7 Lottery Teams That Could Make The Playoffs

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Dec 26, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves power forward Kevin Love (42) drives to the basket defended by Houston Rockets power forward Greg Smith (4) during the second quarter at Target Center. Rockets won 87-84. Mandatory Credit: Greg Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves had a really sad year. Before the season started they looked like the team ready to make a post-season run. A top ten player in Kevin Love, the exciting Ricky Rubio, the bruiser with a mean streak in Nikola Pekovic, these Wolves had grown into the best versions of themselves together.

Rick Adelman is one of the most underrated coaches in the league, and his teams always play hard and win more than they should, the gift of a motion offense that is all about open space and quick reactions. A bevy of solid vets signed up for this campaign. And then it all went off the rails. It seemed like the entire team fell apart in unison. Like Ridnour played a ton of minutes. Brandon Roy retired. Kevin Love was injured pretty much always and aired his grievances with management. Adelman was plagued with personal problems.

But assuming healthy bodies (the great leveler of the NBA), the Wolves are definitely in the running for a 6-8 seed. Kevin Martin isn’t a sexy name (his name is actually quite bland) but despite his truly annoying form, the guy is a shooter. At his best he was an efficient slashing scorer as well, getting to the line with annoying consistency. He’s a good pick-up for the Wolves, a team that has some real ugly issues with spacing the floor. In theory Derrick Williams ought to be a step closer to reaching his tweener peak. Not quite prodigal son Corey Brewer has returned after a minor breakout year with the Nuggets and his defense and corner 3s will provide a huge boon. Alexey Shved, Chase Budinger, and J.J. Barera are solid rotation players. If the controversial Shabazz Muhammad contributes anything his first year then you can consider that found money. The Wolves have the pieces to make it to the big dance. Pray everyone didn’t walk any under ladders or see an excess amount of black cats during the offseason.