NBA: Re-seeding the Western Conference heading into 2019-20

Tier 3: The playoff fringe

12. Minnesota Timberwolves

Last season: 36-46, 11th in Western Conference

Notable additions: Jarrett Culver, Shabazz Napier, Jordan Bell, Jake Layman, Tyrone Wallace

Notable subtractions: Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson, Dario Saric, Tyus Jones, Anthony Tolliver, Jerryd Bayless

How long are we supposed to wait for this Minnesota Timberwolves team to start winning? It sure doesn’t feel like this is the year for it to happen, as the veteran role players from a 36-win team a year ago have been replaced by young prospects and fringe NBA players with uncertain futures.

Despite the continued excellence of Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota have made just one playoff appearance in the four years since he was drafted. That’s less to do with Towns, and more to do with the team’s inability to provide a decent supporting cast. Below is a list of the players with the most win shares on every Timberwolves team that he has been a part of:

• 2015-16: Towns (8.3), Gorgui Dieng (5.9), Ricky Rubio (5.8)
• 2016-17: Towns (12.7), Rubio (6.1), Dieng (5.7)
• 2017-18: Towns (14.0), Jimmy Butler (8.9), Taj Gibson (7.2)
• 2018-19: Towns (10.4), Gibson (5.1), Dario Saric (3.3)

Towns has had just one superstar teammate and that was Jimmy Butler, who had so much extra baggage he barely lasted one season with the team. Importantly, every player from that list is now gone, and no-one the Timberwolves have brought in can really replace them.

Jake Layman, Jordan Bell, and Tyrone Wallace have all played minor roles on playoff teams, but it’s difficult to know how or if their production will translate to a bigger role. Can Bell be the first big man off the bench? Can Layman be the veteran to step in when Jarrett Culver has his rookie struggles? Can anyone on this team’s bench be a net positive on a winning team? The answer to all of the above is maybe, but it’s far from certain.

The holdovers from last season are fine, if unspectacular. Robert Covington is an outstanding defender and will lift this team on that end through pure energy and inspiration. Jeff Teague is declining but can still run an offense effectively, and Josh Okogie showed some promising signs on both ends last year. Andrew Wiggins is… something.

Towns will continue to carry this team to a minimum of 30-something wins, but it’s hard to see how he can take them much further with his weakest supporting cast in years. Unless Wiggins finally makes a leap (unlikely) or Culver, Okogie and the rest of the team’s youngsters can fill the second-star void by committee (a little less unlikely, but still), the Wolves will be stuck outside the playoffs once again.