The Howl In The Trees

Roster Previews - Part Seven Gorgui Dieng C/PF - 6'11 2016/17 Season Stats: 10.0PPG - 7.9RPG - 1.9APG - 1.2BPG - 1.3TOPG - 50.2FG% - 37.2 3PT% - 81.4FT% A fan and coach favourite, Gorgui Dieng's role is predicted to change to more of a bench rotation player this coming season, but the Louisville products importance to the Timberwolves remains strong. Another effective, yet unspectacular season has Dieng firmly asserted as a key piece to this rising Minnesota team. His numbers stayed very similar to the prior season, he rebounds effectively, plays good (not great) team defense and can swat away his fair share of shots, he is the type of player good teams need to plug the holes between their stars. His feel for the game has clearly improved since his debut season, averaging less turnovers this season compared with last (1.7 to 1.3) despite playing more minutes (27.1 to 32.4), early in his career Dieng was prone to travelling and general issues with adju

Roster Previews - Part Six Jamal Crawford SG/PG - 6'5 2016/17 Season Stats: 12.3PPG - 1.4RPG - 2.6APG - 0.7SPG - 1.6TOPG - 41.3FG% - 36.0 3PT% - 85.7FT% In the past one key signing in an off-season would be enough to make Timberwolves fans salivate, but when the news broke that Jamal Crawford had agreed to a deal to come to the Twin Cities, Wolves fans knew the long(!) awaited end to the rebuild had finally come. In Crawford, 37, the Wolves get a veteran 6th man, something they have sorely lacked the last few seasons to partner with stars Andrew Wiggins, Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns. Father Time still holds his unbeaten record, but JCrossover is giving him a run for his money . At age 36 Crawford averaged over 12 Points Per Game, hitting the outside shot at a respectable rate and in signature fashion, bruising plenty of ankles along the way. The defensive end of the floor has never been Crawfords strong suit, and another year in the tough Western Conf

Karl-Anthony Towns; Efficiency Extraordinaire Two seasons in to what promises to be an illustrious NBA career, Karl-Anthony Towns has dominated defenses since day one in the league, doing it at a historical efficiency. Towns has shown an unbelievable ability to be effective all over the floor, his shot from behind the arc is a work in progress, but his respectable 36.7% clip ranks him as the 2nd best shooter at his position (with a minimum of 120 attempts) KAT showed an inc redible ability to improve the three ball, shooting at 43.4% on 80 attempts over the last two months of the season. The long ball may be a shot that still needs work at times, but inside the arc Karl-Anthony Towns is the definition of an Efficiency Extraordinaire. He shoots 70.7% from inside 3 feet, 50.0% from between 3 and 10 feet, 47.3 from between 10 and 16 feet and 41.6 from between 16 and the 3PT line. Not one spot is a weakness for Towns, he uses jump hooks with both hands regularly,

Can Jimmy Butler be the leader Minnesota needs? The trade that sent Jimmy Butler to the Timberwolves was by no comparison the biggest in the Minnesota Timberwolves short and sad history. Losing 2x Slam Dunk champion, rising star and fan favourite Zach Lavine may have stung for most fans, and may continue to sting if Lavine reaches the lofty heights that Wolves fans expect from the UCLA product. All this pain can be easily forgotten though when we cast our minds to the man received in the trade; Jimmy Butler. The basic and advanced statistics all work favourably for Jimmy G. Buckets, but what the Timberwolves are really looking for and really lacking is a veteran leader, one who can show the young core how it's done; on and off the court. Timberwolves fans have seen a lot of their teams veterans over the last few years lack the on-court production, the off-court leadership is there but they were simply far past their prime or role players who couldn't help as much

Roster Previews - Part Five Karl-Anthony Towns C/PF - 7'0 2016/17 Season Stats: 25.1PPG - 12.3RPG - 2.7APG - 1.3BPG - 2.6TOPG - 54.2FG% - 36.7 3PT% - 83.2FG% A Rookie Of The Year campaign unlike one we have seen for some time to begin his NBA career was merely just a teaser for what the 7'0 Kentucky product had in store for us in 2016/17. Towns showed vast improvements across the board offensively all while shooting the exact same field goal percentage he did the previous year (54%, on 4 more shots per game). The mid range game is still as deadly as ever, and the 3 point shot became a genuine weapon this season making him all the more troublesome for opposing defenders. Surprisingly, his defense seemed to actually regress this past season, his Blocks Per Game numbers dropped (1.7 to 1.3) and he looked lost in Tom Thibodeau's defensive schemes and rotations at times. Another training camp with this same system should work wonders for Towns who

Roster Previews - Part Four Taj Gibson PF - 6'9 2016/17 Season Stats: 10.8PPG - 6.2RPG - 0.9APG - 0.8BPG - 52.0FG% - 71.5FT% The second signing of a prolific off season in Minneapolis, Taj Gibson will be looking to reunite with former bulls coach Tom Thibodeau and bring some much needed toughness to a team that has been bullied lately in the tough Western Conference. It was an inconsistent season in 2016-17 for the 6'9 Forward, yet still efficient as he has been for the majority of his career. Gibson averaged 11.6 Points Per Game in his 55 games for Chicago posting a 3.3 Win Share Rating and an above league average PER(Player Efficiency Rating) at 15.4. A mid-season trade to the Russell Westbrook show at the Oklahoma City Thunder saw his Points Per Game drop to 9.0, his Win Share Rating drop to 0.8 and his PER drop to a below league average 13.8. At 32 years of age, a fresh new team with some familiar faces may be just what Gibson needs to motivate hi