Outlooks – Floor General

The “Almost Contender” Tier of NBA Teams

The 2022-2023 NBA season will commence in a week, and at this point most teams have solidifed their core roster that they’ll roll into the season with.

Although this year will be a race to the bottom for many teams, as Victor Wembanyama continues to be touted as one of the greatest prospects we’ve ever seen, the upper echelon of the NBA will still look to capitalize on their championship window.

Today I’ll be looking at the teams I believe to be second-tier NBA teams. Every team on this list will have a great year, however, I don’t believe any team on this list has a real shot of winning the championship.

Honorable Mention: Memphis Grizzlies

Ja Morant and the Grizzlies shocked the world last year, and they will have the same roster minus DeAnthony Melton going into this season. I don’t believe they’ll be in this tier of teams, however, due to the absence of Jaren Jackson Jr. combined with the fact that many similar caliber teams have made massive upgrades.

New Orleans Pelicans

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The Pelicans gave the Phoenix Suns, the best team in the league last year record-wise, a real run for their money in the first round last year. Brandon Ingram cemented himself as a top-25 player, C.J. McCollum proved to be a great veteran addition and secondary star, Jonas Valanciunis played at an All-Star level for a bit, and Herb Jones proved to be the steal of the draft. This year, the Pelicans will add their best player, Zion Williamson to that group of guys.

The Pelicans are a force to be reckoned with that can give any contender a scare in a Playoff series, but I don’t think they have enough experience as a unit. In addition, their PG position seems to be in the air, and I don’t think a rookie Dyson Daniels can be the guy just yet.

Cleveland Cavaliers

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The Cavaliers made one of the biggest splashes this offseason, trading for three-time All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell. Cleveland has one of, if not the best backcourt in the league with Mitchell slotting in next to All-Star Darius Garland. The Cavs also have one of the best defensive front courts in the league, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, to cover the defensive weaknesses of their backcourt.

Cleveland may fall short this season due to the age and inexperience of their core, but they have built a team they can be confident in for the future.

Phoenix Suns

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Everything that could go wrong for the Phoenix Suns in the last year has gone wrong. Going into the playoffs with the best record in the NBA, they lost in an embarrassing blowout at home in the second round. Their owner, Robert Sarver, was involved in a massive scandal over racist and sexist behavior. On top of all of that, their 2018 number one pick, Deandre Ayton, returns as a less-than-satisfied employee following multiple trade rumors.

Regardless of that, this Suns team finished with the best record last year and made the NBA Finals the year before. They will likely drop off, but still have stars Devin Booker and Chris Paul along with a deep supporting cast coached by one of the best coaches in the game, Monty Williams.

Brooklyn Nets

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Brooklyn is another team that has had a bumpy past year. James Harden, who they mortgaged their entire future for, requested a trade out after a year in Brooklyn; the player Brooklyn got in return, Ben Simmons, has not touched an NBA court in over a year. Kyrie Irving sat the majority of the season out over his protests against vaccine mandates, causing major strife within the locker room. Kevin Durant, their best player, returns to the team after a dud in the playoffs and a dramatic trade saga.

Although Brooklyn is obviously not the most conventional team, they deserve a spot on this list purely due to their sheer starpower. Kevin Durant is still in his glory days and one of the best players in the league, and Kyrie remains a top 15 player in the game. Ben Simmons, although a controversial player, is one of the league’s best defenders and offers strong tertiary creation for the squad.

Minnesota Timberwolves

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My full thoughts on the Timberwolves can be found here. I might be too high on them, but I view them as a well-oiled machine that will have three stars next year.

I expect the Wolves to fall short in the Playoffs due to their youth, but they’ve built a team that I think will dominate the regular season.

Conclusion

Although I said that I don’t expect any team on here to win it all this year, surprises happen all the time, and a team here may just shock the world.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Contenders or Pretenders?

The Minnesota Timberwolves made one of the most controversial offseason moves, trading a haul of draft capital and rotational pieces for the perennial Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert. I’ll be going over some key factors for their success this season and giving my overall outlook on the Timberwolves.

How Does Rudy Gobert Impact the Team?

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By himself, Gobert consistently elevated a poor defensive Jazz team to a top ten defense through his generational rim protecting. With a Gobert-anchored defense surrounded by defensive specialists like Jaden McDaniels and Kyle Anderson, the Timberwolves should finish with a top five defense. The presence of Gobert will also pay dividends for Minnesota’s original star, Karl-Anthony Towns. With Gobert’s rim protection covering many of Towns defensive mistakes, KAT can exert more of his energy on offense, where he excels. On offense, Gobert adds an elite rim-rolling threat that should pair nicely with the playmaking of D’Angelo Russell in the pick-and-roll. The Russell-Gobert pick-and-roll as a supplement to the offensive superstardom of KAT and Anthony Edwards leads me to believe that the Timberwolves should also be one of the best offensive teams in the league.

An Anthony Edwards Breakout?

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Anthony Edwards has been a budding star since the second half of his rookie season, and he may be the x-factor in the Timberwolves championship hunt. In his first two years, Ant has already proven why analysts were enamored by his potential and why the Timberwolves took him number one. Edwards has an incredible combination of scoring skill, measurements, and athleticism that makes me confident he will be leading this teams offense, whether next year or the year after. Going into his third year, the time where many talented guards make the superstar leap, Ant is expected to fully unlock his potential, putting all his valuable traits together and shedding off some of his inefficiencies and inconsistencies. Ant may have given the world a preview of next year in the Timberwolves first round series against Memphis, as he led the Timberwolves with 25.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 3.0 APG on 46/40/82 splits wihle also playing lockdown defense on Ja Morant. If Ant takes a third year leap similar to the likes of Ja, another young athletic guard, he will become the leader and best player on the Timberwolves, an impressive feat considering that two perennial All-Stars are on the roster. An improved Anthony Edwards combined with the offensive brilliance of Karl-Anthony Towns may just be too much for opposing defenses to handle.

The Rest of the Team

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Not much more needs to be said about Karl-Anthony Towns that isn’t already known. KAT is one of the best offensive players in the league, a 7-foot sniper who can create for himself and hit step-back threes. While KAT does struggle on defense, the addition of Gobert will take so much defensive burden off an offensive specialist like him. D’Angelo Russell is another core player for this Timberwolves team who will be one of the best tertiary creators in the NBA and should reap the benefits of Rudy Gobert in the pick-in-roll, and possibly could be running some old-school Clippers style horns sets with KAT and Gobert. Jaden McDaniels will also be key to this team, as the teams best point-of-attack defender who can legitimately defend 1-4. As for the bench, Minnesota has one of the better second units in the league. Naz Reid is one of the best backup bigs in the league and will provide productive minutes when Gobert is off the court. Kyle Anderson was a great offseason addition, and adds much needed perimeter defense to the team. Newly added Austin Rivers will also fulfill this need off the bench when needed. I’m hoping that more minutes will come for Jaylen Nowell and Jordan McLaughlin as well; both players are solid rotational pieces. And even with the questionable decisions he made these playoffs, I still believe Chris Finch is a great coach who will maximize his roster this upcoming season.

Outlook and Predictions

I’m very bullish on this Timberwolves team, especially compared to the average NBA fan. I believe they will be on the high end of 50 wins this year, even possibly getting the top seed in the difficult Western Conference. In the playoffs, I’m expecting the Timberwolves to fall short in the later rounds due to the battle-tested teams like the Warriors and Clippers having more experience. All in all, I think that Minnesota will have no regrets trading for Gobert and can expect to enjoy loads of success the next four or so years, as they have favorable team control over their new big three.