Last Season: They lost Al Jefferson, their best player, early in the season and without his inside presence the team had no chance. They finished tied for the third worst record in the Western Conference. A bright spot though, was rookie Kevin Love. Love almost average a double-double and improved throughout the season.

Acquisitions: G Ramon Sessions, G Jonny Flynn, G Wayne Ellington, C Oleksiy Pecherov, C Ryan Hollins, G Chucky Atkins, G Damien Wilkins, G Sasha Pavlovic

Departures: G Randy Foye, G Mike Miller, F Rodney Carney, G Sebastian Telfair, F Craig Smith, F Shelden Williams, F Mark Madsen, G Bobby Brown, G Kevin Ollie, C Jason Collins

Starting Five: F Ryan Gomes, F Kevin Love, C Al Jefferson, G Corey Brewer, G Ramon Sessions

Bench Mob: Jonny Flynn, Wayne Ellington, Nathan Jawai, Antonio Daniels, Sasha Pavlovic

Most Interesting Man in the World: Kevin Love –His father is the brother of Beach Boys' singer Mike Love, and the first cousin of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys main songwriter. He can throw a chest pass from endline to endline (and even sink that shot). And if Steve Nash doesn't fill the big shoes left by Billy Mays, Kevin Love can do it.

Over the Hill: Mark Blount – This is a very young team so there’s no one that will be a big contributor that’s going to have a big fall of because of age. Blount will be a fine back-up for when Al Jefferson gets in foul trouble or just needs a quick rest.

Ready to Break Out: Jonny Flynn – For full disclosure I went to Syracuse and this is very much a homer pick but Flynn received rave reviews from his play in summer league. Al Jefferson even compared him to Chris Paul, a comparison I was making all last season. Flynn is much stronger than Paul but doesn’t have the court vision or the outside jumper that CP3 does. Flynn is a great leader on the court. He’s always positive and you can see he’s giving it his all. He’s going to make big men Jefferson and Love very happy this year.

Outlook: I’m overly giddy to see Flynn play alongside Jefferson and Love but now that's going to have to wait. Love broke his hand on October 16 and will be out for at least the first month of the regular season. Jefferson is also a little banged up, suffering from Achilles tendinitis. The Wolves can't afford these types of injuries. They are a young team and need time playing together to improve.

With the addition of Sessions, there's a good chance Jonny Flynn starts the season on the bench. Rambis has not liked what he has seen when both players were on the floor together which means one will be starting and one will be off the bench. Sessions hasn't shown much during the preseason but could get the nod over the rookie.

The Wolves are moving in the right direction but already losing Love is a big blow. They better hope Al Jefferson can stay healthy or expect another horrendous season.

realistically the best this team can hope for is to flirt with a .500 record. They are definitely moving in the right direction but with the amount of roster upheaval it will take the Wolves awhile to learn their roles.

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