2019-20 Minnesota T-Wolves

2018-19: 36-46
Draft picks: 11,43

Signed for next season ($109.1m): Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jeff Teague, Gorgui Dieng, Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Josh Okogie, Keita Bates-Diop
Truth is: the Wolves would love for someone to come along and sweet talk them out of Wiggins and Dieng, but I don't think that is happening in either case. And, fwiw, I still think Wiggins can be a really useful player, not a star, yeah he's still overpriced, but a perfectly reasonable 3-and-d guy that can play 2500 minutes per season in his sleep. Yeah, he's not as great as that paycheck and all those draft day expectations suggest, but the dude can play 45 minutes a night without complaint and that's not nothing, teams need guys that eat up innings and Wiggins is plenty good enough for that role (though probably more for some other team than the Wolves).
Towns is the big dog, the stud, the star, the all that.
Teague has one year left on this deal, I think he's still good at getting to the basket, knocking down 3's and keeping turnovers to a minimum; not my fave PG in the league but still a really good player that can go deep in the playoffs. (Is he 2020's Damian Lillard? Nah, prolly not)
I like Dieng and I think there are plenty of teams that he could play for. I can see a lot of those mid-range salary guys getting swapped this summer.
I'm a big fan of Covington and Saric and Okogie and I think the three of them are good for the rotation going forward.
Bates-Diop supposedly was a dude the Wolves loved going into draft day; but I don't remember seeing much of him, I think he was hurt a lot of the season and just ineffective otherwise. Seems built for a big improvement in his second season, we'll see.


This summer's free agents: Taj Gibson, Jerryd Bayless, Anthony Tolliver, Tyus Jones, Luol Deng, Derrick Rose, Cameron Reynolds
I can see them bringing back Taj Gibson and Tyus Jones. Gibson can probably get a better gig for himself, he did good work last year but he's a Thibodeau guy, I can see that being frowned upon. And Jones is a hometown favorite and though I don't think he's better than a 3rd string PG, I think he's maybe the best 3rd string PG in the league, so not a bad thing to have.
I just don't see them making room for Bayless, Tolliver and Deng. Maybe Rose but I suspect he can still get a good deal out there (Lakers?).


I saw a mock draft that has them taking Nasir Little (North Carolina) just head of PJ Washington (Kentucky) and Rui Hachimura (Gonzaga); now personally I prefer Washington and Hachimura to Little but the Wolves could probably use more wing scoring as opposed to another down-low bruiser (unless they're looking to replace Taj Gibson or if they trade Gorgui Dieng). So, I dunno, any one of those three seems about right at #11. At #43, Johntay Porter (Missouri) could be a steal. Or I can see them going continental with Adam Mokoka (France).


Next year's lineup:
PG Teague, SG Covington, SF Wiggins, PF Towns, C Gibson with Okogie, Jones, Saric, Dieng, #11, off the bench.
I feel like this lineup has to play the most efficient game in the world to win--they'll do that every once in a while but somehow I don't really see this team exploding in this current form. I like all these guys but I'm not sure they fit together, this feels like a whole roster of trade bait.