Wolves New Pieces Impress in Preseason Debut

(by Jonathan Lewis MN Sports Unlimited contributor)

The Minnesota Timberwolves started the Jimmy Butler era with a 108-99 win over the Los Angeles Lakers to start off the preseason. It was Timberwolves fans first look at Jimmy Butler in a Timberwolves uniform, as well as several other key contributors for this coming season. Let’s take a look at what went well and where improvement can come from.

What Went Right:

The Timberwolves showed great court chemistry despite obvious rust from the long offseason. New additions Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson and Jimmy Butler all excelled on the offensive end of the court. Gibson even threw in a corner 3 pointer to add icing on the cake. Teague showed some nice court vision with an alley oop to Butler and one to Gibson as well. Gibson played extremely well, finishing just short of a double-double. The starting lineup was extremely aggressive, with 4 of the 5 starters getting to the free throw line at least 4 times. Shabazz and Gorgi Dieng anchored the bench unit, which is only going to help this team depth-wise. Shabazz was explosive and gave a huge boost with 22 points and Gorgi was his usual steady self, with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

What Went Wrong:

Andrew Wiggins struggled in his first preseason action, finishing 3 of 12 from the field. Wiggins will no doubt need to adjust to life with Jimmy Butler on the court, but give this tandem some time to gel and I have no doubt they will coexist peacefully. For some reason Aaron Brooks got the backup point guard minutes, with Tyus Jones only playing 8 minutes the entire game. Brooks really didn’t add much to the box score, going 1-6 from the field and finishing with 4 points. Nemanja Bjelica struggled as well in his first preseason action. Bjelica will be a huge part of the bench unit, with him getting minutes at SF and maybe some at PF as well. Coming off an injury to prematurely end his season, Bjelica just needs to get his legs underneath him and he will be fine.

What’s Next:

The Timberwolves are in China, having gone straight to the practice court after landing and will take on Golden State for their final 2 preseason games. The first matchup with the Warriors will be on Thursday and the final preseason game will be on Sunday, October 8^th. Stay tuned to Minnesota Sports Unlimited for recaps of every Timberwolves game this season.