20. Minnesota Timberwolves
The best thing going for the Minnesota Timberwolves right now is that Karl-Anthony Towns is locked in for a long time. Andrew Wiggins is also locked in for a long time, but I wouldn’t be very excited about that if I’m a T-Wolves fan. Looking ahead to three seasons from now, I really don’t see the Timberwolves being in a spot much different than the one they are in right now unless they blow up this roster.
They are stuck being a team right on the outside looking in but aren’t bad enough to really get one of the best lottery odds. It’s going to take something drastic to shake up the future of this team, and I don’t see the front office pulling the trigger to do that.
19. Miami Heat
The Miami Heat have Jimmy Butler locked in and Pat Riley is always going to be aggressive, but that aggression might be counterproductive when it comes to getting back to their standard of competing for championships. Frankly, I question their patience as an organization. Their aggression over the last few years has taken the form of giving away too much money to mid-level players just to avoid a rebuild.
If the Heat wants to get back to their winning ways, they might need to accept some losing for a while and build something organically. I don’t see Pat Riley being willing to do that though, resulting in them staying stagnant as a pretty mediocre team over the next few years.