2017–18 Minnesota Timberwolves season

The 2017–18 Minnesota Timberwolves season was the 29th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

2017–18 Minnesota Timberwolves season
Head coachTom Thibodeau
General managerScott Layden
OwnersGlen Taylor
ArenaTarget Center
Results
Record47–35 (.573)
PlaceDivision: 4th (Northwest)
Conference: 8th (Western)
Playoff finishFirst Round
(Lost to Rockets 1–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionFox Sports North
RadioWCCO

They clinched their first winning season since 2005 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 considering signing with teams such as the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, and Washington Wizards and the signing reunited Rose with former Chicago Bulls teammates Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, and coach Tom Thibodeau, all of whom were part of the 2011 Bulls team who made the Eastern Conference Finals (the franchise's only time doing so in the post-Jordan era), and was also Rose's MVP season where he became the youngest player to ever win the award. These acquisitions would earn the team the nickname “TimberBulls” by the media and fans.

They finished the regular season with 47–35, 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.

As of 2021, this season marked the last time the Timberwolves made the playoffs.

Draft
Main article: 2017 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 16 Justin Patton C  United States 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
Roster listing
2017–18 Minnesota Timberwolves roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
C 45 Aldrich, Cole 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 253 lb (115 kg) 1988–10–31 Kansas
F 8 Bjelica, Nemanja 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1988–05–09 Serbia
G 30 Brooks, Aaron 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 161 lb (73 kg) 1985–01–14 Oregon
F 3 Brown, Anthony (TW) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 224 lb (102 kg) 1992–10–10 Stanford
G 23 Butler, Jimmy (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 236 lb (107 kg) 1989–09–14 Marquette
G 11 Crawford, Jamal 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1980–03–20 Michigan
C 5 Dieng, Gorgui 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 251 lb (114 kg) 1990–01–18 Louisville
G 13 Georges-Hunt, Marcus 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 226 lb (103 kg) 1994–03–28 Georgia Tech
F 67 Gibson, Taj 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1985–06–24 Southern California
F 10 Jefferson, Amile 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 224 lb (102 kg) 1993–05–07 Duke
G 1 Jones, Tyus 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 1996–05–10 Duke
C 24 Patton, Justin  7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 251 lb (114 kg) 1997–06–14 Creighton
G 25 Rose, Derrick 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1988–10–04 Memphis
G 0 Teague, Jeff 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 189 lb (86 kg) 1988–06–10 Wake Forest
C 32 Towns, Karl-Anthony (C) 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 248 lb (112 kg) 1995–11–15 Kentucky
F 22 Wiggins, Andrew (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 202 lb (92 kg) 1995–02–23 Kansas
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (GL) On assignment to G League affiliate
  • (TW) Two-way affiliate player
  • Injured

Roster
Last transaction: 2018–04–11

Standings

Division
Northwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div GP
y – Portland Trail Blazers 49 33 .598 0.0 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
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

Preseason
2017 pre-season game log
Total: 2–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–0)
Pre-season: 2–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–0)
2017–18 season schedule

Regular season
2017–18 game log
Total: 47–35 (Home: 30–11; Road: 17–24)
October: 4–3 (Home: 2–1; Road: 2–2)
November : 9–6 (Home: 5–3; Road: 4–3)
December : 10–5 (Home: 5–2; Road: 5–3)
January : 9–8 (Home: 8–0; Road: 1–8)
February : 6–4 (Home: 5–1; Road: 1–3)
March : 6–7 (Home: 3–3; Road: 3–4)
April : 3–2 (Home: 2–1; Road: 1–1)
2017–18 season schedule

Playoffs
See also: 2018 NBA Playoffs
2018 playoff game log
Total: 1–4 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–3)
First Round: 1–4 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–3)
2018 playoff schedule

Transactions
Main article: List of 2017–18 NBA season transactions

Trades
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

Re-signed
Player Signed
Shabazz Muhammad[3] 1-year contract worth $1.6 million
Andrew Wiggins[4] 5-year contract worth $148 million

Additions
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
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
  1. "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.
  2. "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.
  3. "Timberwolves sign Shabazz Muhammad". NBA.com/timberwolves. September 15, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  4. "Timberwolves sign forward Andrew Wiggins to multi-year contract extension". NBA.com/timberwolves. October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  5. "Timberwolves sign All-Star guard Jeff Teague". NBA.com/timberwolves. July 10, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  6. "Timberwolves sign forward Taj Gibson". NBA.com/timberwolves. July 10, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  7. "Timberwolves sign guard Jamal Crawford". NBA.com/timberwolves. July 19, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  8. "Timberwolves sign Anthony Brown tO two-way Contract". NBA.com/timberwolves. August 1, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  9. "Timberwolves sign Marcus Georges-Hunt". NBA.com/timberwolves. August 11, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  10. "Timberwolves sign Aaron Brooks". NBA.com/timberwolves. September 21, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  11. "Timberwolves waive center Nikola Pekovic". NBA.com/timberwolves. June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  12. "Timberwolves waive forward/center Jordan Hill". NBA.com/timberwolves. June 26, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  13. "Warriors sign free agent Forward Omri Casspi". NBA.com/warriors. July 12, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  14. "Magic sign Adreian Payne to Two-way contract". NBA.com/magic. August 21, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
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