Fantasy Review For 2018/19 Season:
After quite promising 17/18 campaign, the 18/19 season started with an organizational meltdown and ended with a revolution on every level, from bottom to the very top. Tom Thibodeau refused to solve the Jim Butler situation, which eventually still ended with a trade, but at coach/president own wish there was some bumpy road leading to it. In the aftermatch of the case, Thibs got fired, and Wolves went through quick rebuild on the front office side, with Ryan Saunders stepping up as a head coach and Gersson Rosas being hired as a president of basketball operations. While the organization was taking a whole new direction, the team itself got a little bit forgotten.
Changes in the offseason
Lost = Tyus Jones, Dario Saric
Added = Jarrett Culver, Shabazz Napier, Jordan Bell, Jake Lyman, Treveon Graham, Noah Vonleh, Ty Wallace, Naz Reid
Projected Depth Chart:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Jeff Teague | Josh Okogie | Andrew Wiggins | Robert Covington | Karl-Anthony Towns |
| Shabazz Napier | Jarrett Culver | Keita Bates-Diop | Jordan Bell | Gorgui Dieng |
| Ty Wallace | Treveon Graham | Jake Lyman | Noah Vonleh | Naz Reid |
Positional Battles: Wings
Although it appears that Wolves starting five is locked as for now, we may witness some revolutionary changes as the season progresses. Its still to be seen how Bob Covington and Karl Towns would work as a big man duo, and if the results are not satisfactory, and Cov gets moved down a positon, there the mess begins. Also, if it works well, there is still a question about Wolves backup Power Forwards – they have to many players worth a regular rotation spot there: all of the crop Jordan Bell, Noah Vonleh, Jake Lyman and even Keita Bates Diop deserve some playing time. To unload this logjam, Minnesota would probably run a bit of a small ball in the bench units with KAT being only true center in the rotation.
Another logjam appears to SG/SF positions with Okogie, Culver, Diop and Wiggins battling for those two spots. Okogie seems to be favourite at SG due to his defense and physical ability and Wiggins should be a starting SF but Minnesota didn’t move up in the draft to play Culver from the bench forever and KBDs progress was one of the loney bright spots of Minnesota rather sad basketball season.
Fantasy Relevant in leagues with 12- to 15-teams:
52,7 FG%, 84,3 FT%, 2,2 3PM, 27,9 PTS, 14,4 REB, 4,3 AST, 1,1 STL, 1,9 BL, 3,4 TO
His emergency last season was somehow covered by organizational disorder, but its worth noticing that he is quickly developing into one of the best, most crafty, offensive big men in the history of the game. At the age of 24, he will have to make one final leap in his offensive game. His young coach not only wants him to be the highest usage guy in the team, but also to play Jokic’esque role, being an offensive hub and ball distributor for Wolves. We saw signs of his ability to do so last season, as he raised his assists to 3,4 per game and almost 4 under coach Saunders. He could be the best, most reliable and durable fantasy player this upcoming season.
43,5 FG%, 84,4 FT%, 2,6 3PM, 13,8 PTS, 5,9 REB, 1,8 AST, 1,8 STL, 1,1 BL, 1,4 TO
He is repeatedly the most undervalued player in fantasy basketball. Always outplaying his ADP on per game basis, but is considered to be a field goal killer and a guy of an unreliable health. Although his durability is really a concern, as he played more than 70 games only once in his career, only once in that span did he play for a winning team. Therefore there never was a pressure on him to play through minor injuries with an exception of the 2017-18 season during which he played 80 games in Sixers breakout run. Also his shooting problems are a bit overblown, as he progresses each year in efficiency, finishing last season with a reasonable 43% over the 35 games sample size. Now he is projected to play as a full time power forward next to KAT and it may only help him raise his production on even higher levels. Covington is your sleeper candidate for 2019/20 campaign, with an upside of top20 fantasy 9 cat contribution.
The most reliable source of assists and free throw percentage outside top60. In auction drafts he would be the one to start fierce battles out of nowhere in the second part of the draft, as assists are the most valued commodity this year in fantasy basketball. The only real concern with him is his role as a veteran in this young team. There might be some organizational pressure to raise the minutes and roles of young players at the cost of vets like Teague. For his advantage, the only other true point guard in Minnesota is Shabazz Napier, but on the other side, there are some rumblings of Wolves desire to try both Jarrett Culver and Andrew Wiggins in that role.
Timberwolves claim that his personal progress is one of their main focuses. That’s why they plan to try him as a point guard and its why he reportedly spent whole summer, first time in his professional career, working on his game with Wolves staff. What’s important for fantasy owners is that the main focus of that work is raising his efficiency and eliminating long twos in favor of threes and layups. If he only manages to do that, he will be a nice and cheap source of points outside top100.
Could be useful with trades/injuries]:
Josh Okogie, Jarrett Culver, Jordan Bell, Noah Vonleh, Shabazz Napier, Keita Bates Diop
Just don’t bother with:
Gorgui Dieng, Jake Layman
Don’t forget to check the rest of the Minnesota Timberwolves fantasy basketball projections..
Posted in Teams preview