:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56431477/usa_today_10009212.0.jpg)
The Over-Unders for the upcoming season have been released. These numbers are put out by Vegas every year and are a simple betting game. If you think a team will win more than the “line” you would bet the over, if you think they will win less, you would bet the under. Of course, Vegas is quite good at putting the line in the sweet spot where fans are not quite sure if they should go over or under.
Without further ado, the Wolves’ number is 48.5.
That seems high. The other thing that Vegas is good at is putting out too high of numbers for teams that everyone is likely to be optimistic about. This happened last year with the Wolves as well, as their over/under line was 41.5. Last year’s team drastically under performed against that number.
For the Wolves to hit the over, they would need to win 18 more games than last year and finish at least 49-33. That seems like a tall task for this team, particularly if they are hit by any sort of injury.
That 48.5 line has the Wolves finishing fifth in the Western Conference. The top ten teams are as follows for the conference:
- Warriors - 67.5
- Rockets - 55.5
- Spurs - 54.5
- Thunder - 51.5
- Wolves - 48.5
- Nuggets - 45.5
- Clippers - 43.5
- Blazers - 42.5
- Jazz - 40.5
- Pelicans - 39.5
That seems about right for what could end up happening, but it does feel like those slots from 5-10 could move in any direction.
The other Wolves related news is with a familiar face.
New Orleans is trying to re-sign F Dante Cunningham, but Minnesota is proving to be one suitor tough to beat on him, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 29, 2017
Dante Cunningham is a name that has not come up thus far during the offseason, but he would be a great get for a team that sorely needs players who can play on the wing.
Cunningham has traditionally played more power forward in his career, which is certainly not a position of need on the Wolves, but he has spent a good amount of time playing small forward more recently. He actually shot really well from beyond the arc last year, hitting 39 percent of his threes on 5.4 attempts per game. I was always surprised his name did not get bandied about more this offseason, as he seems like a reasonable stretch-forward who is an ok defender.
He would certainly be a great player for the Wolves to get to come off the bench.