Minnesota Timberwolves: Fan perspective on the big talking points
As part of a new series of articles produced exclusively for Sky Sports by NBA superfans from across the UK and Ireland, we look at the state of play for every franchise with preseason now under way ahead of the new campaign
Tuesday 18 October 2022 08:14, UK
Timberwolves superfan Joe Grundy assesses the 2021-22 season for his team, and then casts an eye ahead to the 2022-23 campaign for Minnesota.
Where my love for the NBA and the Timberwolves came from...
Hi everyone, I'm Joe, the guy behind the TimberwolvesUK account on Twitter!
Much like most Brits choosing a team to follow in my early teens, I scanned the logos and found what I thought was the coolest. I often found myself over the next two decades wondering, why didn't I just pick that funky leprechaun, smoking a pipe with a wobbly walking stick? Don't judge, only three seasons ago I was watching a starting five of Jarrett Culver, Gorgui Dieng, Kelan Martin, Shabazz Napier and a half-injured Robert Covington, in December!
- Sky Sports to remain the home of the NBA in UK and Ireland for 2022-2023 season
- NBA announces 2022-23 regular season schedule
It's been tough, like one playoff appearance in 17 years tough. Like having the worst winning percentage in all US major sports history, tough. But, I wouldn't have it any other way! And now, I wear those 16-win seasons like a badge of honour whilst we're scaling the lofty heights of first round playoff exits! That's right, this perennial tank is changing course and us Timberwolves fans couldn't be more excited!
My favourite player
The undisputed winner of this question, is everyone's favourite 21-year-old superstar in the making: Anthony DeVante Edwards. Arguably the most explosive, athletic, exciting young talent in our game. He has potential to become a repeat season points leader in the years to come, showing flashes of incredible range from deep, touch finishing amongst 7-footer traffic at the rim and those thunderous dunks when he even glimpses a lane. The raw ingredients of a great are there. Can you tell I rate him?
Grade for last season: A-
Last season was fun! Now, I would excuse fans of other teams if they can't recall the exchange of Patrick Beverley for Jarrett Culver and Juancho Hernangomez but for us Wolves followers, what a trade this turned out to be! Pat Bev was truly our cultural game changer and without him, I know we wouldn't have been the team we were last season. In five to 10 years, someone asks me what I remember from the 2021-2022 season, my mind won't go to Karl-Anthony Towns' marked improvement on defense or Anthony Edwards' second season, it will go to Pat Bev. He was my star of the group. Now that he has been traded as part of the Rudy Gobert move, it will undoubtedly leave a hole. He has however, imprinted this incredible mentality on a young, hungry roster and served his purpose perfectly in the Twin Cities.
As far as organisation highlights, the development of making it through to the playoffs (via the Play-In Tournament) was a big lunge in the right direction. With the offseason developments, the minimum bar of expectation is significantly higher and that 'fun' status I labelled last season, will only last if we meet these.
Assessing the offseason for the Wolves
After sitting the last five minutes of Game 6 against the Grizzles, Mr 'Ice in his veins', clutch shooter, D'Angelo Russell was the hottest early offseason topic.
DLo played fairly consistently throughout the regular season and had a cracker in the play-in game to help his team advance. Instead of his form plateauing into the playoff series, it sharply dipped and barring the occasional zipped assist or deep three, it was the backup point guard, Jordan McLaughlin, that began injecting much needed pace and ball movement back into our offensive flow.
DLo's contract is set to expire at the end of next season, with an early extension option available for the team to activate now. His disappointing conclusion to the year left Timberwolves fans wondering whether the front office would either: 1) try to offer a discounted package to retain him at a more palatable salary vs his current max deal; 2) use him as an expiring trade chip, perhaps to bolster the power forward position next to KAT; or 3) run down the clock and reassess in 12 months.
The acquisition of Rudy has made the latter option significantly more attractive for the player and the front office. DLo will now have a full swing at rediscovering that Brooklyn Nets form of partnering an elite roller in Gobert, as he did so successfully with Jarrett Allen.
As for free agency, it has never been a key window for the Timberwolves. There's always been a sense of realism around our chances of attracting the best talent as opposed to the big market teams. Nevertheless, there have been some shrewd moves, especially capturing Kyle Anderson who adds excellent versatility and will likely be our go-to man off the bench. Noteworthy additions also include vets in Austin Rivers and Bryn Forbes.
Points of note from the 2022 NBA Draft
Originally the Wolves drafted the big man, Walker Kessler, but he was soon shipped out in the bounty that landed Gobert.
The two that stayed are Wendell Moore Jr. (pick 26) and Josh Minott (pick 45). Moore Jr. is your Swiss Army Knife big utility wing. He can handle the ball, can guard one through four, seems to understand team defensive concepts well. The hope is that he develops into a solid 3-and-D role player that will complement the more ball dominant stars across the roster. Josh Minott is raw, super athletic and awesome to watch! He'll need more time for sure but after seeing him in Summer League, I can't wait for those snippets in garbage time.
The big talking point: Gobert acquisition
The Timberwolves gave up a tremendous amount of draft and player capital to get this done but it was worth every penny!
Minnesota's Achilles' heel last year - and, in fact, you could retrace this all the way back when Taj Gibson was moved on - has been a real physical presence next to KAT. The Grizzlies, through Brandon Clarke bullied their way to rebound after rebound in the playoffs, it was always something the front office needed to address in order to make the next step and boy… did they!
Pairing arguably the best offensive and the best defensive centers in the league makes for a lethal combination of unguardable, impenetrable frontcourt force. It's a brave zig, whilst everyone in the league is zagging to small ball, only time will tell whether the Wolves are the new trend setters.
You could view the compensation exchanged for Gobert as being too much. And perhaps a first round pick too keen, but to acquire a player of his calibre and not give up our rising star, Jaden McDaniels, is seriously impressive.
The Wolves' aims for next season
I think hosting a playoff series and advancing to the second round will be viewed as a success. This is a 50-win team at the very least who should be perceived as a real danger to any opponent due to the unique set-up of two elite bigs and a budding superstar guard.
Three predictions for the season ahead...
- The national media pundits making claims that the trade for Gobert is a disaster waiting to happen will be made to look very silly!
- Anthony Edwards makes an All-NBA team
- Time for a wacky one… Jaylen Nowell gets five or more votes for Sixth Man of the Year
Why should people watch the Timberwolves?
Anthony. Edwards.
Outside of that, because we're going against the grain vs the rest of the NBA. Playing with two traditional bigs would be foolish in today's game however we have the ability to stand toe-to-toe with the very best 3-point shooting teams in the league due to the unique set of skills Karl-Anthony Towns possesses. With even the likes of Jonas Valančiūnas now trying to rain down threes, maybe it's the key that unlocks the door to the next level for modern NBA teams.
And should you start watching the Wolves, make sure to give me a nudge on Twitter and we'll gladly welcome you into the UK Timberwolves family!
