Minnesota Timberwolves Tickets

Minnesota Timberwolves 2008/2009 Season Preview The Minnesota Timberwolves were terrible for much of last season but showed some signs of life late in the year.

Everyone knew it would be a tough season for the Timberwolves after they had traded away franchise star forward Kevin Garnett in the offseason. However, it was a necessary move for the franchise to begin the rebuilding process. It was also a very professional move to deal the championship-starved Garnett to a title-contending team.

The main piece of the package received from the Garnett trade, power forward Al Jefferson, has shown a lot of ability and could certainly become an All-Star. However, he has been forced to play out of position because the team does not have a true center.

The Timberwolves have addressed that very issue in the NBA Draft, acquiring center Kevin Love. General manager Kevin McHale really coveted Love, possibly because he reminds him of himself back in his glory days with the Boston Celtics.

With Love in the fold, the team can now move Jefferson back to his natural power forward position. The only worry is that Love is a bit undersized himself at center and doesn't have the hops to make up for it.

Barring injury, Randy Foye should be the team's starting point guard. He is more of a combo guard than a true point because of his scoring ability, but he should be just fine in the role. He also won't have to worry about looking over his shoulder, as the only competition at his position has been the highly disappointing Sebastian Telfair.

It will be a big year for Foye as well as forward Corey Brewer. I was really high on Brewer coming out of Florida but he flopped last year as a rookie. He isn't a star player, but he does all of the little things well and is the type of player every winning team needs. I'd expect to see vast improvement from Brewer this year.

A trade with the Memphiz Grizzlies during the middle of last year landed forward Mike Miller, who will certainly give them another scorer and help make Minnesota a bit more competitive. Miller and Rashad McCants will give the team some much-needed instant offense out on the wings.

Minnesota should be slightly improved this year, but they certainly won't be good enough to fight for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.