Andrew Thell/Empty The Bench posts a preview of the upcoming Wolves season.
The goal entering this season has to be locking up a low-level playoff spot, no matter how unlikely that may seem right now. If Jefferson continues his All-Star trajectory, Randy Foye finally lives up to the draft-night swap for Brandon Roy, Mike Miller thrives as a primary weapon outside, Corey Brewer emerges as an athletic defender who can run the floor, Kevin Love becomes the inside presence and passer the Wolves offense needs to outscore teams, Sebastian Telfair continues his maturation as a true backup point, Rashad McCants embraces his role of microwave off the bench, Craig Smith keeps cracking skulls in the paint, and Ryan Gomes continues to be professional and efficient beyond his years, well, then they just might have a chance.

Ok, so they don’t have a chance. Still, they need to see all of the aforementioned players do those things…

TrueHoop asks Craig Smith and others in the league for their guesses on the big storylines of the upcoming season.
I think the trade of Artest to Houston was as big as any of last season’s moves, so it’ll be interesting to see if that makes things even more competitive at the top of the West. Maybe this will be the move that finally gets Houston (and T-Mac) past the First Round.
Stan McNeal /SportingNews also previews the season:

How will Al Jefferson and Kevin Love work? On paper, this young frontcourt pairing is promising. Al Jefferson emerged as one of the game’s best low-post scorers last season and was one of only five players (Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer, Yao Ming and Antawn Jamison) to average 20 points and 10 rebounds. Love is considered a great—that’s right, not just good—passer for a big man. He also is a solid outside shooter, so he will be able to bring his defender away from the basket and make double-teaming Jefferson more difficult. Love, however, is considered undersized (he’s listed at 6-10 but measured at 6-7 3/4 without shoes at the predraft combine), and his athleticism has been questioned. Because Jefferson will be playing more center, the key to their success will be how well they hold up going against larger opponents through the course of an 82-game season.