Minnesota Timberwolves
Aug 26, 2014; St. Paul, MN, USA; The newest Minnesota Timberwolves display their new jerseys (left to right) guard Andrew Wiggins, forward Anthony Bennett, forward Thaddeus Young, and guard Zach LaVine at Minnesota State Fair. Reuters

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ 2014 offseason will be remembered as the time the franchise let go of its star player and finally move on to rebuild around younger players. Late in August, Minnesota sent Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers and got 2014 NBA Draft no. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins, 2013 top pick Anthony Bennet and veteran forward Thaddeus Young in a three-team deal that also involved the Philadelphia 76ers, who was the previous team of Young.

What will life be without Love in Minnesota? If the early hype and signs from summer league, training camp and preseason games are any indication, the Timberwolves will be just fine without the stretch big man who was their leading scorer and rebounder.

Minnesota Timberwolves Roster (Projected Starters in Bold)

PG - Ricky Rubio, Mo Williams, J.J. Barea, Brady Heslip

SG - Kevin Martin, Chase Budinger, Zach LaVine

SF - Andrew Wiggins, Corey Brewer, Shabazz Muhammad, Robbie Hummel. Glen Robinson III

PF - Thaddeus Young, Anthony Bennett

C - Nikola Pekovic, Gorgui Dieng, Ronny Turiaf

Offseason Additions: Andrew Wiggins, Mo Williams, Zach LaVine, Thaddeus Young, Anthony Bennett

Offseason Losses: Kevin Love, Schved, Luc Mbah-A-Moute

Season Outlook: Minnesota’s rebuilding mode will be fast-tracked with the arrival of potential superstar in Wiggins, who along with rookie LaVine are now known as the “Bounce Brothers”— a play on the Golden State’s duo in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompshon who is known as the “Splash Brothers”. While the Warriors pair are known for their outside sniping, the T’Wolves duo have earned their reputation thus far for their high-flying acts inside the lane.

The pair’s aerial acts will be complemented by Minnesota’s starting point guard in Ricky Rubio (9.5 points, 8.6 assists and 2.3 steals in 2013-2014 regular season), who is known for his flashy passes and ball-hawking skills.

The Timberwolves may not make the playoffs in the tough Western Conference but they will surely excite the fans with these kind of plays:

(YouTube/NBA)

(YouTube/NBA)

(YouTube/NBA)

Without Love, the bulk of power forward minutes will go to Young (17.9 PPG and 6.0 RPG) and Bennet with the latter looking to prove that he is not a bust after being selected the top pick in his draft. The pair do not have the scoring prowess of Love but Young is a proven scorer down the block and rebounding will not be a problem.

There are also some veterans or developing guys ready for some nice contributions. Nikola Pekovic (17.4 PPG and 8.4 RPG) is not the standard rim protector but he’s a big body that can get some points and snatch those rebounds. Others in the line-up are Kevin Martin (19.1 PPG), Corey Brewer (12.3 PPG) and Mo Williams.

The Timberwolves wings are also loaded meaning they have some tradable assets for this season or future seasons; Chase Budinger, J.J Barea and Brewer may be moved anytime during the season to get more assets or young guys.

The best part of Minnesota’s campaign in the 2014-2015 NBA season is that they’ll have no pressure like in the past when they had Kevin Love in the line-up.The expectations are generally low in Minnesota— except maybe Rubio, who is expected to have a breakout year and finally have a jumpshot— and that will bode well for a rebuilding franchise.

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