Which Wolves are the real Wolves?
The Timberwolves were mediocre for 2.5 months, good for a month and have now been mediocre again for much of February. Now would be a good time for them to start winning again.
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“Get the big fella back, hopefully soon,” said Anthony Edwards about Karl-Anthony Towns after Friday’s eight-point home loss to Charlotte. “That’s the main thing.”
That quote could have come from Friday night or Sunday night and would not have been any less appropriate. To begin their post-All-Star break playoff push, the Timberwolves got the 19-43 Hornets and a shorthanded Warriors team. With their playoff destiny in their hands, they allowed Charlotte to keep them at arm’s length for 48 minutes and let a winnable game slip away in Golden State in the final minutes.
Now, the Timberwolves sit tied for ninth place, just a half-game above the 13th place Blazers who just got 71 points from Damian Lillard.
After’s Friday’s defeat, Jon Krawczynski wrote a piece for the Athletic aptly titled “What, exactly, are the Timberwolves waiting for?” and that is still a prevailing thought as the Wolves have now lost three straight and 4-of-5. This, however, is a larger trend. Between January 28 and February 16, the Timberwolves were just 5-5. Today is February 27 and that now makes one month of sub-.500-to-.500 basketball. Yeah, the all-star break is in there but it is concerning that the time off did not allow this team to collect itself.
Rudy Gobert was out with illness, Taurean Prince was out for personal reasons and Anthony Edwards had a poor game on Sunday, but a corner 3 from Jordan McLaughlin in the final minutes could have still sent the game to overtime and gave them a chance. Unfortunately, McLaughlin short-rimmed the shot and the Wolves lost what should have been treated like a playoff game.
This team desperately needs a shot in the arm and Towns could certainly provide that, but Tuesday will mark three whole months since he went down in D.C.. While Chris Finch said in the middle of last week that Towns was ramping up but still had no timetable, they are going to likely need to ease him in. While it makes sense not to pigeonhole yourself into a timeline for Towns’ return, this team seems to be waiting for something we do not know is coming any time soon. All these guys have right now is these 15-or-so players in the locker room.
While Towns could help, he is not a cure-all
What we are seeing is nothing new to this team, certainly not a side effect of the trade deadline. This team has consistently messed around all season, getting swept by the likes of Charlotte, Washington, Detroit and losing other winnable games to teams like Orlando, Houston and San Antonio (2x). That is 10 games right there where even if they had one half of them their fortunes would look better. You want to be reintegrating Towns back from a place of power and not a place of desperation, the latter of which the Wolves are closer to after a month of sloughing off.
These individual losses to bad teams are not that big of a deal but they do add up and heighten the pressure against good teams. And there are some important games upcoming in Los Angeles (twice), Sacramento and versus Philadelphia. This team cannot go 0-6 out of the break, but none of these games are locks. You could look at their last three games and say those weren’t locks either, honestly.
In 2018, the Wolves also had these struggles. They were 6-6 against the dregs of the East and wound up needing that win over Denver in Game 82 to make the playoffs. Contrastingly, the Wolves were 21-3 versus the non-playoff teams in the West that year, including teams like Denver and Los Angeles (C) who finished with above .500 records. That in itself speaks to the value of winning the games you should beat. These Wolves have not done that consistently.
If this winds up resulting in missing the play-in or even losing in the play-in, it will look like their play in January was the anomaly. They were five games under .500 to begin the New Year and have been a .500 team at best since the end of January. Whichever team this is, we are going to find out soon. What we do know is that this team was not constructed to miss the playoffs and the repercussions from falling short this season will be interesting to see.
What will the Timberwolves do with Naz Reid?
One of the more interesting thing about what the team did at the deadline was keep Reid, a pending unrestricted free agent. Reid has been a valuable third center for this team, consistently averaging near 10 points, five rebounds and a block per game for a few seasons. Not only is he efficient, but he has shown good ball handling and a promising 3-point shot from the center position.
Reid notched a career high 30 points with nine rebounds and five steals on Sunday in the absence of both Gobert and Towns. It is clear that Reid is a legitimate NBA rotation player but it is fair to say he deserves to play more. A player like Reid who can play well both off the bench and as a spot starter is valuable. If Reid is not going to give the Wolves a discount, it is curious the team decided to keep him— though, it sounds like from listening to more informed people that the team thinks they can keep him.
Yet, paying to keep Reid as a third center is interesting and makes you wonder if there will be another move in the front court. National media seem to have been alluding to Towns being available this summer, but nothing concrete has come out. Realistically, if you do plan to move forward with Towns and Gobert long term, does it not make most sense to have moved Reid for the best available package and use cost-effective options like Nathan Knight?
I like all of Towns, Gobert, Reid and Knight, but it is hard to envision a future with all of them given the team’s payroll. The team may very well know something about Reid’s situation we do not but Sunday was a good remind of one of the key decisions the team will have to make this season.
What can a coach do?
One thing the Wolves do have going for them is that the teams around them in the West aren’t exactly blowing the doors off the playoff race. One of those teams is the Dallas Mavericks, who have now lost 4-of-5 games. Amusingly, after Sunday’s loss, Mavs coach Jason Kidd had this to say:
While it’s true Kidd is not playing, hearing a coach say they are just watching is entertaining. At least if you are not a Mavericks fan. For a coach whose previous coaching tenures flamed out, this does not seem like a great sign, especially as a team hits a skid.
Sadly, trading what we did to land Golbert meant a demise was eminent ! This team isn’t “built to compete”Derek, further from it than last year’s team! The minority of us fans and the majority of the hoops community, questioned Conelly’s sanity! Mixing a slow footed, poor handed, way too stationary big into their game is the definition of peerless in vacuous idiocy! I’ve, held little hope of this trade working for the rest of the Golbert contract! Clearly stated the franchise a huge bust , after the 25 game trial period. Time and money wasted on this shit-show falls in line with the Conelly narrative, yikes! Following Utah and the Cavs has been more interesting, hopefully Ant doesn’t have to infuriated or finds a more suitable place to hang his hat!!
YYYOOO Derek!!!
Preface: Not a snap judgement at all, I’ve thought about this.
I think Connelly will try to move Towns and I am OK with it. Reset with ANT and Rudy as the core and get some of that capital back.
I like KAT well enough and I have sympathy for all he has gone through, but I think it’s time. He needs to go somewhere and be a sidekick to a true Alpha, not unlike Wiggs.
Man, maybe a Jimmy Butler was right and an asshole at the same time lol!
Hope you are doing well my friend!