If you are, at the bare minimum, a casual basketball fan, I do not have to tell you that in the history of the Timberwolves’ franchise, the team has had more downs than it has ups. If you are new to this lovely sport, however, this is the article for you.
While the obstacles in the road have been unfortunate, and I would not wish any of them on any franchise, I must admit that I am holding back a smile while writing this. A dear friend of mine, Riley, came to me and announced that he has become a new member of the NBA family, and has decided to rock with the Timberwolves as his franchise. So while I discuss the tragic front office decisions and the unfortunate fate of the Timberwolves’ franchise, I do so with a smile. This article is mainly for Riley, but if it is some help to you, my work here is done.
Let’s start off positive, shall we? Anthony Edwards. My god. What a young phenom we have here. Mr. Hot Fries himself. Mr. “I’m not really into basketball.” Mr. Franchise Player.
It shouldn’t take very long to see what Ant-Man could bring to a franchise. He’s 6’4″, he’s got a 6’9″ wingspan, he’s got a 41″ vertical, and to top it all off, he’s only 22 (?!?) This is his fourth year in the NBA, and he has shown steady growth year to year in all aspects of the game. The season is young, but he’s averaging nearly 28 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. If this were any other year, he would be in the MVP conversation, especially when considering that the Timberwolves are 6–2. Unfortunately for him and the fanbase, there are people like Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and Joel Embiid who are performing on an entirely different level right now. Anthony Edwards is the undisputed “guy” in Minnesota, and as long as they make the right moves, they should be able to keep him for a very long time. History hasn’t been so kind to the franchise in that department, however.
Don’t get me wrong, they don’t have guys that should be playing in the Canadian Basketball League or anything, but sometimes it looks like The Island of Misfit Toys. Again, staying positive to start, they have Anthony Edwards like we discussed (he’s really good if you haven’t been paying attention so far.) They also have arguably the best perimeter defender in the league right now in Jaden McDaniels, a very solid glue guy in Kyle “Slow-mo” Anderson, and a very underrated bench center waiting to get his opportunity to shine in Naz Reid. With all this good, however, does come the bad.
Rudy Gobert has not been what the Timberwolves have needed, and I don’t even mean in terms of all the first round picks Minnesota gave up to get him. I mean as a functioning center in today’s NBA. His box score stats seem fine. 12 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game, while shooting 60+% from the floor is great. Any team will take that from a player any day of the week. When it becomes a problem is when that same center cannot score outside of a put-back dunk or a lob, cannot stretch the defense in a way to open driving lanes for your star player, oh, and I totally forgot that HE MAKES $41 MILLION A YEAR. I also didn’t even mention that he cannot be played as the defensive great he is in the playoffs because of all the pick-and-roll’s that NBA offenses run.
What’s unfortunate not just for the team, but for myself personally, is that no matter how dismal the Rudy Gobert Experiment may be, no matter how many times he proves he isn’t worth all that money, and no matter how angry the front office gets because they gave up five first round picks, and Walker Kessler (who’s literally the exact same player that Rudy is, but waaaaaaaay cheaper,) Rudy will never get traded. There is no avenue where the front office bites the bullet, and takes back one first round pick from the Bulls or the Wizards or whoever just to make the team better. They will do what can get them the most draft assets, and they will move on from Karl-Anthony Towns.
I am in no way saying that KAT is the big fish you need to pair with Anthony Edwards to win a championship. I saw a TikTok comment a couple days ago that said that KAT is just Al Horford without the defense, and I don’t think that’s totally off-base. I do think that KAT is exactly the kind of center you need to have a competent, playoff caliber, potentially Finals caliber team. He stretches the floor, he creates avenues and driving lanes for other players on the team, it is just how basketball is played now. Not with some lumbering center who can’t string together two dribble moves without turning the ball over. The only solace in the imminent KAT trade (rumors have it that he’ll be traded as soon as this year,) is that the Timberwolves have Naz Reid who can do exactly what KAT does at a fraction of the price.
The Timberwolves have other solid pieces around their superstar, but I think they’re probably one or two moves away from being any sort of real threat in the league. They’ll have to add a Mikal Bridges or OG Anunoby to make any playoff series in the West competitive, but I have certainly liked what I’ve seen so far this year. The players come in and do their job, the coach, Chris Finch, isn’t getting in the way of the talent, the locker room vibes seem to be pretty good, and this year in particular Anthony Edwards is taking his offensive prowess and his defensive capabilities and putting together an All-NBA level performance.
In the entirety of my basketball watching life, there has only been one script for the Timberwolves when they get a star player, and it goes something like this: get star player in draft, have player for a decade, never get the player any real level of help, trade player away to contender, repeat. Kevin Garnett, Kevin Love, soon-to-be Karl-Anthony Towns. While I want to be wrong about this for my sake, and for my friend Riley’s sake, I have an eerie feeling in my gut that when we look back on this article in 5–7 years time, history may have repeated itself. If and when it happens, I will not be gloating. I will be in despair and anguish just like the rest of us, but I have been wrong before. I wrote an article a couple of years ago on a different platform highlighting 10 players that new NBA fans could watch for the next 10 years, and Mr. Hot Fries was nowhere to be found. Here’s to hoping I’m wrong about the Timberwolves’ future.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Again, this was mainly for Riley, but if you enjoyed it, I’m glad I was able to help. I hope you have a good day. Tell someone you love them. I hope to see you on my next post.
Round The Game 
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