4 NBA Teams Primed for Breakout Seasons
Minnesota Timberwolves
In Minnesota, it's all about Karl-Anthony Towns. He's not only the Timberwolves' franchise player, but he's also one of the best players in the league already. As a matter of fact, 48.3% of NBA general managers agree that the 20-year-old Towns is the ideal player to build a franchise around today. The next closest player was at 20.7%.
It's only right that general managers everywhere would be foaming at the mouth over the young stud. He averaged 18.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks in 32 minutes per game in his rookie season.
As good as Towns is, it goes without saying that the Timberwolves are solid down low offensively, as they finished 2015-16 ranked fifth in two-point attempts and makes. Good passing has undoubtedly assisted them in doing so. Minnesota averaged 23.4 assists per game a year ago -- ranking eighth in that category. However, the youngsters have some room for improvement elsewhere.
Despite their insanely athletic frontline, that included Towns, Gorgui Dieng, and Andrew Wiggins, the Timberwolves ended the season next to last in total rebounds per game (41.6). Hopefully, with Dieng now a full-time starter, and Wiggins with yet another year under his belt, the Timberwolves can improve in this area.
They'll also have to hope that the combination of Ricky Rubio, Zach LaVine, and Kris Dunn can help to boost their outside shooting. Minnesota was a putrid 33.8% from three last season, which placed them 25th among all NBA teams. Their 5.5 three-point makes were even more disappointing, grading 29th in the Association.
I'm fully confident that if LaVine is fully unleashed those numbers will go up. He shot 38.9% on and hit 1.5 treys per game a year ago. But, that was in just 28.0 minutes. If LaVine can get 31-plus minutes a game -- which he should under Tom Thibodeau -- he'll help to balance out Minnesota's offense.
Apparently, Vegas thinks that's how things will play out. From 29 wins last year, Vegas foresees a 12.5-game improvement for the Timberwolves. Our projection is a little less optimistic, at 39 wins with a 40% likelihood of cracking the NBA playoffs.
