The franchise that almost was shipped down the river is observing its 20th anniversary this season. Glen Taylor rescued the franchise in 1995 and kept it from moving to New Orleans but neither he nor previous owners Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Ratner have given us an elite franchise to celebrate. Wolves insiders hope the coming season will be a step toward that goal and it all begins with a 2008-09 opening game at Target Center Wednesday night against Sacramento.
The franchise that was 20-62 last season has nine times won 30 games or fewer during an 82 game schedule. The cumulative franchise record: 647 wins, 877 losses. The Wolves won a division title and advanced to the Western Conference finals in 2004, ending a streak of seven one-and-dones in the playoffs that began in 1997. The Wolves haven’t made the playoffs since 2004 and have won a total of 85 games the last three seasons.
With a team that’s almost been completely renovated from two years ago and changed further during the last off-season with the additions of veteran guard Mike Miller and rookie forward Kevin Love, the Wolves have at least produced enthusiasm within the offices at Target Center. The optimism in the halls of 600 First Avenue North is based on the belief that the Wolves are young, talented and possess a will-to-win. The positive vibe is fed, too, by the prospect of having up to four first round draft picks in the 2009 NBA draft and being salary cap flexible enough to chase quality personnel in the 2010 free agent market, being hyped as a transforming shopping season because of all the potential talent.
The buzz-o-meter outside Target Center isn’t nearly as revved up as the one inside the building. The local public and media are skeptical, and some folks in the national press are cynical, too.
There were a lot of empty seats disguised as fans when the Wolves closed out their 6-2 pre-season schedule on Wednesday and Thursday nights at Target Center last week. Season tickets sold will again fill roughly one-third of the seats in the 19,356 capacity building. One columnist in town wrote off Love’s potential as a top player before the 20-year-old had finished his last pre-season game.
Sporting News magazine ranks the Wolves as the 13th best team in the 15 team Western Conference. Ditto by Sports Illustrated. SI reports that the Wolves led the NBA both of the last two seasons in losing games that were tied or where they had the lead at the end of the third quarter.
ESPN.com asked 10 experts about the Wolves and eight wrote that the local team will finish fourth in the five team Northwest Division (ahead of Oklahoma City). Two of the panel said the Wolves will be the worst team in the Western Conference. Ric Bucher didn’t agree with that but he picked the Wolves to finish fourth in the division, and he wrote this: “I’m sure GM Kevin McHale has a plan … OK, I’m not so sure these days. Which is why I’d love to hear the architect explain the blueprint. Example: don’t see KLove as a 3 or 5 and Al Jefferson has the 4 anchored.”