The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming off of a 2018-19 NBA campaign in which they won just 36 games and missed the playoffs, one year after making the postseason for the first time since 2004.

Of course, the Timberwolves' season got off to a tumultuous start, as a practice tantrum from Jimmy Butler led to Minnesota trading him to the Philadelphia 76ers early in the year.

That messed up the Timberwolves for the rest of the way, and they were simply not able to keep pace in the competitive Western Conference.

Now, heading into 2019-20, Minnesota doesn't look a whole lot different than it did this past season.

Karl-Anthony Towns is still the centerpice, and Andrew Wiggins is still lurking behind him. The Wolves added Jarrett Culver in the draft and picked up bigs such as Jordan Bell and Noah Vonleh over the summer, but otherwise, the rest of the roster is relatively uninteresting.

There was actually some chatter that the Timberwolves were trying to trade Wiggins earlier in the offseason, but nothing came of it, likely due to his fat contract that he has not lived up to thus far.

Basically, Minnesota is in a similar position to this past year, but at least this time, it has another nice young piece in Culver to put alongside of Towns. And Wiggins, I guess.

In a Western Conference that has gotten even better and deeper, it's hard to imagine the Timberwolves making the playoffs this coming season. The Clippers, Lakers, Jazz, Nuggets, Rockets, Blazers and Warriors are all clearly better, meaning Minnesota will probably have to fight for the eighth seed with clubs like the Kings, Spurs and Mavericks, all of whom may very well end up being better than the Wolves.

Really, this season is just about growth for the Timberwolves. Ryan Saunders is entering his first full season as head coach, and youngsters such as Josh Okogie and Keita Bates-Diop are trying to improve to become consistently reliable rotation players.

Okogie in particular is intriguing, because he seems to have the potential to be a legitimate three-and-D guy, so he is someone we should all be monitoring throughout the year.

Obviously, most of the attention will be on Towns and Wiggins, as Towns is one of the best players we have in this league and Wiggins needs to show some signs of life before it comes to a point where Minnesota has to attach a draft pick to him just to dump him and his salary.

This team just isn't very good, and while it may be on the fringes of playoff contention throughout the year, it probably won't win anymore than 40-42 games, and that is likely on the high end.

It doesn't help that the Wolves are saddled with numerous bad contracts that will prevent them from doing a whole lot to get better between now and the trade deadline.

The Timberwolves could move veteran point guard Jeff Teague, who is in the final year of his deal, but given that he is making $19 million, it is going to be tough to match salaries for him in a potential trade.

We already know about Wiggins' massive contract that runs through 2023, and even Gorgui Dieng is making $16.2 million this season and $17.3 million in 2020-21, essentially rendering him immovable.

Robert Covington isn't making a ton of money and is good enough where other teams might express interest, but he is under contract through 2022. As solid as he is as a three-and-D guy, I'm not sure anyone would want to commit to him for three years. Not in a day and age where star players move at the drop of a hat. Teams want to maintain flexibility.

So, yeah. The Timberwolves aren't exactly in the best shape at the moment, neither in terms of talent nor their financial situation. Sure, it's great to have a franchise player like Towns, but you need to put pieces around him to actually make the most of it.

When have we seen this before with Minnesota? Hmm…

There is a sliver of a chance that the Wolves end up sneaking into the playoffs, where they will likely get swept in the first round, but that's about it. This squad just does not have a very high ceiling, and its floor also isn't low enough where it will be able to compete for a top draft pick.

The Timberwolves have quietly become a treadmill team, which is NBA purgatory.

I will be interested in watching Towns and seeing how good of a rookie year Culver has. But otherwise? There really isn't much to be all that excited about when it comes to Minnesota.