0 APG | 5.4 RPG | 1.7 SPG
3. SF Jaden McDaniels – 82 G | 32.0 MPG | 14.5 PPG | 40.5 3P% | 2.2 APG | 4.0 RPG | 1.1 BPG
4. PF Karl-Anthony Towns – 74 G | 34 MPG | 24.5 PPG | 40.5 3P% | 4.5 APG | 11.2 RPG | 1.3 BPG
5. C Rudy Gobert – 74 G | 30.0 MPG | 13.5 PPG | 1.3 APG | 14.0 RPG | 0.8 SPG | 2.2 BPG

Now, this is an ideal scenario, but if the Timberwolves can get this level of production out of their starting five players, then before a single bench player steps onto the basketball court, they will have 95.2 points per game on the scoreboard to work with. That is before rotations, rest days, and minor injuries are factored in.