Why can't the Timberwolves put something good together?

[Sixerscan]

yea i really hated that trade. Rubio didn't help much last year but they whole season was a mess, i don't think you can learn anything from that. They should have given Rubio one more year.

Towns and Russell are old enough where they shouldn't need anyone to hold their hand to not be terrible. Paul helped the Suns get to the Finals but they were at least a mediocre team before he showed up.

you could argue Demar is doing the same for the Bulls. Teams should have some veterans if they want to win.

They added basically an entire new team around Lavine since last year's trade deadline. Garrett Temple and Thad Young are the definition of "veteran presences" and they didn't stop the Bulls from stinking for most of last year.

I'm not saying vets aren't important, you definitely need a good spread of veteran players to win in this league, but you shouldn't need a whole roster full of vets to not be terrible. My point is the Wolves have multiple guys in their mid 20s, on max contracts, that have made all star teams and probably consider themselves really good players, and I just don't think the vet leadership difference between Ricky Rubio and Patrick Beverly is why they're on pace to have a terrible record again.

I think the vet thing makes more sense for a team like the Cavs that are built around super young guys like Garland and Mobley. I thought guys like Redick, Belinelli and Ilyasova were important for Embiid and Simmons when they first started. But like, at this point I would just expect those guys (well, right now Embiid anyway, Simmons acting the way he has this year is also disappointing) to actually be a veteran that provides leadership for the younger players.

[Lalouie]

Year after year, they are terrible. Not only is their roster continually a trainwreck of fit, they never get love from the refs. It's always an uphill battle with this team.

My latest is how we drafted Jarrett Culver #6 after trading up from #11. I wanted to stay put and draft Brandon Clarke. Well, Clarke killed us last night while Culver watched FROM THEIR BENCH! Adding into that, we gave Wiggins for DLo and our pick...conveyed last summer. Players are a wash imo, but hey we don't need that pick!

Why should I root for them anymore?

quad erat demonstrandum

[a8bil]

Min needs not to hit the panic button. Yeah, they've lost a lot of games, but they have been very competitive in some of them. A young core like this, who is still missing pieces, needs time to gel, and for players to start finding their role. GSW wasn't a championship contender overnight. Nor were the suns. they toiled for a few years where they added some good players through the draft, and dropped negative ones (Oubre). When they finally added Paul, it clicked, but that was because the other guys got some run to them. Min needs to stop constantly going into the rebuild mode...

[jokeboy86]

Smh. As the artist once said must be “Something In The Water”

[DroseReturnChi]

so many flaws cant even list them all but only their fans seems content which is a bigger issue than 10 win team sucking.
their temp franchise star is a goat offensive talent but is taking less shots every yr and edwards somehow overtook him as number 1 option. this is just insanity literally promoting losing. at this point, russell and towns are so used to losing you need to get rid of them before rookies become the same. this is why a team like cavs will always do better bc they refuse to intentionally lose and create a toxic culture.

[blueNorange]

i'm not kidding when i say this, minnesota isn't really the greatest destination to live -- it's a flyover state.

where you play sometimes drives you, it shouldn't but it does.

[BlazersBroncos]

i'm not kidding when i say this, minnesota isn't really the greatest destination to live -- it's a flyover state.

where you play sometimes drives you, it shouldn't but it does.

The four good-weather months in Minnesota are amazing, its the other eight that truly stink. And NBA players have to be in the state for the crap months, so I get that they wouldnt love it.

But Minnesota isnt a flyover state. It has things to offer that the true flyovers (Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, etc) simply dont. Its just not a great state to be very wealthy and stuck in during the worst months.

Sticking around during the good months and snowbirding to So Cal during the crap months is how you do Minnesota right.

[Dez]

so many flaws cant even list them all but only their fans seems content which is a bigger issue than 10 win team sucking.
their temp franchise star is a goat offensive talent but is taking less shots every yr and edwards somehow overtook him as number 1 option. this is just insanity literally promoting losing. at this point, russell and towns are so used to losing you need to get rid of them before rookies become the same. this is why a team like cavs will always do better bc they refuse to intentionally lose and create a toxic culture.

This is hilarious, the Cavs won't tank and create a toxic culture? They've literally been horrible until the got Mobley and Rubio has been good for them.

And no it's because of Lauri which I'm sure you'll try to attribute to.

[Quentin]

DLo was 1-4 in the last 41 seconds of that tight game with the Suns. Missed all 3 pointers made an assisted 2. The rest of the team was 1-1, and it wasn't Karl or Ant that took that shot. DLo is the definition of hero ball. He's a loser.

[Foye]

DLo was 1-4 in the last 41 seconds of that tight game with the Suns. Missed all 3 pointers made an assisted 2. The rest of the team was 1-1, and it wasn't Karl or Ant that took that shot. DLo is the definition of hero ball. He's a loser.

I agree that Russell is the biggest issue at this point.
He doesn't contribute to winning basketball like at all and he flat out doesn't seem to care about it either as long as he is still getting his big paycheck.

The team still has so many different other issues, though, that it's best to just blow the entire thing up and start new around:
1) Ant
2) Assets from Towns trade
3) 2022 1st
4) McDaniels
5) Keep D'Lo's around until next years trade deadline (2023) when he is a huge expiring and add further assets by taking on mid-term (max. 2 additional years) bad contracts (Minnesota isn't a free agent destination anyway).

[God Squad]

DLo was 1-4 in the last 41 seconds of that tight game with the Suns. Missed all 3 pointers made an assisted 2. The rest of the team was 1-1, and it wasn't Karl or Ant that took that shot. DLo is the definition of hero ball. He's a loser.

Always been a loser. But GSW tricked them into thinking he was better than Wiggins and they got a pick on top of it. They knew the Wolves were desperate to pair DLO with his buddy Towns and got fleeced.

Now Wiggins isn't some super upgrade lets be real (contract), but I'm taking Wiggins (GSW edition) over DLO all day long.

[Foye]

DLo was 1-4 in the last 41 seconds of that tight game with the Suns. Missed all 3 pointers made an assisted 2. The rest of the team was 1-1, and it wasn't Karl or Ant that took that shot. DLo is the definition of hero ball. He's a loser.

Always been a loser. But GSW tricked them into thinking he was better than Wiggins and they got a pick on top of it. They knew the Wolves were desperate to pair DLO with his buddy Towns and got fleeced.

Now Wiggins isn't some super upgrade lets be real (contract), but I'm taking Wiggins (GSW edition) over DLO all day long.

This has been an ongoing issue with the Timberwolves organization for years now.
They always think their players are worse than they actually are because they have have failed to build any team chemistry, leadership, identity and accountability whatsoever. Then they end up dealing their better players away because they couldn't find success with them. However, the original issue that there is no team chemistry, leadership, identity and accountability is never addressed, though.

Same issue with Rubio for Prince deal. They brought in Prince thinking he would help as 3+D player completely ignoring the fact that Rubio is a vastly superior player.
Turns out Prince is just some scrub that will thrive under the right system if given a clear role. Can't even get off the end of the bench because there is nobody giving him a clear role and nobody generating some offense for him.

I firmly believe they would've done much better in recent years had they kept Rubio and gotten Capela out of the Covington deal (instead of Turner's expiring). That is under the assumption that they would actually have installed a coach that has the guts to tell Towns to play PF.

At this point. The ship has sailed. They are a garbage team without any assets to significantly improve upon it unless Edwards develops into a top 5 player in the near future (highly unlikely).

Only thing they can do is blow things up. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when.

[a8bil]

DLo was 1-4 in the last 41 seconds of that tight game with the Suns. Missed all 3 pointers made an assisted 2. The rest of the team was 1-1, and it wasn't Karl or Ant that took that shot. DLo is the definition of hero ball. He's a loser.

I endorse this post.

[a8bil]

DLo was 1-4 in the last 41 seconds of that tight game with the Suns. Missed all 3 pointers made an assisted 2. The rest of the team was 1-1, and it wasn't Karl or Ant that took that shot. DLo is the definition of hero ball. He's a loser.

Always been a loser. But GSW tricked them into thinking he was better than Wiggins and they got a pick on top of it. They knew the Wolves were desperate to pair DLO with his buddy Towns and got fleeced.

Now Wiggins isn't some super upgrade lets be real (contract), but I'm taking Wiggins (GSW edition) over DLO all day long.

This has been an ongoing issue with the Timberwolves organization for years now.
They always think their players are worse than they actually are because they have have failed to build any team chemistry, leadership, identity and accountability whatsoever. Then they end up dealing their better players away because they couldn't find success with them. However, the original issue that there is no team chemistry, leadership, identity and accountability is never addressed, though.

Same issue with Rubio for Prince deal. They brought in Prince thinking he would help as 3+D player completely ignoring the fact that Rubio is a vastly superior player.
Turns out Prince is just some scrub that will thrive under the right system if given a clear role. Can't even get off the end of the bench because there is nobody giving him a clear role and nobody generating some offense for him.

I firmly believe they would've done much better in recent years had they kept Rubio and gotten Capela out of the Covington deal (instead of Turner's expiring). That is under the assumption that they would actually have installed a coach that has the guts to tell Towns to play PF.

At this point. The ship has sailed. They are a garbage team without any assets to significantly improve upon it unless Edwards develops into a top 5 player in the near future (highly unlikely).

Only thing they can do is blow things up. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when.

Agree with a lot of this post, but disagree that Ant cannot become the alpha. He's got all the tools. Just needs to avoid slipping into the cultural abyss. Trade KAT is step one. He is nothing more than an efficient outside shooter. He should be paid and played that way, but no one is willing to see KAT for what he is.

[Foye]

Always been a loser. But GSW tricked them into thinking he was better than Wiggins and they got a pick on top of it. They knew the Wolves were desperate to pair DLO with his buddy Towns and got fleeced.

Now Wiggins isn't some super upgrade lets be real (contract), but I'm taking Wiggins (GSW edition) over DLO all day long.

This has been an ongoing issue with the Timberwolves organization for years now.
They always think their players are worse than they actually are because they have have failed to build any team chemistry, leadership, identity and accountability whatsoever. Then they end up dealing their better players away because they couldn't find success with them. However, the original issue that there is no team chemistry, leadership, identity and accountability is never addressed, though.

Same issue with Rubio for Prince deal. They brought in Prince thinking he would help as 3+D player completely ignoring the fact that Rubio is a vastly superior player.
Turns out Prince is just some scrub that will thrive under the right system if given a clear role. Can't even get off the end of the bench because there is nobody giving him a clear role and nobody generating some offense for him.

I firmly believe they would've done much better in recent years had they kept Rubio and gotten Capela out of the Covington deal (instead of Turner's expiring). That is under the assumption that they would actually have installed a coach that has the guts to tell Towns to play PF.

At this point. The ship has sailed. They are a garbage team without any assets to significantly improve upon it unless Edwards develops into a top 5 player in the near future (highly unlikely).

Only thing they can do is blow things up. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when.

Agree with a lot of this post, but disagree that Ant cannot become the alpha. He's got all the tools. Just needs to avoid slipping into the cultural abyss. Trade KAT is step one. He is nothing more than an efficient outside shooter. He should be paid and played that way, but no one is willing to see KAT for what he is.

What I was trying to refer to is that he would have to be a top 5 player in the entire league to put this team back on the map with the current roster.
He has the potential but - for now - it is still highly unlikely that he will ever get to that level.

[Richard4444]

I don't think Wolves are so bad this year. There were 9 defeats so far.
- They lost for the Memphis in Overtime. Closed game
- They were defeated by the Suns for 3point deference. Closed game
- They got an L for the Denver by a 2pt deficit. Closed game
- They were beaten by GSW (best record in the league). Normal
- They lose for the Clippers (3 times). The clippers have a good team and might be a tough match especially when they play small ball against the Wolves.
- They were surpassed by the Magic in a 2 games sequence. That's not unusual being a split when 2 teams play each other in sequence.
We can find a reasonable explication for the defeat in 8 of these 9 games. It's very soon to discard this team yet.

[thinktank]

DLo was 1-4 in the last 41 seconds of that tight game with the Suns. Missed all 3 pointers made an assisted 2. The rest of the team was 1-1, and it wasn't Karl or Ant that took that shot. DLo is the definition of hero ball. He's a loser.

Always been a loser. But GSW tricked them into thinking he was better than Wiggins and they got a pick on top of it. They knew the Wolves were desperate to pair DLO with his buddy Towns and got fleeced.

Now Wiggins isn't some super upgrade lets be real (contract), but I'm taking Wiggins (GSW edition) over DLO all day long.

This has been an ongoing issue with the Timberwolves organization for years now.
They always think their players are worse than they actually are because they have have failed to build any team chemistry, leadership, identity and accountability whatsoever. Then they end up dealing their better players away because they couldn't find success with them. However, the original issue that there is no team chemistry, leadership, identity and accountability is never addressed, though.

Same issue with Rubio for Prince deal. They brought in Prince thinking he would help as 3+D player completely ignoring the fact that Rubio is a vastly superior player.
Turns out Prince is just some scrub that will thrive under the right system if given a clear role. Can't even get off the end of the bench because there is nobody giving him a clear role and nobody generating some offense for him.

I firmly believe they would've done much better in recent years had they kept Rubio and gotten Capela out of the Covington deal (instead of Turner's expiring). That is under the assumption that they would actually have installed a coach that has the guts to tell Towns to play PF.

At this point. The ship has sailed. They are a garbage team without any assets to significantly improve upon it unless Edwards develops into a top 5 player in the near future (highly unlikely).

Only thing they can do is blow things up. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when.

What's all this "they" talk?

You're the biggest Timberwolves fan on the board!

[Foye]

Always been a loser. But GSW tricked them into thinking he was better than Wiggins and they got a pick on top of it. They knew the Wolves were desperate to pair DLO with his buddy Towns and got fleeced.

Now Wiggins isn't some super upgrade lets be real (contract), but I'm taking Wiggins (GSW edition) over DLO all day long.

This has been an ongoing issue with the Timberwolves organization for years now.
They always think their players are worse than they actually are because they have have failed to build any team chemistry, leadership, identity and accountability whatsoever. Then they end up dealing their better players away because they couldn't find success with them. However, the original issue that there is no team chemistry, leadership, identity and accountability is never addressed, though.

Same issue with Rubio for Prince deal. They brought in Prince thinking he would help as 3+D player completely ignoring the fact that Rubio is a vastly superior player.
Turns out Prince is just some scrub that will thrive under the right system if given a clear role. Can't even get off the end of the bench because there is nobody giving him a clear role and nobody generating some offense for him.

I firmly believe they would've done much better in recent years had they kept Rubio and gotten Capela out of the Covington deal (instead of Turner's expiring). That is under the assumption that they would actually have installed a coach that has the guts to tell Towns to play PF.

At this point. The ship has sailed. They are a garbage team without any assets to significantly improve upon it unless Edwards develops into a top 5 player in the near future (highly unlikely).

Only thing they can do is blow things up. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when.

What's all this "they" talk?

You're the biggest Timberwolves fan on the board!

Nah.
I am done since they traded for Russell.
I watch some highlights here and there and thats all you need to determine the failures within the organization.

[thinktank]

This has been an ongoing issue with the Timberwolves organization for years now.
They always think their players are worse than they actually are because they have have failed to build any team chemistry, leadership, identity and accountability whatsoever. Then they end up dealing their better players away because they couldn't find success with them. However, the original issue that there is no team chemistry, leadership, identity and accountability is never addressed, though.

Same issue with Rubio for Prince deal. They brought in Prince thinking he would help as 3+D player completely ignoring the fact that Rubio is a vastly superior player.
Turns out Prince is just some scrub that will thrive under the right system if given a clear role. Can't even get off the end of the bench because there is nobody giving him a clear role and nobody generating some offense for him.

I firmly believe they would've done much better in recent years had they kept Rubio and gotten Capela out of the Covington deal (instead of Turner's expiring). That is under the assumption that they would actually have installed a coach that has the guts to tell Towns to play PF.

At this point. The ship has sailed. They are a garbage team without any assets to significantly improve upon it unless Edwards develops into a top 5 player in the near future (highly unlikely).

Only thing they can do is blow things up. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when.

What's all this "they" talk?

You're the biggest Timberwolves fan on the board!

Nah.
I am done since they traded for Russell.
I watch some highlights here and there and thats all you need to determine the failures within the organization.

This is a clear cut example of a person bargaining with their own self.

[Wolveswin]

DLo was 1-4 in the last 41 seconds of that tight game with the Suns. Missed all 3 pointers made an assisted 2. The rest of the team was 1-1, and it wasn't Karl or Ant that took that shot. DLo is the definition of hero ball. He's a loser.

I agree that Russell is the biggest issue at this point.
He doesn't contribute to winning basketball like at all and he flat out doesn't seem to care about it either as long as he is still getting his big paycheck.

The team still has so many different other issues, though, that it's best to just blow the entire thing up and start new around:
1) Ant
2) Assets from Towns trade
3) 2022 1st
4) McDaniels
5) Keep D'Lo's around until next years trade deadline (2023) when he is a huge expiring and add further assets by taking on mid-term (max. 2 additional years) bad contracts (Minnesota isn't a free agent destination anyway).

This is what they should do. But will they? With new ownership who knows what their motivations are.

With that said, the when is the big question. Still too early to go that route. If after Christmas, Wolves are still this bad, trade Towns for best rebuild package they can get.