Forbes: T-Wolves worst NBA team for the money

Forbes quantified the pain Wolves fans have felt since KG was traded.

​These days, things are finally looking up for the Timberwolves.

The team just signed all-star forward Kevin Love to a 4-year extension, Ricky Rubio has been as good as anyone could've hoped, and after a road win last night against the defending champion Dallas Mavericks, the T-Wolves are now 8-10 -- the latest in a season they've been within two games of .500 since Kevin Garnett was playing alongside Ricky Davis.

These glimmers of positivity are magnified by the fact that the last seven years have been almost entirely miserable for T-Wolves fans, a reality confirmed by Forbes' ranking of the "worst NBA teams for the money" during the last half decade.

Despite not spending very much money relative to the rest of the league, the Wolves still topped the list as getting the least bang for the bucks.

Since the 2006-07, the Wolves have averaged a paltry 22 wins per-season. They haven't reached 30 wins since trading away Kevin Garnett in the summer of '07, and haven't made the playoffs since 2004. Since 2006, the Wolves' average payroll cost has been $68 million per-season.

For comparison, the second-least bang for the buck was achieved by New York. The free-spending Knicks had an average payroll of $96 million during the past five years, but only averaged 32 wins per-season.

Is $140 million in added player costs worth it for 50 more wins over a five-year stretch? Apparently, for Forbes, it is.

Anyway, with a talented young core and nary a Troy Hudson-esque bad contract to be seen on the payroll, chances are the Wolves won't be on this list again if Forbes revisits the topic in 2017.