2014–15 Minnesota Timberwolves season

2014–15 Minnesota Timberwolves season
2014–15 Minnesota Timberwolves season
Head coach	Flip Saunders (Pre Season) ; Sam Mitchell (interim)
Owners	Glen Taylor
Arena	Target Center
Results
Record	16–66 (.195)
Place	Division: 5th (Northwest); Conference: 15th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Fox Sports North
Radio	WCCO
< 2013–14	2015–16 >

The 2014–15 Minnesota Timberwolves season was the 26th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[1] The Timberwolves finished with the worst record in the league at 16–66 and missed the NBA Playoffs for the 11th straight year. For the first time since 2007–08 season, Kevin Love was not on the roster as he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, and their future first round picks. Despite not making the playoffs, Andrew Wiggins won the NBA Rookie of the Year. Flip Saunders returned to the Timberwolves' head coach on his second stint. Saunders was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in August 2015 and he died two months later on October 25, 2015, at the age of 60. He was replaced by former Timberwolves player and former NBA Coach of the Year, Sam Mitchell for the following season. Kevin Garnett returned to the team for the first time since he left Minnesota in the offseason trade to the Boston Celtics.

Preseason

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	13	Zach LaVine	SG	United States	UCLA
2	40	Glenn Robinson III	SF	United States	Michigan
2	44	Markel Brown	SG	United States	Oklahoma State
2	53	Alessandro Gentile	SF	Italy	Olimpia Milano (Italy)

Regular season

Standings

Northwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div	GP
y-Portland Trail Blazers	51	31	.622	–	32‍–‍9	19‍–‍22	11–5	82
Oklahoma City Thunder	45	37	.549	6.0	29‍–‍12	16‍–‍25	10–6	82
Utah Jazz	38	44	.463	13.0	21‍–‍20	17‍–‍24	9–7	82
Denver Nuggets	30	52	.366	21.0	19‍–‍22	11‍–‍30	6–10	82
Minnesota Timberwolves	16	66	.195	35.0	9‍–‍32	7‍–‍34	4–12	82

Western Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	GP
1	z-Golden State Warriors *	67	15	.817	–	82
2	y-Houston Rockets *	56	26	.683	11.0	82
3	x-Los Angeles Clippers	56	26	.683	11.0	82
4	y-Portland Trail Blazers *	51	31	.622	16.0	82
5	x-Memphis Grizzlies	55	27	.671	12.0	82
6	x-San Antonio Spurs	55	27	.671	12.0	82
7	x-Dallas Mavericks	50	32	.610	17.0	82
8	x-New Orleans Pelicans	45	37	.549	22.0	82

9	Oklahoma City Thunder	45	37	.549	22.0	82
10	Phoenix Suns	39	43	.476	28.0	82
11	Utah Jazz	38	44	.463	29.0	82
12	Denver Nuggets	30	52	.366	37.0	82
13	Sacramento Kings	29	53	.354	38.0	82
14	Los Angeles Lakers	21	61	.256	46.0	82
15	Minnesota Timberwolves	16	66	.195	51.0	82

Game log

2014–15 game log
Total: 16–66 (Home: 9–32; Road: 7–34)

October: 1–1 (home: 1–0; road: 0–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	October 29	@ Memphis	L 101–105	Thaddeus Young (26)	Nikola Peković (8)	Ricky Rubio (7)	FedExForum 17,731	0–1
2	October 30	Detroit	W 97–91	Thaddeus Young (19)	Nikola Peković (10)	Ricky Rubio (8)	Target Center 18,296	1–1

November : 3–10 (home: 1–5; road: 2–5)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
3	November 1	Chicago	L 105–106	Kevin Martin (33)	Gorgui Dieng (8)	Ricky Rubio (17)	Target Center 19,356	1–2
4	November 5	@ Brooklyn	W 98–91	Kevin Martin (24)	Thaddeus Young (12)	Ricky Rubio (12)	Barclays Center 16,302	2–2
5	November 7	@ Orlando	L 103–112	Kevin Martin (21)	Gorgui Dieng (10)	Mo Williams (7)	Amway Center 16,379	2–3
6	November 8	@ Miami	L 92–102	Nikola Peković (19)	Nikola Peković (11)	Mo Williams (5)	American Airlines Arena 19,735	2–4
7	November 12	Houston	L 101–113	Corey Brewer (18)	Nikola Peković (13)	Zach LaVine (9)	Mexico City Arena 18,996	2–5
8	November 14	@ New Orleans	L 91–139	Andrew Wiggins (20)	Gorgui Dieng (9)	Mo Williams (4)	Smoothie King Center 14,775	2–6
9	November 15	@ Dallas	L 117–131	Kevin Martin (34)	Gorgui Dieng (8)	Mo Williams (8)	American Airlines Center 19,730	2–7
10	November 19	New York	W 115–99	Kevin Martin (37)	Shabazz Muhammad (8)	Mo Williams (13)	Target Center 15,304	3–7
11	November 21	San Antonio	L 92–121	Anthony Bennett (20)	Gorgui Dieng (10)	Williams & Brewer (4)	Target Center 12,414	3–8
12	November 22	Sacramento	L 101–113	Andrew Wiggins (29)	Gorgui Dieng (10)	Mo Williams (12)	Target Center 13,191	3–9
13	November 26	Milwaukee	L 86–103	Corey Brewer (19)	Wiggins & Dieng (8)	Wiggins, Young & LaVine (4)	Target Center 14,710	3–10
14	November 28	@ L.A. Lakers	W 120–119	Zach LaVine (28)	Dieng & Brewer (7)	Mo Williams (11)	Staples Center 18,997	4–10
15	November 30	@ Portland	L 93–107	Shabazz Muhammad (28)	Gorgui Dieng (8)	Mo Williams (11)	Moda Center 18,843	4–11

December : 1–14 (home: 1–6; road: 0–8)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
16	December 1	@ L.A. Clippers	L 101–127	Shabazz Muhammad (18)	Shabazz Muhammad (10)	Mo Williams (7)	Staples Center 19,060	4–12
17	December 3	Philadelphia	L 77–85	Thaddeus Young (16)	Gorgui Dieng (16)	Mo Williams (7)	Target Center 10,463	4–13
18	December 5	Houston	L 112–114 (OT)	Shabazz Muhammad (20)	Corey Brewer (7)	Corey Brewer (6)	Target Center 12,101	4–14
19	December 6	@ San Antonio	L 101–123	Zach LaVine (22)	Anthony Bennett (10)	Zach LaVine (10)	AT&T Center 18,581	4–15
20	December 8	Golden State	L 86–102	Andrew Wiggins (21)	Gorgui Dieng (11)	Zach LaVine (8)	Target Center 10,296	4–16
21	December 10	Portland	W 90–82	Andrew Wiggins (23)	Jeff Adrien (11)	Brewer & LaVine (5)	Target Center 10,337	5–16
22	December 12	Oklahoma City	L 92–111	Wiggins & Muhammad (18)	Gorgui Dieng (9)	Corey Brewer (8)	Target Center 13,557	5–17
23	December 14	L.A. Lakers	L 94–100	Shabazz Muhammad (28)	Dieng & Muhammad (9)	Corey Brewer (9)	Target Center 15,008	5–18
24	December 16	@ Washington	L 95–109	Thaddeus Young (29)	Gorgui Dieng (12)	Zach LaVine (8)	Verizon Center 15,823	5–19
25	December 19	@ Boston	L 98–114	Shabazz Muhammad (26)	Bennett & Adrien (7)	Thaddeus Young (6)	TD Garden 17,042	5–20
26	December 21	Indiana	L 96–100	Mo Williams (24)	Andrew Wiggins (9)	Mo Williams (10)	Target Center 12,687	5–21
27	December 23	@ Cleveland	L 104–125	Andrew Wiggins (27)	Gorgui Dieng (11)	Mo Williams (7)	Quicken Loans Arena 20,562	5–22
28	December 26	@ Denver	L 102–106	Thaddeus Young (23)	Gorgui Dieng (13)	Mo Williams (13)	Pepsi Center 14,516	5–23
29	December 27	@ Golden State	L 97–110	Thaddeus Young (17)	Shabazz Muhammad (9)	Zach LaVine (14)	Oracle Arena 19,596	5–24
30	December 30	@ Utah	L 94–100	Shabazz Muhammad (30)	Shabazz Muhammad (7)	Young & Dieng (6)	EnergySolutions Arena 18,947	5–25

January : 3–14 (home: 1–8; road: 2–6)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
31	January 1	Sacramento	L 107–110	Andrew Wiggins (27)	Gorgui Dieng (10)	Mo Williams (8)	Target Center 13,337	5–26
32	January 3	Utah	L 89–101	Wiggins & Williams (20)	Jeff Adrien (8)	Mo Williams (3)	Target Center 13,702	5–27
33	January 5	Denver	L 101–110	Gorgui Dieng (22)	Gorgui Dieng (12)	Mo Williams (7)	Target Center 10,386	5–28
34	January 7	Phoenix	L 111–113	Andrew Wiggins (25)	Anthony Bennett (10)	Mo Williams (11)	Target Center 10,547	5–29
35	January 9	@ Milwaukee	L 84–98	Andrew Wiggins (20)	Anthony Bennett (8)	Andrew Wiggins (5)	BMO Harris Bradley Center 15,480	5–30
36	January 10	San Antonio	L 93–108	Zach LaVine (19)	Gorgui Dieng (12)	Mo Williams (6)	Target Center 17,871	5–31
37	January 13	@ Indiana	W 110–101	Mo Williams (52)	Gorgui Dieng (10)	Mo Williams (7)	Bankers Life Fieldhouse 16,781	6–31
38	January 16	@ Phoenix	L 99–110	Mo Williams (26)	Thaddeus Young (8)	Thaddeus Young (6)	US Airways Center 17,441	6–32
39	January 17	@ Denver	W 113–105	Andrew Wiggins (31)	Robbie Hummel (13)	Mo Williams (7)	Target Center 14,821	7–32
40	January 19	@ Charlotte	L 80–105	Thaddeus Young (18)	Gorgui Dieng (10)	Mo Williams (4)	Time Warner Cable Arena 17,989	7–33
41	January 21	Dallas	L 75–98	Andrew Wiggins (18)	Thaddeus Young (11)	Thaddeus Young (6)	Target Center 13,737	7–34
42	January 23	New Orleans	L 84–92	Williams & Dieng (7) (15)	Gorgui Dieng (15)	Mo Williams (10)	Target Center 14,978	7–35
43	January 25	@ Atlanta	L 100–112	Thaddeus Young (26)	Wiggins, Williams & Dieng (7)	Thaddeus Young (7)	Philips Arena 18,049	7–36
44	January 26	@ Oklahoma City	L 84–92	Andrew Wiggins (23)	Gorgui Dieng (18)	Williams & Young (3)	Chesapeake Energy Arena 18,203	7–37
45	January 28	Boston	W 110–98	Kevin Martin (21)	Gorgui Dieng (14)	Zach LaVine (6)	Target Center 11,434	8–37
46	January 30	@ Philadelphia	L 94–103	Kevin Martin (19)	Gorgui Dieng (10)	Kevin Martin (5)	Wells Fargo Center 14,333	8–38
47	January 31	Cleveland	L 90–106	Andrew Wiggins (33)	Nikola Peković (12)	Lorenzo Brown (9)	Target Center 19,562	8–39

February : 5–6 (home: 4–3; road: 1–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
48	February 2	@ Dallas	L 94–100	Kevin Martin (19)	Nikola Peković (10)	Mo Williams (5)	American Airlines Center 19,989	8–40
49	February 4	Miami	W 102–101	Kevin Martin (30)	Gorgui Dieng (9)	Mo Williams (10)	Target Center 11,517	9–40
50	February 6	Memphis	W 90–89	Andrew Wiggins (18)	Thaddeus Young (8)	Ricky Rubio (5)	Target Center 14,388	10–40
51	February 8	@ Detroit	W 112–101	Nikola Peković (29)	Kevin Martin (9)	Mo Williams (9)	Palace of Auburn Hills 16,075	11–40
52	February 9	Atlanta	L 105–117	Kevin Martin (21)	Gorgui Dieng (12)	Rubio & Young (5)	Target Center 10,987	11–41
53	February 11	Golden State	L 91–94	Kevin Martin (21)	Nikola Peković (13)	Ricky Rubio (5)	Target Center 14,303	11–42
All-Star Break
54	February 20	Phoenix	W 111–109	Kevin Martin (21)	Gorgui Dieng (12)	Ricky Rubio (14)	Target Center 14,077	12–42
55	February 23	@ Houston	L 102–113	Andrew Wiggins (30)	Gorgui Dieng (14)	Ricky Rubio (7)	Toyota Center 18,240	12–43
56	February 25	Washington	W 97–77	Kevin Martin (28)	Nikola Peković (13)	Ricky Rubio (8)	Target Center 19,856	13–43
57	February 27	@ Chicago	L 89–96	Kevin Martin (18)	Nikola Peković (11)	Ricky Rubio (10)	United Center 21,635	13–44
58	February 28	Memphis	L 97–101	Andrew Wiggins (25)	Gorgui Dieng (9)	Ricky Rubio (10)	Target Center 19,356	13–45

March : 3–12 (home: 1–6; road: 2–6)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
59	March 2	L.A. Clippers	L 105–110	Gary Neal (19)	Ricky Rubio (12)	Ricky Rubio (11)	Target Center 18,239	13–46
60	March 4	Denver	L 85–100	Andrew Wiggins (20)	Gorgui Dieng (10)	Ricky Rubio (10)	Target Center 13,848	13–47
61	March 7	Portland	W 121–113	Kevin Martin (29)	Peković & Rubio (8)	Ricky Rubio (15)	Target Center 19,356	14–47
62	March 9	@ L.A. Clippers	L 76–89	Adreian Payne (16)	Adreian Payne (15)	Ricky Rubio (12)	Staples Center 19,060	14–48
63	March 11	@ Phoenix	L 97–106	Kevin Martin (16)	Gorgui Dieng (7)	Ricky Rubio (6)	US Airways Center 17,367	14–49
64	March 13	@ Oklahoma City	L 99–113	Gorgui Dieng (21)	Gorgui Dieng (14)	Zach LaVine (7)	Chesapeake Energy Arena 18,203	14–50
65	March 15	@ San Antonio	L 97–123	Kevin Martin (19)	Justin Hamilton (10)	Lorenzo Brown (7)	AT&T Center 18,581	14–51
66	March 16	Brooklyn	L 106–122	Kevin Martin (23)	Justin Hamilton & Wiggins (10)	Kevin Martin (6)	Target Center 14,234	14–52
67	March 18	@ Toronto	L 100–105	Kevin Martin (37)	Budinger & Rubio (8)	Ricky Rubio (8)	Air Canada Centre 19,800	14–53
68	March 19	@ New York	W 95–92 (OT)	Kevin Martin (22)	Gorgui Dieng (11)	Zach LaVine (4)	Madison Square Garden 19,812	15–53
69	March 22	Charlotte	L 98–109	Gorgui Dieng (16)	Adreian Payne (9)	Kevin Martin (9)	Target Center 15,262	15–54
70	March 23	@ Utah	W 106–104 (OT)	Zach LaVine (27)	Adreian Payne (9)	Lorenzo Brown (6)	EnergySolutions Arena 19,911	16–54
71	March 25	L.A. Lakers	L 99–101 (OT)	Andrew Wiggins (20)	Lorenzo Brown (9)	Zach LaVine (5)	Target Center 13,438	16–55
72	March 27	@ Houston	L 110–120	Andrew Wiggins (31)	Gorgui Dieng (12)	Zach LaVine (8)	Toyota Center 18,322	16–56
73	March 29	@ New Orleans	L 88–110	Andrew Wiggins (20)	Adreian Payne (11)	Lorenzo Brown (9)	Smoothie King Center 17,576	16–57
74	March 30	Utah	L 84–104	Zach LaVine (21)	Budinger & Hummel (7)	Brown & LaVine (6)	Target Center 12,229	16–58

April : 0–8 (home: 0–4; road: 0–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
75	April 1	Toronto	L 99–113	Andrew Wiggins (25)	Zach LaVine (7)	Brown & Wiggins (5)	Target Center 12,699	16–59
76	April 3	Orlando	L 84–97	Andrew Wiggins (22)	Justin Hamilton (9)	Zach LaVine (5)	Target Center 18,334	16–60
77	April 7	@ Sacramento	L 111–116	Kevin Martin (37)	Andrew Wiggins (8)	Zach LaVine (11)	Sleep Train Arena 16,770	16–61
78	April 8	@ Portland	L 91–116	Andrew Wiggins (29)	Justin Hamilton (9)	Zach LaVine (6)	Moda Center 19,499	16–62
79	April 10	@ L.A. Lakers	L 98–106	Andrew Wiggins (29)	Andrew Wiggins (10)	Andrew Wiggins (6)	Staples Center 17,880	16–63
80	April 11	@ Golden State	L 101–110	Zach LaVine (37)	Justin Hamilton (10)	Andrew Wiggins (9)	Oracle Arena 19,596	16–64
81	April 13	New Orleans	L 88–100	Zach LaVine (24)	Robbie Hummel (10)	Zach LaVine (7)	Target Center 13,009	16–65
82	April 15	Oklahoma City	L 113–138	Kevin Martin (29)	Anthony Bennett (9)	Zach LaVine (13)	Target Center 18,250	16–66

2014–15 season schedule

Player statistics

Ragular season

Player	POS	GP	GS	MP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Andrew Wiggins	SF	82	82	2,969	374	170	86	50	1,387	36.2	4.6	2.1	1.0	.6	16.9
Zach LaVine	PG	77	40	1,902	214	276	54	10	778	24.7	2.8	3.6	.7	.1	10.1
Gorgui Dieng	C	73	49	2,193	609	146	71	126	710	30.0	8.3	2.0	1.0	1.7	9.7
Chase Budinger	SF	67	4	1,286	198	64	44	10	457	19.2	3.0	1.0	.7	.1	6.8
Anthony Bennett	PF	57	3	894	216	48	27	16	298	15.7	3.8	.8	.5	.3	5.2
Thaddeus Young^†	PF	48	48	1,605	245	135	86	17	685	33.4	5.1	2.8	1.8	.4	14.3
Robbie Hummel	SF	45	4	742	134	27	16	9	198	16.5	3.0	.6	.4	.2	4.4
Mo Williams^†	PG	41	19	1,149	98	261	30	8	499	28.0	2.4	6.4	.7	.2	12.2
Kevin Martin	SG	39	36	1,302	142	89	33	1	779	33.4	3.6	2.3	.8	.0	20.0
Shabazz Muhammad	SG	38	13	866	154	44	18	7	512	22.8	4.1	1.2	.5	.2	13.5
Nikola Peković	C	31	29	815	234	27	19	12	386	26.3	7.5	.9	.6	.4	12.5
Adreian Payne^†	PF	29	22	720	158	30	18	9	208	24.8	5.4	1.0	.6	.3	7.2
Lorenzo Brown	PG	29	7	549	70	90	28	6	122	18.9	2.4	3.1	1.0	.2	4.2
Glenn Robinson III^†	SG	25	0	108	14	3	3	0	29	4.3	.6	.1	.1	.0	1.2
Corey Brewer^†	SF	24	16	680	94	78	54	4	251	28.3	3.9	3.3	2.3	.2	10.5
Ricky Rubio	PG	22	22	692	125	193	38	1	226	31.5	5.7	8.8	1.7	.0	10.3
Troy Daniels^†	SG	19	0	154	19	13	3	0	53	8.1	1.0	.7	.2	.0	2.8
Justin Hamilton^†	C	17	9	423	86	24	19	25	153	24.9	5.1	1.4	1.1	1.5	9.0
Jeff Adrien	PF	17	0	215	77	15	4	9	60	12.6	4.5	.9	.2	.5	3.5
Gary Neal^†	SG	11	1	262	35	20	7	0	130	23.8	3.2	1.8	.6	.0	11.8
Arinze Onuaku	C	6	1	68	21	4	1	3	27	11.3	3.5	.7	.2	.5	4.5
Kevin Garnett^†	PF	5	5	98	26	8	5	4	38	19.6	5.2	1.6	1.0	.8	7.6
Miroslav Raduljica	C	5	0	23	5	0	1	0	8	4.6	1.0	.0	.2	.0	1.6
Sean Kilpatrick	SG	4	0	72	6	4	3	0	22	18.0	1.5	1.0	.8	.0	5.5
Ronny Turiaf	C	2	0	19	1	2	0	0	0	9.5	.5	1.0	.0	.0	.0

^† Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Timberwolves only.

Injuries

Player	Duration		Injury type	Games missed
Player	Start	End	Injury type	Games missed

Roster

2014–15 Minnesota Timberwolves roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From
SG	7	Brown, Lorenzo	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	1990–08–26	NC State
SF	10	Budinger, Chase	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	209 lb (95 kg)	1988–05–22	Arizona
C	5	Dieng, Gorgui	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	1990–01–18	Louisville
PF	21	Garnett, Kevin	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	253 lb (115 kg)	1976–05–19	Farragut Academy (IL)
C	41	Hamilton, Justin	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	1990–04–01	LSU
SF	4	Hummel, Robbie	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	219 lb (99 kg)	1989–03–08	Purdue
SG	23	Martin, Kevin	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	204 lb (93 kg)	1983–02–01	Western Carolina
SF	15	Muhammad, Shabazz	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	227 lb (103 kg)	1992–11–13	UCLA
SG	12	Neal, Gary	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1984–10–03	Towson
PF	50	Onuaku, Arinze	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	275 lb (125 kg)	1987–07–13	Syracuse
PF	3	Payne, Adreian	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	1991–02–19	Michigan State
C	14	Peković, Nikola	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	307 lb (139 kg)	1986–01–03	Montenegro
PG	9	Rubio, Ricky	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	1990–10–21	Spain

Head coach

Flip Saunders

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
(DL) On assignment to D-League affiliate
Injured

Roster
Last transaction: 2015–04–07

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Re-signed

Player	Signed	Contract	Ref.

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team	Ref.

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	Date	New team	Ref.

Awards

Player	Award	Date awarded	Ref.

Andrew Wiggins won the 2015 NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

References

^ "2014 NBA Draft Order". NBA. Retrieved June 8, 2014.

External links

[1] "2014 NBA Draft Order". NBA. Retrieved June 8, 2014.

[1]