Be patient, Wolves fans, while the losses pile up

Two or three years from now, if the Timberwolves make reasonably intelligent decisions and are blessed with good health, they should become an excellent basketball team.

Between now and their eventual, expected arrival as a contender, the Wolves will be selling hope and entertainment.

The former is what every losing teams sells, even when the best it can offer is J.R. Rider or Christian Ponder.

The latter is the hardest sell in sports, even if can be sold with honesty and good intentions.

The 1993 and 1994 Twins were two years removed from a World Series title and featured Kirby Puckett, perhaps the most popular Twin Cities athlete ever, and Dave Winfield, a kid who grew up in St. Paul, starred for the Gophers, was coming off a championship in Toronto and was nearing 3,000 hits.

Once fans realized that Twins team wasn't going to win, they were happy to stay away.

The 1996 Twins featured the return of St. Paul native and former Gopher Paul Molitor, who would get his 3,000th hit on Sept. 16 of that season and play for two more years. Those teams turned the Metrodome into an echo chamber.

The 2001 Vikings featured Cris Carter and Randy Moss. When they lost, fans turned either apathetic or angry. The 2010 Vikings featured Adrian Peterson in his prime. The 2006-07 Timberwolves featured Kevin Garnett still performing like one of the greatest players in NBA history. The 2008-2009 Wild featured the greatest goal scorer in franchise history in Marian Gaborik and a Hall of Fame coach in Jacques Lemaire. In 2000, the Twins featured all of the same players who would become folk heroes in 2001 and 2002.

In none of those cases did big names or the supposed entertainment value of the performers matter to the mass of fans.

To purchase a ticket and block off time to attend a sporting event, most fans have to be emotionally invested in the home team. To be emotionally invested is to be bothered by losses. That's why the "We may lose but we'll be fun to watch" pitch sounds good only in the offseason. During seasons, winning is the only marketing strategy that works.

Several betting organizations in Las Vegas are setting the Timberwolves' over-under for victories this season at 25.5. That seems low to me, but the Vegas sharps are invested in looking at teams objectively. All they care about is maximizing money. They don't care about promise or reputations or entertainment value.

I think the Wolves should win 30 or more games, but that might be hope talking. I see Andrew Wiggins becoming a star, and Karl-Anthony Towns perhaps becoming an even bigger star.

I see talent and depth and promise. I don't see a team that is ready to contend in the brutally deep Western Conference.

The Warriors, Spurs, Clippers and Thunder are all good enough to win an NBA title. The Grizzlies, Rockets and Pelicans all might be one move or lucky break away from having a chance.

In theory this could be an entertaining season for the Timberwolves. They'll put their wonderfully talented youngsters up against great players and teams every week.

In reality, these Wolves probably aren't ready to win yet. That likely will mean another season of frustration and required patience for Minnesota's underrated, beaten-down bastion of die-hard hoops fans.