
4) Minnesota Timberwolves
Record: 9-11 (4th Northwest, 13th Western Conference)
The Butler situation definitely got weird in the end. And you have to feel for Wolves fans who, just a year ago, thought their squad was finally set to take their chair at the big kids table when they acquired he and point-man Jeff Teague.
Let’s go glass half-full, though — they beat the Portland Trail Blazers on the 16th, and have notched back-to-back wins after a near-miss against the Denver Nuggets. They made a pretty good haul in trading Butler to the Philadelphia 76ers, too.
Robert Covington is a gamer, and I, for one, hold firm to the belief that Dario Saric will develop into one of the league’s elite floor-spacing big men. Saric’s fit with Karl-Anthony Towns is particularly intriguing. Through six games, Minny has outscored opponents by 12.3 points/100 poss. in the 63 minutes they’ve shared the floor.
Elsewhere on the roster, Derrick Rose has turned back the clock (at nearly 20 and five with a 49-48-86 shooting line) and Andrew Wiggins (16-4, 38-37-75) is looking like the biggest overpay in the Association.