2017–18 Minnesota Timberwolves season
2017–18 Minnesota Timberwolves season | |
---|---|
Head coach | Tom Thibodeau |
General manager | Scott Layden |
Owners | Glen Taylor |
Arena | Target Center |
Results | |
Record | 47–35 (.573) |
Place | Division: 4th (Northwest) Conference: 8th (Western) |
Playoff finish |
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Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Local media | |
Television | Fox Sports North |
Radio | WCCO |
The 2017–18 Minnesota Timberwolves season was the 29th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
They clinched their first winning season since 2004 with a win over the New York Knicks on March 23, 2018. On April 11, 2018, the Timberwolves clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2004 with a win over the Denver Nuggets, ending what was the longest post-season drought in the NBA at the time, at 13 seasons to pass the Sacramento Kings to currently make the longest postseason NBA drought. The last time the Wolves made the playoffs was during the Kevin Garnett era where he led them to the conference finals that year. The Wolves this season also signed free agent Derrick Rose, after he considered joining teams such as the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, and Washington Wizards. The signing reunited Rose with former Chicago Bulls teammates Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson, as well as coach Tom Thibodeau, all of whom were part of the franchise from 2011 to 2015. These acquisitions would earn the team the nickname “TimberBulls” from the media and fans.
They finished the regular season with a 47–35 record, which clinched the 8th seed. In the playoffs, the Timberwolves faced the top-seeded Houston Rockets in the first round, and lost in five games.
Until 2022, this was the last season that the Timberwolves made the playoffs or had a winning season.
Draft
[edit]Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 | Justin Patton | C | ![]() | Creighton |
Entering the draft, the Timberwolves only held one first round pick at #7; their second round pick was forced to be traded away to the Boston Celtics due to a previous trade involving the Phoenix Suns (and former New Orleans Hornets) allowing the Suns (later Celtics) to acquire their 2017 second round pick if their lottery protected pick wasn't acquired by 2016. Exiting draft night, however, they traded away their #7 pick, which was the Finnish center/power forward Lauri Markkanen from University of Arizona, alongside last year's top selection (Kris Dunn) and Zach LaVine to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for All-Star shooting guard/small forward Jimmy Butler and the Bulls' own first round selection, which was #16 pick Justin Patton, a redshirt freshman center from Creighton University for the purpose of ending their 13 year long playoff drought.
Roster
[edit]Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Roster |
Standings
[edit]Division
[edit]Northwest Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
y – Portland Trail Blazers | 49 | 33 | .598 | – | 28–13 | 21–20 | 9–7 | 82 |
x – Oklahoma City Thunder | 48 | 34 | .585 | 1.0 | 27–14 | 21–20 | 5–11 | 82 |
x – Utah Jazz | 48 | 34 | .585 | 1.0 | 28–13 | 20–21 | 7–9 | 82 |
x – Minnesota Timberwolves | 47 | 35 | .573 | 2.0 | 30–11 | 17–24 | 10–6 | 82 |
Denver Nuggets | 46 | 36 | .561 | 3.0 | 31–10 | 15–26 | 9–7 | 82 |
Conference
[edit]Western Conference | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
1 | z – Houston Rockets * | 65 | 17 | .793 | – | 82 |
2 | y – Golden State Warriors * | 58 | 24 | .707 | 7.0 | 82 |
3 | y – Portland Trail Blazers * | 49 | 33 | .598 | 16.0 | 82 |
4 | x – Oklahoma City Thunder | 48 | 34 | .585 | 17.0 | 82 |
5 | x – Utah Jazz | 48 | 34 | .585 | 17.0 | 82 |
6 | x – New Orleans Pelicans | 48 | 34 | .585 | 17.0 | 82 |
7 | x – San Antonio Spurs | 47 | 35 | .573 | 18.0 | 82 |
8 | x – Minnesota Timberwolves | 47 | 35 | .573 | 18.0 | 82 |
9 | Denver Nuggets | 46 | 36 | .561 | 19.0 | 82 |
10 | Los Angeles Clippers | 42 | 40 | .512 | 23.0 | 82 |
11 | Los Angeles Lakers | 35 | 47 | .427 | 30.0 | 82 |
12 | Sacramento Kings | 27 | 55 | .329 | 38.0 | 82 |
13 | Dallas Mavericks | 24 | 58 | .293 | 41.0 | 82 |
14 | Memphis Grizzlies | 22 | 60 | .268 | 43.0 | 82 |
15 | Phoenix Suns | 21 | 61 | .256 | 44.0 | 82 |
Game log
[edit]Preseason
[edit]2017 pre-season game log Total: 2–1 (home: 1–1; road: 1–0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pre-season: 2–1 (home: 1–1; road: 1–0)
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2017–18 season schedule |
Regular season
[edit]Playoffs
[edit]2018 playoff game log Total: 1–4 (home: 1–1; road: 0–3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First Round: 1–4 (home: 1–1; road: 0–3)
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2018 playoff schedule |
Player statistics
[edit]Ragular season
[edit]Player | POS | GP | GS | MP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | MPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Andrew Wiggins | SF | 82 | 82 | 2,979 | 358 | 160 | 91 | 51 | 1,452 | 36.3 | 4.4 | 2.0 | 1.1 | .6 | 17.7 |
Karl-Anthony Towns | C | 82 | 82 | 2,918 | 1,012 | 199 | 64 | 115 | 1,743 | 35.6 | 12.3 | 2.4 | .8 | 1.4 | 21.3 |
Taj Gibson | PF | 82 | 82 | 2,726 | 584 | 99 | 62 | 59 | 999 | 33.2 | 7.1 | 1.2 | .8 | .7 | 12.2 |
Tyus Jones | PG | 82 | 11 | 1,467 | 132 | 232 | 95 | 6 | 416 | 17.9 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 1.2 | .1 | 5.1 |
Jamal Crawford | SG | 80 | 0 | 1,653 | 99 | 185 | 40 | 9 | 822 | 20.7 | 1.2 | 2.3 | .5 | .1 | 10.3 |
Gorgui Dieng | C | 79 | 0 | 1,333 | 360 | 71 | 45 | 39 | 470 | 16.9 | 4.6 | .9 | .6 | .5 | 5.9 |
Jeff Teague | PG | 70 | 70 | 2,311 | 209 | 492 | 102 | 23 | 994 | 33.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 1.5 | .3 | 14.2 |
Nemanja Bjelica | PF | 67 | 21 | 1,371 | 274 | 86 | 50 | 16 | 454 | 20.5 | 4.1 | 1.3 | .7 | .2 | 6.8 |
Jimmy Butler | SG | 59 | 59 | 2,164 | 314 | 288 | 116 | 24 | 1,307 | 36.7 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 2.0 | .4 | 22.2 |
Marcus Georges-Hunt | SG | 42 | 0 | 224 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 59 | 5.3 | .4 | .2 | .1 | .0 | 1.4 |
Shabazz Muhammad† | SF | 32 | 2 | 301 | 45 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 120 | 9.4 | 1.4 | .2 | .2 | .1 | 3.8 |
Aaron Brooks | PG | 32 | 1 | 189 | 17 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 75 | 5.9 | .5 | .6 | .2 | .0 | 2.3 |
Cole Aldrich | C | 21 | 0 | 49 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 2.3 | .7 | .1 | .1 | .0 | .6 |
Derrick Rose† | PG | 9 | 0 | 112 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 52 | 12.4 | .7 | 1.2 | .4 | .0 | 5.8 |
Anthony Brown | SF | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4.0 | .0 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | 3.0 |
Justin Patton | C | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4.0 | .0 | .0 | 1.0 | .0 | 2.0 |
- † Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Timberwolves only.
Playoffs
[edit]Player | POS | GP | GS | MP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | MPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jimmy Butler | SG | 5 | 5 | 170 | 30 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 79 | 34.0 | 6.0 | 4.0 | .8 | .2 | 15.8 |
Karl-Anthony Towns | C | 5 | 5 | 170 | 67 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 76 | 34.0 | 13.4 | 2.2 | .4 | 1.0 | 15.2 |
Andrew Wiggins | SF | 5 | 5 | 164 | 26 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 79 | 32.8 | 5.2 | 2.0 | .4 | .4 | 15.8 |
Jeff Teague | PG | 5 | 5 | 153 | 18 | 29 | 3 | 2 | 65 | 30.6 | 3.6 | 5.8 | .6 | .4 | 13.0 |
Taj Gibson | PF | 5 | 5 | 123 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 31 | 24.6 | 4.0 | .4 | .2 | .4 | 6.2 |
Jamal Crawford | SG | 5 | 0 | 123 | 13 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 59 | 24.6 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 1.0 | .0 | 11.8 |
Derrick Rose | PG | 5 | 0 | 119 | 9 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 71 | 23.8 | 1.8 | 2.6 | .4 | .0 | 14.2 |
Gorgui Dieng | C | 5 | 0 | 70 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 14.0 | 3.6 | .8 | .4 | .8 | 3.4 |
Nemanja Bjelica | PF | 5 | 0 | 47 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 9.4 | 3.0 | .6 | .6 | .0 | 4.6 |
Tyus Jones | PG | 4 | 0 | 55 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 13.8 | 2.3 | 2.0 | .3 | .0 | 1.0 |
Aaron Brooks | PG | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1.5 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 2.0 |
Marcus Georges-Hunt | SG | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 | .5 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
Transactions
[edit]Trades
[edit]June 22, 2017 | To Minnesota Timberwolves Jimmy Butler[1] Draft rights to Justin Patton | To Chicago Bulls Kris Dunn Zach LaVine Draft rights to Lauri Markkanen |
June 29, 2017 | To Minnesota Timberwolves 2018 first-round pick[2] | To Utah Jazz Ricky Rubio |
Free agents
[edit]Re-signed
[edit]Player | Signed |
---|---|
Shabazz Muhammad[3] | 1-year contract worth $1.6 million |
Andrew Wiggins[4] | 5-year contract worth $148 million |
Additions
[edit]Player | Signed | Former Team |
---|---|---|
Jeff Teague[5] | 3-year contract worth $57 million | Indiana Pacers |
Taj Gibson[6] | 2-year contract worth $28 million | Oklahoma City Thunder |
Jamal Crawford[7] | 2-year contract worth $8.9 million | Atlanta Hawks |
Anthony Brown[8] | Two-way contract | Erie BayHawks |
Marcus Georges-Hunt[9] | 1-year contract worth $1.3 million | Orlando Magic |
Aaron Brooks[10] | 1-year contract worth $2.1 million | Indiana Pacers |
Subtractions
[edit]Player | Reason Left | New Team |
---|---|---|
Nikola Peković[11] | Waived | |
Jordan Hill[12] | Waived | Nevada Desert Dogs |
Omri Casspi[13] | 1-year contract worth $2.1 million | Golden State Warriors |
Adreian Payne[14] | Two-way contract | Orlando Magic |
References
[edit]- ^ "Timberwolves acquire three-time NBA All-Star and 2016/17 All-NBA third team selection Jimmy Butler". NBA.com/timberwolves. June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
- ^ "Timberwolves acquire 2018 first-round draft pick from Utah in exchange for guard Ricky Rubio". NBA.com/timberwolves. June 30, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
- ^ "Timberwolves sign Shabazz Muhammad". NBA.com/timberwolves. September 15, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ "Timberwolves sign forward Andrew Wiggins to multi-year contract extension". NBA.com/timberwolves. October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
- ^ "Timberwolves sign All-Star guard Jeff Teague". NBA.com/timberwolves. July 10, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
- ^ "Timberwolves sign forward Taj Gibson". NBA.com/timberwolves. July 10, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
- ^ "Timberwolves sign guard Jamal Crawford". NBA.com/timberwolves. July 19, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
- ^ "Timberwolves sign Anthony Brown tO two-way Contract". NBA.com/timberwolves. August 1, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
- ^ "Timberwolves sign Marcus Georges-Hunt". NBA.com/timberwolves. August 11, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
- ^ "Timberwolves sign Aaron Brooks". NBA.com/timberwolves. September 21, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
- ^ "Timberwolves waive center Nikola Pekovic". NBA.com/timberwolves. June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ "Timberwolves waive forward/center Jordan Hill". NBA.com/timberwolves. June 26, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
- ^ "Warriors sign free agent Forward Omri Casspi". NBA.com/warriors. July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
- ^ "Magic sign Adreian Payne to Two-way contract". NBA.com/magic. August 21, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2017.