30 Days 30 Grades: Day 18: Northwest Division Minnesota T-Wolves off-season grade

Welcome to day 18 of my 30 day blog series titled "30 Days 30 Grades.  I will after today be 60 percent done with grading the off-season of all 30 NBA teams.  Today I am going to be talking about Western Conference Northwest Division Minnesota Timberwolves.  Here are the four things I'm going to do, 1)  Give my Western Conference team Minnesota T-Wolves off-season grade, 2) Give a list of Timberwolves players added to the roster, whether it be through the draft, free agency, claimed off of waivers or trade, 3) I will give a list of subtracted Minnesota T-Wolves players, and finally 4) I will explain the reason or reasons why I give Minnesota T-Wolves the off-season grade that I give them.




Minnesota T-Wolves off-season grade:  A




T-Wolves players added:  Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Mo Williams, Anthony Bennett, Thaddeus Young

Minnesota players subtracted:  Kevin Love, Luc Mbah A Moute, Alexey Shved

Why did I give the Minnesota Timberwolves an off-season grade of an A?  I believe that getting rid of Kevin Love had to be done.  He wasn't resigning long term with the T-Wolves so they sat back and waited for a bit.  I give them an A because I think the trade they got from the Cavs and the Sixers was good.  The trade for Kevin Love was better than I thought it was going to be.   Getting Thaddeus Young from the Sixers was huge. Young was the 12th pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. Thaddeus Young averaged 17.9 points per game, 6 rebounds per game, 2.3 assists per game, 2.1 steals per game, shot 45% from the field, 30% from three and 71% from the free throw line.  I believe that Thaddeus Young along with the other pieces that Minnesota acquired will make up for Kevin Love being gone. I actually think they are going to be a better defensive team without Love.  The Timberwolves also acquired 2014 NBA Draft 1st pick Andrew Wiggins from the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Wiggins with the University of Kansas averaged 17.1 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game and shot 34 percent from three point range. Wiggins will provide some athleticism to this T-Wolves team.  I personally can't wait to see Wiggins play.  I would like to see him start since he is the number one pick.  Minnesota also acquired 2013 NBA Draft 1st pick Anthony Bennett from the Cleveland Cavaliers.  I'm not going to call Bennett a bust just yet, because it's only been one season.  I think Bennett will get better.  Last year Bennett averaged 4.2 points per game, 3 rebounds per game, shot 35 percent from the field, 24 percent from three, and 63% from the free throw line.   I have no idea yet about 13th pick of the 2014 NBA Draft Zach LaVine yet.  I have read that LaVine has moments where he is explosive like Oklahoma City Thunder's all-star point guard Russell Westbrook.   I like the addition of  signing Mo Williams to add some more depth to the guard bench.  Williams last year for the Blazers averaged 9.7 points per game, 4.3 assists per game, 2.1 rebounds per game, shot 41% from the field, 36% from three and 87% from the free throw line.  I think that Minnesota T-Wolves fans are going to have a fun year this 2014-2015 NBA season.  The athleticism is going to be entertaining. I am predicting a lot of highlights on ESPN Sportscenter from Western Conference NBA team Minnesota Timberwolves.  Ricky Rubio should be getting more assists this year with the athletic players on this team (Thaddeus Young, Corey Brewer, Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins).  So do you agree with my T-Wolves off-season grade of an A?  Why or why not? I find this team more exciting than the one last year.  Send me your comments. Thank you for reading Pro Basketball Hoops Land. The place where you can read articles, send comments and purchase Minnesota Timberwolves players jerseys, mugs, rugs & mats and many more pro basketball merchandise.