Minnesota Timberwolves
It was the greatest NBA Free Agency Offseason of All-Time and Minnesota landed…. drumroll please!!! …. Jordan Bell and Jake Layman. Noah Vonleh and Shabazz Napier.
We actually like these guys! As role players. Not as your marquee summer splashes. However, there is something to be said for not overpaying average talent during free agency. Sometimes you have to take your wins where you can get them.
The shining star in Minnesota is Karl-Anthony Towns, one of the most versatile big men in the game — on offense. Towns flourishes in the pick-and-roll and has a bevy of moves that he can hit you with both inside and out. He’s seven feet tall and has made 40 percent of his 3s for two straight seasons. KAT’s defense is another story. ESPN’s Zach Lowe recently described Towns as looking “so lead-footed on defense that it’s like he’s stepping in cement.” This was during a Lowe Post podcast with Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders. Zach basically told KAT’s coach that he’s slow as shit.
The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor has stated that Towns “still fades in and out of games, especially on defense, and plays with the type of toughness on the low post you’d expect from a newborn kitten.” KOC wrote that before last season began and KAT finished with the highest Defensive Box Plus/Minus of his career. It’s certainly not everything, and his intensity and quickness are still in question, but any progress is good progress after being called out the way that he has. Somehow still just 23 years old, Towns needs to take another step on D to vault the Wolves into the tier of West playoff contenders. Speaking of needing to take the next step…
This cap sheet still includes Andrew Wiggins $29 million a year max contract that burns a hole into every analytic driven soul. Wiggins is set to be the 25th highest paid player in the NBA this season while his Player Efficiency Rating last year was the 140th best in the league. One hundred and fortieth! FiveThirtyEight’s CARMELO projections suggest that Wiggins is being paid more than double his actual worth on an annual basis. And to be honest, that sounds generous. In case you’re not a Big Numbers Guy, this is not ideal. All that said, Maple Jordan (who was probably doomed as soon as the nickname was bestowed upon him) has had fleeting moments where we can see why he was touted so highly. Minnesota needs consistency from Andrew and much less poor mid-range shooting.
Injecting a quintessential 3-and-D guy into the lineup is always helpful and Robert Covington is expected to return for the beginning of the season after having arthroscopic knee surgery in April. The T-Wolves were an above .500 team with RoCo in the lineup last year, albeit in just 22 games.
Additional 3-and-D bright spots in Minnesota: sophomore Josh Okogie and 6-foot-7 combo-forward rookie Jarret Culver. Okogie flashed the ability to create his own shot last year, something that Culver excelled at in college at Texas Tech. You can never really have too many versatile wings.
League Pass Notes
KAT, Wiggins and even Jordan Bell are each quite capable of power dunks.
Ryan Saunders said in the aforementioned Lowe Post podcast that the Wolves plan to play fast. This is a style of basketball that we like to watch if correctly executed. Saunders will have the luxury of training camp this year whereas last year he had to work on the fly after Glen Taylor finally gave Thib’s the boot in January after a 22-point win over the Lakers.
The Final Questions / The Final Take
Speaking of Thibs, has the dust completely settled in Minnesota from the Failed Tom Thibodeau Timberbull Experiment and the Jimmy Butler Saga? Or do those wounds need more time to heal?
The Wolves used to be one of the most exciting teams in the league, but now when we think of Unicorn Big KAT, we think mostly of a lone wolf howling into the night. Towns could use a running mate and a pack. We suspect these pups aren’t ready just yet. UNDER 35.5 wins.