The Minnesota Timberwolves are stuck, still a ways away from competing

Minnesota Timberwolves will continue to feel the repercussions of a bad Jimmy Butler trade well into the next few years and are in no position to compete

Imagine if the Minnesota Timberwolves had drafted Lauri Markkanen instead of making a wasteful trade for Jimmy Butler just to be a first-round exit. Imagine if the Wolves had given Zach LaVine time to develop along with Kris Dunn and Markkanen. Imagine if the Wolves had invested in refining Andrew Wiggins‘ skillset to prevent him from becoming a glorified Corey Brewer.

This team right now could have a starting 5 of Dunn, LaVine, Wiggins, Markkanen, and Karl-Anthony Towns. Do we realize how many points this team would score? They might give up 130, but I can guarantee you they’d average that as well.

So what happened? Why didn’t this come to fruition? Whose fault is it? If I want to place direct blame, it’s Tom Thibodeau. Not malicious blame though, what Tom tried to do had good intentions and at the time seemed reasonable, but hindsight is always 20/20.

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Trading an unknown pick, an underachieving point guard, and an injury-prone, offense-only shooting guard for a top 15 player seems like an easy call. When you consider though that LaVine has always had the potential (and now is) to be an elite offensive player and not to mention a great show, it looks worse.

When you consider that Kris Dunn was simply given one year and it was a rookie campaign with limited minutes, it looks worse. When you consider that Lauri has become one of the best young prospects in the league now, looking like a new KP, it looks worse.

Yeah sure, you guys messed up. But hey, at least it was reasonable and you gave it a shot, right? We can’t change the past so the only choice the Minnesota KAT’S have is to make the best of the future…but how?

Let’s start by establishing the fact that even though you lost a top 15 player, you have another one and he’s your franchise piece. KAT is a 7-footer who can put up 25/13 in his sleep, oh and did I mention he shoots 40 percent from 3? You have 10 years of elite big man play to look forward to, there’s no reason to rebuild anything.

The elephant in the room, Corey B- I mean Andrew Wiggins, is a more perplexing issue. Coming out of Kansas we thought he could be a good offensive player but even better on defense. His defense has been…okay? Bad? His offense is the epitome of inefficiency. There’s nothing wrong with taking long 2’s and faders if you’re just a hooper who can make that like Kawhi. The problem is Andrew is not that yet. Wiggins upside is along the lines of a Kawhi-McGrady type player, but at this shooting clip, he’s more like Solomon Hill.

How then do you solve this? There’s still hope for Andrew because of his age, but I think the first step is a reduced role. He posted a 23 percent usage rate last season, and for a player that inefficient, why? In a situation like this, you can both be stubborn and pull harder, trying to convince everyone you’re a baller, or you can reset.

I think it’s best they take a more team oriented approach revolved around KAT and let Wiggins relearn how to be a role player. If he can fix his spot up, take less bad shots and make a couple more, then he will at least be benefitting the team while also having more energy to play the defense he’s capable of.

You can’t trade Wiggins because of the contract more than likely, you don’t trade KAT, and you don’t trade Okogie. Aside from these guys, I would say have a fire sale. A case could be made for Saric and I like him, I just don’t know about his fit beside Towns in what should be run as a fast pace offense. I would advise the Wolves to buy low on younger players who’ve lost favor with their teams.

You’re in a weird spot where you won’t get out of the first round, but you also can’t really tank so it’s hard to draft top talent to pair with KAT. Though I believe they did an excellent job trading up to grab Jarrett Culver, and that’s an obvious sign they’re at least looking to get rid of Wiggins.

The best route for this team to take is to try and stay competitive. Especially being in a smaller market, you build fan base loyalty via consistency and continuity, giving them something to root for. Take a 2014 Hawks style approach or a 2018 Spurs approach, you get the gist.

Play in a fun manner that promotes defense and passing, get a top 7 seed and win a couple of games. This will allow time for Wiggins to realign while you hunt and peck for the right talent or trades to make that can return this team to contention. They’re likely at least 3-plus years from reaching the WCF, though I hope I’m wrong, but this team can definitely compete if handled correctly.

Most importantly, I just feel bad for Towns and hate to see this talent wasted.