The countdown for the new season was 28 days. Looking back on last season, the Timberwolves entered the Western Conference Final for two consecutive years and set a team history record. This group of people are playing the best performance in team history.
The key to the success of the Timberwolves in the past two seasons is the eight-player rotation system: Gobert + Downs/Randall + McDaniels + Huazi + Conley + Reed + Walker + Li Keil/Divinzenzo. In two years, only two rotation members have been fine-tuned, eight high-quality combat power with both offense and defense, and the entire system and model are relatively stable.
The Timberwolves' rise in recent years is related to Huazi, and his performance in the playoffs has even surpassed Kevin Garnett.
Kevin Garnett led the team to the Western Conference Finals in 2004 (losing 2-4 to the Lakers), but the Timberwolves were fined for the Yin-Yang contract incident in 2001-2005 (returning two later), which seriously weakened the Timberwolves' ability to strengthen. The team has not entered the playoffs since 2004 during the Garnett era.
Butler led the team back to the playoffs after 14 years in 2018, and the Timberwolves lost 1-4 to the Rockets in the first round. With Butler leaving the team, the Timberwolves fell into silence and reconstruction again. Until the 2020 draft, the Timberwolves selected the cornerstone of the team with the No. 1 pick, Anthony Edwards, and finally ushered in a journey of revival.
This young man with a "danese flavor" debuted at his peak. The rookie averaged 19.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game in the season; he led the team to the playoffs in the second grade, and averaged 25.2 points, 3.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game in his first playoff journey, and his three-point shooting percentage reached 40.4%. He was selected as the All-Star for the first time in the third grade, with an average of 31.6 points per game in the playoffs; and now, he has grown into the best second team + All-Star guard with an average of 27.6 points and 4.5 assists per game, leading the team to the Western Conference Finals for two consecutive years, and is undoubtedly the cornerstone leader of the rise of the Timberwolves.
What's even more terrifying is that Huazi is only 24 years old now. He has entered the playoffs for four consecutive years and played twice in the Western Conference Finals. The Timberwolves are ushering in a strong rise in the Huazi era.
Timberwolves split the Gobert + Downs double towers before the start of last season. Randall proved that he could become a replacement for Downs with his performance.
In this year's playoffs, Randall averaged 21.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game, with a three-point shooting percentage of 38.5% (2.0/5.2) - he can make two three-pointers per game, and he has a tougher low post attack than Towns, and averaging 4.9 assists per game. He has both space value, hard solution ability and first-hand support. He can be a win-win for the exchange with Towns.
The most important thing is that Randall (33.07 million last season) is cheaper than Towns (3 years and 224 million left in four years). The total salary of the Timberwolves exceeds the luxury tax line, Randall is undoubtedly a more cost-effective choice.
Due to Randall's outstanding performance, the Timberwolves provided him with a contract renewal of $100 million this summer. The management believes that his "playoff hardness" is worth investing in - as a comparison, Randall jumped out of the player option to renew 100 million for 3 years, and held 35.8 million player options in the 2027-28 season, and Towns' 2027-28 season player options will cost 61.01 million!
Randall ranked second in the team in the regular season and playoffs in the team last season. Since Gobert is a blue-collar player in the starting lineup of the Timberwolves, McDaniels is a 3D player, Randall is actually Huazi's most important scoring point and second-in-command. His instant combat power attribute is a great addition to the Timberwolves currently in a strong period of upward growth.
The Timberwolves have entered the Western Conference Finals for two consecutive years. The successful renewal of Randle has ensured the stability of the core structure of the lineup. Building a championship lineup around Huazi + Randle's dual core is the blueprint for the team building in the next two to three years.
Timberwolves also renewed their contract with Naz Reed for $125 million in five years. The sixth man of the year (2023-24 season) has become an important part of the Timberwolves system.
Reed averaged 14.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in the regular season last season, with a three-point shooting percentage of 37.9% (2.2/5.8); he averaged 10.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in the playoffs, and his three-point shooting percentage was 39.7% (1.7/4.2), which is worth the top space, perfectly adapted to Huazi.
The Timberwolves have three inside lines, 216 cm Gobert, 206 cm Reed, and 206 cm Randall. They can not only play the double tower lineup of Gobert + Randall/Reed, but also use Randall/Reed to play the 5th position of the five-point lineup. Especially in the 3D forward McDaniels is 206 cm tall, and the Timberwolves can fill the 3rd, 4th and 5th positions with three of Gobert, Reed, Randall and McDaniels.
The height of the frontcourt has always been one of the advantages of the Timberwolves, which is also the key to their 4-1 win over the Lakers in the first round of this year's playoffs. When both sides use small lineups, 206cm Reed and 206cm McDaniels have obvious height advantages.
Reed only earns 25 million per year, considering his height, projection, scoring ability and uniqueness in the architecture, it is totally worth the money.
The Timberwolves' price to build a top eight-player rotation system is salary explosion, and the growth rate of core players is particularly critical in the team's honeymoon period when the team's rise.
In the new season, Huazi's salary is 45.55 million, Gobert 35 million, Randall 30.86 million, McDaniels 24.39 million, Reed 21.55 million, Divencenzo 11.99 million, Conley 10.77 million, and including the small contracts of Dillingham, Belange, Shannon, Ingles, Miller and Clark, the total salary of the Timberwolves next season is currently as high as 202.6 million-the luxury tax starting line is 187.9 million, and 24.39 million luxury tax is required for the new season.
In order to save money, the Timberwolves had to send Walker to the Eagles by signing first and then changing. The price of 62 million in four years is really not worth it, and they also have to pay an additional luxury tax that is much higher than the contract.. Walker's performance in the playoffs this year was not ideal, averaging only 8.3 points per game and shooting percentage was only 38.9%. The decline in performance was also one of the reasons why the Timberwolves let him go, and his current salary situation could not be kept by Walker at all.
Conley will be 38 years old in the new season. The Timberwolves must tap the team's potential at the end of the rotation (Dillingham) to fill the decline in combat power caused by Walker's departure and Conley's aging in the future. This is also the most important thing in the Timberwolves' rotation system in the future. Huazi, Gobert, Randall, McDaniels, Reed, Divincenzo and Conley have a fixed rotation. Who can stand out from the bench and become the eighth player in the rotation? This is the key inspection task of the Timberwolves in the new season.
The Timberwolves' main rotation has not changed significantly, and the performance of Huazi and Randall together determines the team's future upper limit.
The Timberwolves entered the Western Conference Finals for two consecutive years, which proves the success of the current system. Only when Huazi grows into a superstar can he continue to raise the team's upper limit. He currently has the highest MVP vote and the best team is rushing to the second team. Perhaps only when Huazi transforms into the top three MVP vote and is selected into the best team will the Timberwolves have a chance to break out of the West.
Let us be patient with the boss of the 24-year-old team. Huazi is actually excellent enough, but the West is really too casual. If you want to win the championship, the environment forces Huazi to become stronger!
source:bóng đá tỷ số trực tuyến