It’s now been 11 years since the Minnesota Timberwolves have seen playoff action…Yes, that is the longest drought in the NBA currently. Minnesota fans have had very little to cheer about since the early 2000’s as we’ve seen Kevin Garnett leave for bigger and better things, missed on the Allen Iverson sweepstakes in ’07, and had opportunities to draft Stephen Curry, DeMarcus Cousins, and went with Derrick Williams over Kawhi Leonard, Kemba Walker, and Jimmy Butler. But things are looking up for Minnesota fans, as the Wolves have amassed the last 3 first overall picks and have stashed a ton of young talent — and now have a top-flight coach in Thibodeau leaving a lot of fans thinking playoffs…but it’s going to be a lot harder than people think.
The Timberwolves have arguably the most talented young team in the entire NBA, but one fact hopeful Minnesota fans fail to recognize, which has really been the downfall of any playoff hopes they’ve had is…they just cannot attract big name free agents to Minnesota. The Timberwolves have never been a hotbed destination for big name free agents and they’ve struggled to keep their star players in Minnesota. The T-Wolves have basically had to amass talent through the draft and pick at the free agency scraps left over from the big market teams like the Lakers, Heat, Knicks, and Warriors.
If you look back at the past talent that the Wolves have amassed most of it has come through the draft: KG, Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic, Ricky Rubio, Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns. They’ve had to acquire the free agent scraps left over from the Lakers, Heat, Knicks, and Warriors. The only big name free agent the Wolves have been able to snag over the past decade or so was they were able to ring out the last couple good years of Kevin Martin. The Wolves have always struggled at attracting free agents and convincing their stars to stay in Minnesota.
Another glaring fact that stares the Wolves in the face almost every time they step onto the court: They play in the saturated Western Conference. The top 5 playoff spots are near locks and should be for many years to come with the Thunder, Spurs, Warriors, Clippers, and Rockets(Yea I said it, the Rockets) There are only about 2-3 spots every season for shake-ups in the playoff race within the Western Conference and with the up-and-coming teams such as the Jazz, Suns(top 5 Lottery pick and Knight and Bledsoe back next year) and an off year from the Pelicans, it’s going to be a long shot for the Wolves to compete within the next 2-3 years.
Tom Thibodeau actually started his coaching career as an assistant in Minnesota in the early 90’s, and his biggest accomplishment came in 2011 as he took home NBA Coach of the year honors as the Bulls won the most games in the Eastern Conference (Miami Big 3’s inaugural season made it even more impressive) Thibodeau had excellent success bringing the Bulls to the playoffs. Thibodeau’s calling card is that he is a brilliant defensive minded coach and gets the most out of his players…but maybe a little too much. It’s no secret that Bulls management and Thibodeau butted heads in Chicago, which ultimately led to Thibodeau being fired and from reports, “escorted out of the building by arena security” Thibodeau has been known to run his players into the ground and push them too hard which leads to injuries, player resentment, and careers getting cut short. As a Wolves fan, this terrifies me considering the one thing the T-Wolves actually did well during their 29-53 season was they were able to stay healthy, especially Rubio. The Wolves defense will surely improve under Thibodeau especially with talented defenders such like Dieng, Towns, and Wiggins, but this team has a lot of work to do going forward. Thibodeau is no doubt a step up from Sam Mitchell, but there are definitely going to be growing pains in Minnesota, especially with a team as young as the Wolves. Only time will tell how the organizational changes and acquisitions will develop, but I’ve been let down too many times as a Wolves fan to be optimistic about our situation, even with all the talent, awards, and Slam Dunk championships we’ve accumulated. It is going to be very interesting to see how things play out here in Minnesota.
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