Recap of 16-17 Wolves season & how they can end their NBA playoff drought

After another season of sitting in front of the TV or going to the Target Center, the Minnesota Timberwolves will again fall short of the playoffs.

Since I was a little kid, I’ve always been a huge fan of the Timberwolves. Whether it was when I was watching the Wolves draft Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn over Steph Curry, sitting in front of the TV at the kitchen table with my dad listening to us trading OJ Mayo for Kevin Love, seeing us pass up on Demarcus Cousins for Wesley Johnson, or even exciting moments, like watching us trade for Andrew Wiggins and drafting Karl-Anthony Towns.

After every season, I become more and more skeptical about the next Timberwolves season.

Unfortunately, for the past five seasons, the Wolves have continued to battle injuries which by many can be considered the ultimate reason why the Wolves have not made the playoffs since the Kevin Garnett era.

Some of the most notable injuries for the Wolves have been Love’s hand injuries, Rubio’s torn ACL, and most recently: Lavine’s torn ACL, Nemanja Bjelica ankle surgery and Nikola Pekovic being out indefinitely and missing the whole 2016-17 season.

Overall, this season for the Timberwolves was in my opinion successful, but not as great as it could have been.

The Wolves were led throughout the season mostly by Wiggins and Towns who each averaged 23.3 and 24.8 respectively. However, there were still multiple games throughout the year where the Wolves would either be leading until the third quarter and then blow the lead, or blow the lead in the fourth quarter.

For the Wolves guard play, it was exciting to watch Rubio improve his shot and increasing his double-double and triple doubles totals. Zach Lavine in his jump shot (while healthy), Tyus Jones in shooting and confidence, and Kris Dunn in his confidence and his physical defense.

Looking forward, this draft, in my opinion, will be important to target a big man/stretch power forward who can not only help KAT get rebounds and contribute on defense, but also another perimeter shooting threat. Additionally, I think it is also important for us to look for shooters.

One player who I think might stand out for the Wolves in the draft is Lauri Markkanen, University of Arizona, 7’0″ power forward. Looking at his game, he is great at putting the ball on the floor and getting to the basket and scoring, as well as being able to shoot from outside. One shooter could be Malik Monk, University of Kentucky, shooting guard. Monk is a great scorer who is extremely confident in his jump shot, but needs to work on defending.

Although the Wolves have continued to improve, it will be interesting to see what adjustments Coach Tom Thibodeau and the rest of the front office will make this offseason, and to see if they can make a push for the playoffs next year and end the drought.