Kevin Garnett was the main part of the Timberwolves' organization from 1995-2007, even winning an MVP during his tenure there. Ever since trading him away and starting the rebuilding process, the Wolves have been in the bottom half of the league. Their draft pick in 2008, Kevin Love, is the main building block of the organization now. They have had draft success other times in Nikola Pekovic and Ricky Rubio. Their luck with Rubio was off to a bad start already for he had to finish up his contract in Spain. After he was drafted in 2009, he came to the NBA two years after finishing up his contract in Spain. Love and Rubio have suffered from injuries again and again, preventing the Wolves to reach their full potential. Kevin Love posted amazing numbers from 2010-2012 averaging 23 points and 14 rebounds; however, he only played 18 games in the 2012-13 season. Rubio also played a minimal amount, 57. During this season, Nikola Pekovic had a breakout year averaging 16 points and 8 rebounds on 56% shooting. He is in the top 20 for efficient scorers.
This off season, the Timberwolves made some key additions. In the draft, they had the 9th pick. They were trying to trade up to get Victor Oladipo. ( +Chinggis Khan). They failed. Instead, they picked the Michigan guard, Trey Burke. At the time, they didn't need a point guard (Ricky Rubio and J.J. Barea).They traded him for Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng, out of UCLA and Louisville, respectively. Many people underrate Shabazz. He is a great spot up shooter and Rubio can set him up perfectly. Gorgui Dieng can provide them with post scoring. They also added Kevin Martin, who averaged 14 points coming of the bench, only giving up Luke Ridnour. They also resigned Pekovic. They got rid of Andrei Kirilenko who was consuming up a lot of their cap space. They then signed the defensive forward, Corey Brewer. Their lineup is:
| Num | Player | Pos | Ht | Wt | DOB | Prior to NBA/Country | Yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Jose Barea | G | 6-0 | 175 | 06/26/1984 | Northeastern/Puerto Rico | 7 |
| 13 | Corey Brewer | F | 6-9 | 188 | 03/05/1986 | Florida/USA | 6 |
| 4 | Lorenzo Brown | G | 6-5 | 186 | 08/26/1990 | North Carolina State/USA | R |
| 10 | Chase Budinger | F | 6-7 | 218 | 05/22/1988 | Arizona/USA | 4 |
| 33 | Dante Cunningham | F | 6-8 | 230 | 04/22/1987 | Villanova/USA | 4 |
| 5 | Gorgui Dieng | C | 6-11 | 245 | 01/18/1990 | Louisville/Senegal | R |
| Bojan Dubljevic | F-C | 6-9 | 235 | 10/24/1991 | Germany | R | |
| Mickael Gelabale | F | 6-7 | 215 | 05/22/1983 | Pointe-Noire, Guadeloupe | 3 | |
| 6 | Robbie Hummel | F-G | 6-8 | 215 | 03/08/1989 | Purdue/USA | R |
| 12 | Othyus Jeffers | G-F | 6-5 | 210 | 08/05/1985 | Robert Morris (Ill.)/USA | 2 |
| 20 | Chris Johnson | F | 6-11 | 210 | 07/17/1985 | Louisiana State/USA | 3 |
| 42 | Kevin Love | F-C | 6-10 | 260 | 09/07/1988 | UCLA/USA | 5 |
| 23 | Kevin Martin | G | 6-7 | 185 | 02/01/1983 | Western Carolina/USA | 9 |
| 15 | Shabazz Muhammad | F | 6-6 | 225 | 11/13/1992 | UCLA/USA | R |
| 14 | Nikola Pekovic | C | 6-11 | 290 | 01/03/1986 | Panathinaikos/Montenegro | 3 |
| 22 | A.J. Price | G | 6-2 | 185 | 10/07/1986 | Connecticut/USA | 4 |
| 9 | Ricky Rubio | G | 6-4 | 180 | 10/21/1990 | FC Barcelona/Spain | 2 |
| 1 | Alexey Shved | G | 6-6 | 182 | 12/16/1988 | Russia | 1 |
| 32 | Ronny Turiaf | C | 6-10 | 249 | 01/13/1983 | Gonzaga/France | 8 |
| 7 | Derrick Williams | F | 6-8 | 241 | 05/25/1991 | Arizona/USA | 2 |
They have an amazing core lineup. If they stay healthy, they may even be a title contender. All they need to do is stay healthy, especially Love and Rubio.
Timberwolves, eh? You are so knowledgeable about this sport! Do you play for a team?
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