Post-Mortem: 2021-22 Minnesota Timberwolves

[PizzaSteve]

Beat themselves. Rising team, but ceiling is below championship.

[Tukkerwolf]

Just curious, how many Wolves fans consider Edwards to be "the man" on the team?

Or perhaps this is a Westbrook/Durant situation where Westbrook had the more domineering personality even though it was supposed to be KD's team?

KAT is the reason we were in the post season. As good as Ant had been during the play offs, KAT carried the load during the RS.

The Ant is #1 and KAT is #1 factions may be more equal than I thought.
I thought after this series most all Wolves fans would say this is clearly Ant's team now.
It's only a matter of time. Ant is special and I don't use that term lightly.

Sure, it's a matter of time, but I need more than a handful of games to change the order. KAT was just so much more important during the RS.

[bisme37]

They need some 'sperience. Very good season though and they'll be back stronger. Ant is dope.

[Phish Tank]

The playoffs showed that the Timberwolves could have taken the series against the Grizz. However, some poor decision making in the 2nd half of games turned the Timberwolves into Timberpups. Therefore, I think I'd probably suggest the following:

1) Swing the fences on a big-time star/vet: I think the team needs more vets. Pat Bev was nice, but you really need someone else who can keep Ant & KAT in check. Someone who can remind them not to take bad shots, commit dumb fouls, grab rebounds, etc. etc. etc. Jimmy was supposed to be that guy for KAT, but they didn't mesh. Ant really needs it more than anything at this moment. You want someone who's a legit big man vet (KAT) and a guard (Ant). Since Pat Bev's around one more year, keep him.

2) Break up the KAT/D-Lo duo, probably D-Lo: I don't think you can have D-Lo on the squad anymore. Just too unreliable and is a volume-dependent scorer. There are simply better options out there and D-Lo doesn't provide any off-ball presence on offense.

3) Put a rebounding big next to KAT: KAT averaged the fewest rebounds/game this season. In fact, the Wolves were 25th in DRBs/game. That's not good. Maybe they can find a big who can do the dirty work of grabbing boards.

4) KAT internal improvement: This is key

[Crazy-Canuck]

Go after otto porter in free agency this off season.
He defends, stretches the floor, and rebounds.
He is essentially a stretch 4 now.

Drop dlo for anything.

[Sothron]

As a Wolves fan this was a great season. KAT and Ant are the present and future. If anything I would try to trade Dlo for another PG that is more of a passer and can defend better.

[Invictus88]

This is going to be an unpopular opinion but I was flipping back and forth betwwen watching a Memphis/Minnesota game and one between Miami/Atlanta. All I'll say is that two of the teams were playing competitive playoff basketball and two of the teams were just haphazardly throwing things against the wall to see if it stuck. Neither of the former played in Minnesota in the postseason.

Neither Memphis or Minnesota played much in the way of defense and wins were dictated by the team which made fewer dumb mistakes to give the opponents the game.

I love Anthony Edwards future as a scorer. I even like KAT's offense. But I don't see much in the way progress here in terms of what's needed to do anything but hope you get matched up agains an equally undisciplined team in round 1.

I don't see any way these guys ever get past the 2nd round if they are lucky enough to get there.

I know based on the votes that this is going to be an unpopular opinion. Am I really that far off base though? What am I not seeing?

[AbeVigodaLive]

A few things:

- By almost all prognostications... the Timberwolves were gunning for a spot in the play-in tournament. The O/U for this team was 35.5. They won 46 games.

They easily got to the #7 seed and took the #2 seed to 6 games... while blowing 10+ 4th quarter leads THREE times. I saw a stat that the team only did that 4 times over the 89 game season... AND ALL 4 WERE VS. MEMPHIS!

- What's all this #1 or #2 or #3 option stuff? What does it mean exactly? Anthony Edwards is already taking more FGA than Towns... in fact... he took 30 MORE SHOTS over the 6 games. Are we suggesting that one of the league's most efficient shooters take even fewer shots? Or does #1 mean who gets the shots in the moment? That's also Edwards or even Russell, probably more than Towns. Is it locker room stuff? How do any of us know what's going on there?

It all seems like meaningless message board fodder to me. Nobody is holding Edwards back from anything. He will get ample opportunity to shoot or do whatever he wants on this team. There's been no indication in print or on the air that suggests Towns or the team is holding Edwards back.

- Timberwolves fans saw the rebounding issue very early in the season. But with the team exceeding expectations, the front office (after taking over right before the season after the previous GM was canned for banging a coworker) knew they were playing with found money. So they went with the feel-good status quo. It bit them in the end as the Grizzlies dominated on the boards in the final two games.

The Wolves new defensive scheme was great for Towns who played the best D of his career, but it takes him further from the hoop at times. Vanderbilt is smaller but can board... but he can be played off the court because of his offensive issues. McDaniels is a very exciting athlete and defender, but he's a terrible rebounder.

The Grizzlies came into the series great at rebounding. The Wolves were terrible. The rub was that the Wolves were expected to make up the difference with three pointers. Almost worked out... but didn't.

Ironically, three years ago, the Wolves had a chance to draft (or trade down and draft) Brandon Clarke, who seemed like a great fit. The old GM swung hard and moved up and drafted Jarrett Culver instead. Brandon Clarke was HUGE in swinging this series.

- The Timberwolves $30M point guard was benched in favor of a no-name journeyman PG in the 4th quarter of a close closeout game. Read that again. And yet we'll hear/read more about whether Towns is a #1 or #2 or #8 type of player. A $30M point guard in his prime was benched for a guy basically making league minimum. Yikes.

- The Timberwolves will be active on the trade market once the GM/POBO situation gets settled. I doubt Malik Beasley will be back on this team next season. I hope the Wolves aren't foolish enough to extend Russell. Forget about the "friends" stuff with Towns. The stench of this series is strong. And that friends stuff only goes so far. For example, what does Edwards think of Russell?

- In the moment, the season looks likes a colossal collapse. With time, we'll realize the team overachieved and showed signs of a good, sustainable future. Will they learn from this series? Legit playoff basketball teams with serious players will. We'll find out in a few months if they Timberwolves are that type of team.

[Sephiroth]

D-Lo must go. Rubio’s floor leadership would have been perfect for us this series. Can we try him one more time?

Imagine the quality open looks KAT/ANT would get. One less hero baller would help this team so much.

[Quentin]

DLo. smh.

So frustrating watching him play. There was a loose ball late in the 4th yesterday where 2 grizzlies players were diving on the floor for the ball while DLo was just trying to reach down for it. No hustle or urgency from that guy at all. He thinks he sees passing lanes that just aren't there. If he had shown up at all during this series, the Wolves would have won.

KAT's 30 foot 3 point shot yesterday that was closely guarded is basically what his problem is. Poor decisions, low bbiq. The number of times I've said "what are you doing" to my tv while watching this guy.

They're both so frustrating to watch to me. Not sure if either are interested in changing.

Does anyone think either of them had very much to do with playing winning basketball over this 6 game series?

[HiRez]

The T-Pups spent so much of that series leading games that were there for the taking, yet I never once felt they weren't going to lose. Even if they somehow win that series, do you really think they would beat Golden State? Dallas? Phoenix? Boston? Milwaukee? Miami?

Congrats to them for getting into the playoffs, it's an accomplishment, but it's hard to see where they go from here because they are so far away from being a contender for a chip. They seem to have improved themselves right into being a treadmill team. Are they willing to spend big on free agents? That's probably the only way they can improve.

[Wolfgang630]

I would definitely see what I can get for Dloser

[AbeVigodaLive]

DLo. smh.

So frustrating watching him play. There was a loose ball late in the 4th yesterday where 2 grizzlies players were diving on the floor for the ball while DLo was just trying to reach down for it. No hustle or urgency from that guy at all. He thinks he sees passing lanes that just aren't there. If he had shown up at all during this series, the Wolves would have won.

KAT's 30 foot 3 point shot yesterday that was closely guarded is basically what his problem is. Poor decisions, low bbiq. The number of times I've said "what are you doing" to my tv while watching this guy.

They're both so frustrating to watch to me. Not sure if either are interested in changing.

Does anyone think either of them had very much to do with playing winning basketball over this 6 game series?

Not all flawed players are the same.

People used to group Towns and Wiggins together. And that was a silly take. I'd caution doing the same thing with Towns and Russell.

Russell — 12.0 ppg / 2.5 reb / 6.7 ast / 33.3% fg / 38.8% 3fg / and benched in the biggest game of the year for a journeyman.
vs.
Towns - 21.8 ppg / 10.8 reb / 2.2 ast / 48.8% fg / 45.5% 3fg / 2.0 blk

And you can't even group their defense together. Towns was actually pretty solid defensively, sans the rebounding stuff.




Summary: It's ok to rip Towns. And it's ok to rip Russell. It's not really accurate to group them on the same level of crappiness.

[Quentin]

DLo. smh.

So frustrating watching him play. There was a loose ball late in the 4th yesterday where 2 grizzlies players were diving on the floor for the ball while DLo was just trying to reach down for it. No hustle or urgency from that guy at all. He thinks he sees passing lanes that just aren't there. If he had shown up at all during this series, the Wolves would have won.

KAT's 30 foot 3 point shot yesterday that was closely guarded is basically what his problem is. Poor decisions, low bbiq. The number of times I've said "what are you doing" to my tv while watching this guy.

They're both so frustrating to watch to me. Not sure if either are interested in changing.

Does anyone think either of them had very much to do with playing winning basketball over this 6 game series?

Not all flawed players are the same.

People used to group Towns and Wiggins together. And that was a silly take. I'd caution doing the same thing with Towns and Russell.

Russell — 12.0 ppg / 2.5 reb / 6.7 ast / 33.3% fg / 38.8% 3fg / and benched in the biggest game of the year for a journeyman.
vs.
Towns - 21.8 ppg / 10.8 reb / 2.2 ast / 48.8% fg / 45.5% 3fg / 2.0 blk

And you can't even group their defense together. Towns was actually pretty solid defensively, sans the rebounding stuff.




Summary: It's ok to rip Towns. And it's ok to rip Russell. It's not really accurate to group them on the same level of crappiness.

What? Should I have made 2 separate posts about each? I gave an example of the things they did without the other. They each stink for different reasons.

[AbeVigodaLive]

DLo. smh.

So frustrating watching him play. There was a loose ball late in the 4th yesterday where 2 grizzlies players were diving on the floor for the ball while DLo was just trying to reach down for it. No hustle or urgency from that guy at all. He thinks he sees passing lanes that just aren't there. If he had shown up at all during this series, the Wolves would have won.

KAT's 30 foot 3 point shot yesterday that was closely guarded is basically what his problem is. Poor decisions, low bbiq. The number of times I've said "what are you doing" to my tv while watching this guy.

They're both so frustrating to watch to me. Not sure if either are interested in changing.

Does anyone think either of them had very much to do with playing winning basketball over this 6 game series?

Not all flawed players are the same.

People used to group Towns and Wiggins together. And that was a silly take. I'd caution doing the same thing with Towns and Russell.

Russell — 12.0 ppg / 2.5 reb / 6.7 ast / 33.3% fg / 38.8% 3fg / and benched in the biggest game of the year for a journeyman.
vs.
Towns - 21.8 ppg / 10.8 reb / 2.2 ast / 48.8% fg / 45.5% 3fg / 2.0 blk

And you can't even group their defense together. Towns was actually pretty solid defensively, sans the rebounding stuff.




Summary: It's ok to rip Towns. And it's ok to rip Russell. It's not really accurate to group them on the same level of crappiness.

What? Should I have made 2 separate posts about each? I gave an example of the things they did without the other. They each stink for different reasons.

It's your last sentence that struck me... maybe I missed your intention.

I've just seen takes such as these for several years now from others:

"Wiggins/Russell and Towns suck!"
"They're both losers."
"The Wolves will never win with Towns and Wiggins/Russell."

All those things might be true. But it's missing any context along the lines of "Yes. Towns has some legit issues... but Wiggins/Russell are light years behind even Towns for on-court positive impact and are embarrassingly overwhelmed as the team's 2nd or even 3rd best player."

[Wolves21]

As a Wolves fan this was a very successful season and clearly their best since '03-'04.Most fans and media had us at a low 30 win team and even die hard fans at most thought we would be a low tier playoff team that would get bounced in the 1st round which indeed happened.However big picture we took a big step forward this year doubling our wins and looks like we should be in the playoff mix yearly.

I am clearly not a fan of Towns or D'Lo and wish both would be trade in the offseason,I've been pounding the boards for over a year that I wanted Towns traded to the Pelicans or Celtics for a package of Brown/Williams or Ingram/Valanciunas.But with how well both Brown & Ingram playing that seem like a long shot plus it also seems like the Wolves brass still views Towns as "THE MAN" and will offer him the super max this season.

But I do think after his awful playoff series and a extension due that Russell is extremely likely to be moved and should be.Ideally for a starting caliber PF/C and I think the Wolves would be okay with a rotation of Beverly,McLaughlin and whatever else at PG.

Maybe some possible trades for Russell could be...

Hawks for Collins/Hueter
Knicks for Randle/Toppin
Pelicans for Valanciunas/Graham
Pistons for Grant/Hayes
Rockets for Wood/Gordon

just some ideas.Any of those trades or more would upgrade this team for next year.

[sleepingbunch]

As a Wolves fan this was a very successful season and clearly their best since '03-'04.Most fans and media had us at a low 30 win team and even die hard fans at most thought we would be a low tier playoff team that would get bounced in the 1st round which indeed happened.However big picture we took a big step forward this year doubling our wins and looks like we should be in the playoff mix yearly.

I am clearly not a fan of Towns or D'Lo and wish both would be trade in the offseason,I've been pounding the boards for over a year that I wanted Towns traded to the Pelicans or Celtics for a package of Brown/Williams or Ingram/Valanciunas.But with how well both Brown & Ingram playing that seem like a long shot plus it also seems like the Wolves brass still views Towns as "THE MAN" and will offer him the super max this season.

But I do think after his awful playoff series and a extension due that Russell is extremely likely to be moved and should be.Ideally for a starting caliber PF/C and I think the Wolves would be okay with a rotation of Beverly,McLaughlin and whatever else at PG.

Maybe some possible trades for Russell could be...

Hawks for Collins/Hueter
Knicks for Randle/Toppin
Pelicans for Valanciunas/Graham
Pistons for Grant/Hayes
Rockets for Wood/Gordon

just some ideas.Any of those trades or more would upgrade this team for next year.

As a Pels fan - any pels fan would be thrilled to unload Graham. But Jonas for Russell........hmm, I'm not so sure the Pels would go for that, and it would leave the Pelicans with a gaping hole at center for a talented chucker who doesn't really help the team.

I think making a trade like that with a bottom feeder squad like the Pistons/Rockets would be most likely.

[ATTL]

Edwards looks like a future 2 way star as early as next season. Edwards and KAT are a solid duo and need to just keep adding to their core.

Russell needs to go but I'm not sure who they can get after that showing.

[ElectricMayhem]

So far there are six people here who would fire Chris Finch for the job he did. sigh At least we have a diversity of thought, I guess?

Beverly played a huge role in lighting a fire under this time. KAT is notoriously not a self-starter so he needs someone who brings a certain kind of energy (I.e. not Butler's type of overbearing energy). Beverly is that guy. The hope would be that once KAT has had a taste of success, he doesn't need someone to be his kindling anymore.

Some parts of the T'Wolves seem maxed out, but they should see significant growth from Edwards. Assuming he continues his developmental curve, that will lead to a big improvement. Congrats to Minnesota on making the playoffs and on constructing a team that should be back there for the years to come.

[Rubio9Guy]

The T-Pups spent so much of that series leading games that were there for the taking, yet I never once felt they weren't going to lose. Even if they somehow win that series, do you really think they would beat Golden State? Dallas? Phoenix? Boston? Milwaukee? Miami?

Congrats to them for getting into the playoffs, it's an accomplishment, but it's hard to see where they go from here because they are so far away from being a contender for a chip. They seem to have improved themselves right into being a treadmill team. Are they willing to spend big on free agents? That's probably the only way they can improve.

I have much more faith in the Wolves ever becoming a contender vs the Grizzlies. And the reason is simply because I would much rather have Ant long term over Ja

Sent from my SM-S901U using RealGM mobile app