The Wake

The weather is becoming shittier by the day, Indiana Pacers players are facing criminal charges and Spike Lee has his orange and blue on. These are some of the signs that it’s time for NBA basketball. For basketball fans in Minneapolis, this brings weeks of optimism before the eventual collapse of the Timberwolves.

Last Year
The ‘05-’06 Timberwolves had a shaky season, marked by a mid-season trade of Wally Szczerbiak for Ricky Davis. The T-Wolves finished last season with a record of 33-49, eight games behind the final seed in the Western Division.

The major problem for the Timberwolves is still the lack of consistent help for Kevin Garnett. Ricky Davis averaged 19 points per game last year. No other player, besides Kevin Garnett, averaged more than 12 points per game.

The Draft
The T-wolves basically ended the draft with Craig Smith (Boston College) and Randy Foye (Villanova). Smith and Foye were tremendous college players. They both helped their teams advance to the Elite Eight. Villanova actually beat Boston at the Metrodome. Neither rookie will see extended playing time, but Smith should make a bigger contribution. Smith only has to compete with Eddie Griffin, Mark Madsen and Vin Baker for playing time.

Foye is a quick guard who can drive to the basket and finish. The off-season addition of Mike James, along with Marko Jaric, Troy Hudson, Bracey Wright and the currently-injured Rashad McCants will make it tougher for Foye to see much floor time. Foye has more upside for the Timberwolves because his game translates better to the NBA than Smith’s does.

Craig Smith has great hands and shoots well, but his size will limit him in the NBA. At 6-foot-7 and 270 pounds, Smith will be too slow to guard small forwards and too short to guard most power forwards.

Offseason moves
The Timberwolves biggest acquisition this year was Mike James. James averaged 20 points and nearly six assists per game last season. James also had a career high in field goal percentage, 46.9, while shooting 44 percent from a three-point range — also a career high. Other than Mike James, the Timberwolves did not acquire much talent. The T-wolves signed Vin Baker, Paul Shirley and Tyrone Ellis.

Overall, the T-wolves season looks pretty bleak. Vegas bookmakers don’t have much confidence in the T-wolves and neither should anyone else. Odds that they will win the NBA championship vary from 80-to-1 to 100-to-1. The Timberwolves open their season on Nov. 1 when they host the Sacramento Kings.