Timberwolves 2014-2015

[Rick]

Are they a play-off team? Why or why not?

I think this could be an interesting year..no matter how it turns out

[Scott K]

HA HA, you are funny!

Not even close to a playoff team. They may win 20-25 games this year. There will be some exciting times with the new rookies, but remember, they are rookies, playing in a very tough division, and they will have a hard time closing out close games with their lack of experience. The future is bright, but the pieces are not complete, and to inexperienced.

[ozzie]

I will put the team at 32 wins this year. I think if healthy they have a decent squad but the west is too deep and they won't make the playoffs. If Pek stays healthy- Buddinger and Kmart stay healthy I think we will do better than the 32 wins. I actually like this team but I keep having flashes of Ricky trying to shoot the ball and I am brought back to reality!!! haha Always a good time of the year when you can find a sliver of hope and have some excitement to a season!! Go Wolves!!!

[Scott K]

Bye bye JJ, its been real!

[ozzie]

I will miss his competitive spirit but I won't miss watching him complain and biotch about everything or hoisting up shots with no rhyme or reason...we should have tried to move him with Love so they could continue their relationship!! haha

[Scott K]

JJ is a SG, in a PG body. He has the motivation to win, but he thinks he has to do it by himself. To be honest, I am glad both Love, and JJ are gone, now we can start playing some team ball. But with the lack of selfish ballstopers, we will lack in shooters. But we do still have Martin to lob up 20 shots a game.

[ozzie]

I was going to say we still have Martin to send the ball towards the hoop whenever he touches it but he can be an effective scorer and I think Flip has explained to him what his role is going to be this year! Getting excited for the season to start!! Go Wolves!!!

[pikestabber]

Are they a play-off team? Why or why not?

I think this could be an interesting year..no matter how it turns out

I'll go against my better judgment and say yes, 7-8 seed. We put some very nice pieces in place and I think we make a surprise run toward the end of the year and sneak in. Even if I am way off my rocker, I DO think we are playoff bound with higher aspirations in a couple years and for many years after.

[dfv87]

Playoff?!?!!? PLayoffs?!?!??? Are you talking about playoffs?

Sorry couldn't resist that one...

I am not thinking they have enough players to be in the tough Western conference playoffs. We lost our best player (say what you want but KLove was a star player in the NBA), we are gonna play 5-6 1st to 3rd year players most/all of which came out early (really young guys) and we don't have an established stud to win in crunch time. We might have one or two even but we do not know that. Coupled with the Twolves luck on injuries and lack of depth... I expect a long year of growing pains.

That said I am excited to see the kids play and like the direction we are headed. But I don't buy the kool aid we are "better off" with out KLove.

[Sandmannd]

Man it would be fun to see some playoff ball again but I don't think it will be this year. I do think it could be a very fun year though.

[schmitty3]

I thought things were going good until about 2 1/2 minutes left in the game, and Rubio tried to takeover. It's fine he's trying to be a leader and everything, but needs to stay within his game. He took a contested jumper from just inside the 3 point line and then a contested layup, neither of which went in, and we lost the lead never to get it back.

[ozzie]

I sure wish I was able to watch the game!!!! Instead I sat on hold with dish for the first 20 minutes of the game to find out that Dish and Fox are in some kind of contract dispute again!!!!! I think this may be the time I drop all extra TV and go to basic and let the wife get a online TV account for cheap. I will miss watching the T-PUPS that is for sure!!! Go Wolves

[pikestabber]

I sure wish I was able to watch the game!!!! Instead I sat on hold with dish for the first 20 minutes of the game to find out that Dish and Fox are in some kind of contract dispute again!!!!! I think this may be the time I drop all extra TV and go to basic and let the wife get a online TV account for cheap. I will miss watching the T-PUPS that is for sure!!! Go Wolves

I see I'm not the only one who missed the game... I have local cable, and it's treated me well, but last night it had the T'Wolves listed on the guide for FSN but instead they showed College Football...Oregon vs Cal. Then on FSN Plus they listed the Oregon-Cal game but showed women's volleyball! WTH? Anybody else have this issue? I hope tonight's game is on. What a bummer to miss opening night (despite the loss).

[BartmanMN]

I read a tweet about that by FSN North last night. I hate Dish network, that was the main reason why I dropped them for Directv years ago when they did the same thing with another MN team.

[ozzie]

The thing is BartmanMN DirectTV went throught the same negotiations with Fox a few months later. Either way it is talk for the consumer to have paid for the channel and then they take your money and say "sorry but the channel wants more money and that would cost you more if we agreed!" but they still take my money for said channel I and get nothing!!!! Heckava deal!!!

[BartmanMN]

All we need is one person to purchase a Sling Box and hook it up to a TV that is always on FSN North. Then we can pay that person a monetary amount each month to access it via the Internet.

[ozzie]

haha or the darn companies can stop screwing the consumer!! I heard the Wolves beat Detroit last night. Sure wish I could see what this team is looking like...Go Wolves

[solbes]

I couldn't watch it either on Dish, but would have split time watching the Wild anyway.

FSN just re-upped to show the NBA for a super lucrative deal right? Who pays FSN? Dish, DirecTV, Comcast... I think you can see where this is going. Either your rates go up, or they have a dispute and refuse to carry it while they negotiate it lower.

Amazing how much money professional sports generate.

[Sandmannd]

DISH flat out sucks. Had them for a month and got rid of them for Directv.

Both of the first two games were good, they were competitive in both. I don't like that they gave up a 19 point lead in the first game but they are showing their age. They play hard and fast. They are fun to watch and will be fun to watch grow. I just ready we signed Ricky to a long term contract, glad to hear that. He needs work on his shooting but he's still a very good point guard. If he could get to shooting 55-60% he'd be great.

[fishersofmen]

Close to 14 million a year. I like Ricky but that is a lot of money. If he can improve his shooting significantly in the very near future its not a bad deal.

Strib.

Point guard Ricky Rubio will lead the Timberwolves into their recently revised future, after he and the team reached agreement Friday evening on a four-year contract extension that will guarantee him at least $55 million.

By approving such a contract, the Wolves are paying Rubio — who turned 24 last month — for the complete player he might become, not the incomplete one he currently is. His new annual $13.75 million salary will start a season from now and make him the team’s highest-paid player, above center Nikola Pekovic’s $12 million salary.

It also will pay him more than a number of point-guard peers — Stephen Curry, Tony Parker, Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry, Ty Lawson — across the league who currently are superior players.

The only point guards who earn a bigger annual salary are Brooklyn’s Deron Williams, Chicago’s Derrick Rose, Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook and Washington’s John Wall.

The deal came within three hours of an 11 p.m. deadline that faced players who have rookie contracts that expire after this season. If no agreement had been reached, Rubio would have become a restricted free agent next July.

Rubio can earn another $1 million if he reaches certain incentive clauses. The contract does not include any player or team options.

A sublimely gifted passer and active team defender, Rubio remains a work-in-progress offensively, his jump shot and scoring efficiency perhaps the two things standing between him and stardom. The team last summer hired a shooting coach in good measure to improve Rubio’s shooting stroke and his touch on drives to the basket.

By signing Rubio now, the Wolves obligate both sides through the 2018-19 season, three seasons after a new $24 billion television contract arrives in 2016 that is expected to significantly increase the league’s salary cap.

A player whom many Wolves fans thought would never play in Minnesota after the team drafted him fifth overall in 2009, Rubio will be 28 years old and finishing his eighth NBA season when his new contract expires. By then, a $13 million-plus contract might look something like pocket change in a league that is expanding its audience globally by the year.

In a statement released by the team Friday night, Wolves president of basketball operations/coach Flip Saunders praised Rubio’s “intangibles,” work ethic and determination and noted he finished second in the NBA in steals last season and fourth in assists. All of it makes Rubio what Saunders called “a very valuable player to our team.”

Rubio in that statement called himself “happy” and “excited” to play in front of Minnesota’s “great” fans for many more years after a negotiation process in which he had multiple conversations with owner Glen Taylor. A Target Center news conference is scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Rubio’s new deal makes him the team’s highest-paid player at least until Andrew Wiggins, Gorgui Dieng, Anthony Bennett or possibly Zach LaVine become eligible for rookie-contract extensions starting no sooner than 2016.

Rubio’s deal essentially is the same first four years of the contract that Phoenix guard Eric Bledsoe signed in September. His is a five-year, $70 million contract that pays him $55 million for the first four seasons. Bledsoe did receive five years from the Suns because he played out the process of becoming a restricted free agent that Rubio avoided.

The Wolves remained adamant they would not pay a max salary at any length of contract throughout negotiations that started with them aiming to sign Rubio to contracts similar to what Golden State’s Curry and Denver’s Lawson signed in 2012. Lawson agreed to a $48 million extension, Curry to a $44 million deal.

Rubio’s extension follows a series of other such extensions for guards across the league. Lowry signed a four-year, $48 million contract with Toronto last summer. In recent weeks, the Suns signed Bledsoe, Charlotte signed Kemba Walker for $48 million, Utah signed Alec Burks for $42 million and on Friday, Golden State paid Klay Thompson a maximum four-year, $70 million extension.

[walleyeman1]

Nice win last night and Rubio has been playing well!

[Sandmannd]

Was a fun game to watch. All their games so far have been competitive. They've been in them all.

[Snag]

Young, Bennett and Wiggins for Love may look Herschel Walkerish someday.

[Scott K]

Young, Bennett and Wiggins for Love may look Herschel Walkerish someday.

Love has been pretty solid for the Cavs so far this year.

But I like the future of the team much better then with Love on the team. They tend to play team ball a little more, even with Martin jacking up 20+ shots a game. Having Thad and Pek on the floor, our defense is much better then Pek and Love. This season our defense is what will win us games.

Rubio/Williams

Brewer/Martin

Wiggins

Thad

Pek/Deng

We have options to cover some of the best opponents out there. Let this group grow a year or two, we will be in the playoffs yearly, and possibly competing, as some of the powerhouses are aging, and breaking up.

[schmitty3]

They've been fun to watch so far this season, now if we can just get rid of Brewer i'd be happy. Never was a fan of his, and now that K Love isn't here to give him those outlet passes he doesn't bring much to this team. Could be a good defender if he didn't feel the need to reach and go for a steal every possession.