Tag: Timberwolves

2024-2025 NBA Season Opener Preview

By: Know Buxton

The 2024-2025 NBA season tips off on October 22 with the defending champions Boston Celtics facing the New York Knicks. That game will be followed by the Los Angeles Lakers hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves. I really like these matchups for opening night because all four of these teams should be pretty competitive this season. In my opinion, the Boston Celtics look like the favorites to win the NBA Finals for the second year in a row. They definitely have all of the pieces they need in order to go back to back. They have two stars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they have two of the best defending guards in the league in Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, and they also have one of the best shooting and defending big men in the league in Kristaps Porzingis. They have a solid bench with players like Payton Pritchard, Al Horford, and Lonnie Walker IV, but it could be better. To me, their biggest threat to going back to back is their health. If one player in their starting five gets injured for an extended period of time, things could go downhill. Luckily for the Celtics, these players don’t have bad injury histories except for Kristaps Porzingis so this shouldn’t be much of a concern. For the Knicks on the other hand, they also have a good chance to make a championship push. I really like the additions they made with Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns. Their biggest concern is the depth which they lost by trading Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. They also lost Isiah Hartenstein to the Thunder in free agency this summer which doesn’t help. As for the opening night game between the two, I think the Celtics will win a close game and this could potentially be a playoff matchup we see later in the season. 

The Lakers are a team to watch this season too. They are led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis , two of the best players in the NBA; but their biggest problem, as always, is the supporting cast for their two superstars. They signed JJ Reddick as a first time head coach and he seems to be very close with LeBron James. This is a make or break season for the Lakers in my opinion because LeBron’s career is coming to an end and Anthony Davis might not want to stay for much longer if there is no LeBron James. For the Timberwolves, I am very high on their young superstar Anthony Edwards. The Timberwolves finished as a top team last season and made a deep playoff run before losing to the Mavericks. They traded their star that went alongside Edwards in Karl-Anthony Towns, but I like the additions of Julius Randle and Donte Divincenzo. The biggest question for Minnesota is if their good season last season was a fluke or not. I think they have all the pieces in place for another successful season, but it largely depends on how the Towns trade turns out for them. In the Timberwolves vs Lakers game, I think the Timberwolves will win in a close one but it definitely could go the other way. This game comes down to which team plays better together because both teams made moves this off-season and have some new additions.

Evaluating the Knicks and Timberwolves Trade

By: Knox Buxton

The New York Knicks and Minnestota Timberwolves just made a blockbuster trade right before the start of the NBA season. The Timberwolves traded their center, Karl-Anthony Towns, in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop, and a future first round pick from the Detroit Pistons. The Knicks made this move because they needed to add a center due to Mitchell Robinson getting foot surgery over the summer and having to miss the beginning of the season. The Knicks gave up a lot of depth to acquire Towns by trading DiVicenzo and Randle. Both players were big contributors to the Knicks last season and were a big reason why they made it to the second round of the playoffs. The Timberwolves added more pieces to help their young star, Anthony Edwards. In my opinion, the Knicks won the trade for now, but it could quickly turn around depending on how Towns plays this season and how deep the Knicks go in the playoffs. New York’s biggest problem is the depth, they can try to solve that by giving Deuce McBride more minutes off the bench and trying to add people in free agency or they could see who has the ability to step up early in the year. On paper, the Knicks have one of the best rosters in the league, but like last year, that does not matter if no one can stay healthy. They were missing Julius Randle, OG Annunoby, and Bogdan Bogdanovic. They ended up losing to the Pacers in the second round, but Jalen Brunson proved to be one of the best players in the league. Their lineup this season looks like it will be Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Annunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns. When asked about the trade, Knicks fan Jackson Bonser stated, “I think it’s a fair trade. I also think that we will know within the first ten games whether the Knicks really won the trade or not.” Bonser is very high on New York’s all star pint guard, Jalen Brunson. When asked about how Brunson will fit with Towns this season Bonser said, “It’s a match made in heaven, and both will be on an All-NBA team this season. Additionally, I believe that Jalen Brunson will be in the MVP conversation this season.” The Knicks have a lot to prove by making that move, but Knicks fans like Jackson have a lot to be excited about for this upcoming season.