Minnesota Timberwolves: 2016 Offseason Grades

The Minnesota Timberwolves weren’t particularly active this summer, but they still managed to add to their promising young core all the same. Here are their complete 2016 offseason grades.

There’s no question about which Western Conference team has the brightest future at the moment. The Los Angeles Lakers have a nice young quartet, and teams like the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns are slowly committing to fledgling youth movements, but the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ already impressive core is headlined by a future MVP-in-the-making.

Between Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, the underrated Zach LaVine, Gorgui Dieng, Shabazz Muhammad and Tyus Jones, this extremely green team now gets the chance for a little seasoning under Tom Thibodeau’s stern and steady hand. For the rest of the league, winter is coming.

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How soon it arrives remains to be seen, but KAT was already one of the league’s best centers last season and is only going to get better at 20 years old.

With the ultra-competitive Thibs in charge of roster decisions, there was some concern that his first offseason at the helm would be spent making win-now moves to get the youngsters their first playoff experiences right away. Patience is a virtue, it’s just not Thibodeau’s virtue.

Luckily for the Timberpups, that wasn’t the case. In fact, it was a relatively quiet summer for the Wolves, who are wisely biding their time with internal development until this newly formed Golden State Warriors juggernaut look a little less unstoppable.

For a team in need of veterans and dealing with a few positional battles, the Wolves’ lack of activity this summer certainly isn’t the end of the world. Here’s a look at Minnesota’s complete 2016 offseason grades.

Next: The Draft

The Draft

With the fifth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, the Wolves had an opportunity to add to their already stellar core and build for the future. By selecting Kris Dunn out of Providence, they didn’t waste it.

In fact, taking Dunn at No. 5 nearly gave Thibs a chance to bring in one of his favorite former players in Chicago, swingman Jimmy Butler. The bad blood between Thibodeau and the Bulls front office probably contributed to trade talks falling through, but not giving in to Chicago’s higher demands kept this tantalizing young core together.

As good as the 26-year-old Butler is, that may be a blessing in disguise. LaVine, who would’ve been included in the deal, is a highly underrated spot-up shooter and can do more than just win Slam Dunk Contests. Meanwhile, Dunn puts a little pressure on Ricky Rubio because of how good he might already be.

In his senior season with the Friars, Dunn averaged 16.4 points, 6.2 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game, shooting 44.8 percent from the floor and 37.2 percent from three-point range. He harassed opponents on defense, shot relatively well from deep and made defenders look foolish with his quickness and leaping ability.

At NBA Summer League, the 6’4″ guard lived up to the pre-draft hype and then some in his limited action, averaging 24.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game, shooting 54.3 percent from the floor and regaling the Las Vegas crowd with stunning move after jaw-dropping play.

He only played in two Summer League games due to a concussion, committed 15 fouls in those two games and shot just 1-for-6 from three-point range, but there’s no question he was the most electric player on the court every time he stepped out there.

The potential is clearly there, and this is a player the Boston Celtics might regret passing on a few years down the road. Dunn is a bit on the older side at age 22, but if he can develop a reliable perimeter jump shot, his defense, athleticism and competitive fire could turn him into a more defensively-oriented Russell Westbrook–Kyle Lowry kind of hybrid.

With Rubio being plopped on the trade block and yanked back off every five minutes, taking Dunn gives the Wolves an alternate option at point guard if Rubio never improves his jumper and the front office decides to move him. That’s not a pressing matter though, since the two should be given the chance to co-exist even with Tyus Jones recently earning Summer League MVP honors.

Rubio is still only 25 years old and is far better than he’s given credit for, but there’s no question about Dunn’s star potential. He needs to take better care of the ball and cut down on his fouls, but that’s true of most rookies.

By biding their time on trading for a star and not giving away Rubio for peanuts, the Wolves nailed this pick. Dunn could be very special, and even though they didn’t get Butler, Minnesota did well to acquire another young gem that fits in better with this core’s timeline for contention.

Here’s hoping Thibs doesn’t bury him on the bench as he often has with rookies, since Dunn has the kind of defensive intensity should earn him minutes under Minnesota’s new head coach.

Grade: A

Next: Adding Aldrich

Adding Aldrich

In one of this summer’s more underrated signings of good players you probably didn’t realize were actually good, the Timberwolves added former Los Angeles Clippers backup Cole Aldrich to a three-year, $22 million deal (with the last year being non-guaranteed).

That may seem like a lot for a guy most known for this unforgettably bad hook shot with the New York Knicks, but Aldrich quietly had a solid season off the bench for the Clippers last season, averaging 5.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in a meager 13.3 minutes per game.

For a Wolves team that hasn’t been able to rely on Nikola Pekovic‘s broken body in years and may be saying goodbye to Kevin Garnett soon, Aldrich brings shot-blocking and efficient finishing ability around the basket (59.6 percent from the field last year) to the table.

This signing doesn’t exactly nudge Minnesota into the playoff picture, but for a young frontcourt that may need a more experienced touch off the bench some nights, Aldrich fits the bill as a serviceable backup center.

Grade: B

Next: Hello Hill

Hello Hill

The addition of Cole Aldrich probably means Jordan Hill will play some of his minutes as a backup 4, but whether they’re battling for minutes at the 5, splitting time on a night-to-night basis or simply plugging Hill in at the 4, the Wolves added yet another decent player to their frontcourt.

Coming off a season with the Indiana Pacers in which he averaged 8.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, Hill agreed to a two-year, $8.2 million deal to join Minnesota. The second year of his deal is non-guaranteed, and that’s a minuscule price to pay for a decent backup/third string big at this point anyway.

However, it’s very easy to wonder how the rotation will work given how crowded the frontcourt got this summer.

With Towns, Dieng, Pekovic, KG, Aldrich and Hill all capable of playing minutes at the 5, not to mention Nemanja Bjelica and Adreian Payne at the 4, it’ll be interesting to see how this frontcourt shakes out.

That being said, all of those bodies are unlikely to make it through a full 82-game season. Pekovic has played 12, 31 and 54 games in the last three seasons; Garnett is contemplating retirement and only played in 14.6 minutes per game over 38 appearances last season; KAT played most of his minutes at the 4; and Aldrich and Hill give the Wolves options.

If KG retires and/or Pek gets traded or injured, Minnesota will be better off for having both Aldrich and Hill as options off the bench. If not, this signing will feel a tad bizarre, but it won’t be a costly one either.

Grade: C

Next: Bringing Aboard Brandon

Bringing Aboard Brandon

Offering a one-year, $3.5 million contract, the Timberwolves swiped away a player with championship experience from a team that’s likely to win its second championship in three years. Okay, so maybe that’s a bit generous in describing Brandon Rush, but still. Championship experience!

In all seriousness, this extremely young team needed to find some veterans who could lead by example and provide Minnesota with an actual rotation on the wing without stealing too many minutes from the youngsters. Rush accomplishes that goal.

Even better, he won’t be completely useless in spot minutes either. Last season Rush only averaged 4.2 points in 14.7 minutes per game for the Warriors, but he shot 41.4 percent from three-point range and stepped up when the Dubs lost Harrison Barnes to an ankle sprain.

In 25 starts, Rush averaged 7.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, shooting 50 percent from the field and a blistering 49.4 percent from three-point range. To be honest, it was a bit baffling head coach Steve Kerr didn’t give him any run in the NBA Finals when Barnes started withering away.

True enough: the Timberwolves aren’t exactly the kind of team where you can plug in any player and watch him thrive like the Warriors, but Rush will at least spread the floor in limited minutes and has plenty of wisdom to impart on the younger guys. Not bad for a one-year, $3.5 million deal.

Grade: B

Next: Odds And Ends

Odds And Ends

According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Timberwolves plan to bring guards Toure’ Murry and John Lucas III to training camp.

Murry is a 6’5″ combo guard out of Wichita State who went undrafted back in 2012. Now 26 years old, Murry is still searching for his big break after bouncing back and forth between the D-League to 10-day NBA contracts. A two-time D-League champion, Murry averaged 6.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game for Minnesota during this year’s NBA Summer League.

Lucas represents a more seasoned touch, with the 33-year-old veteran point guard struggling to find a lasting place in the league ever since his days with the Chicago Bulls back when LeBron James leapfrogged him for an alley-oop.

His most recent NBA gig came with the Detroit Pistons in 2014-15, when he averaged 4.7 points and 2.9 assists per game in 27 appearances.

Grade: C-

Next: Overall

Overall

The Minnesota Timberwolves may not be a playoff team again in 2016-17. Their best player is still a 20-year-old, their second-best player is still a flawed 21-year-old, and they still have a completely new head coach to adjust to.

But with as competitive as Tom Thibodeau is, the Wolves making it through the summer without engineering some kind of shortsighted move to get Minnesota back into the postseason is a small victory in and of itself.

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Trading for Jimmy Butler would’ve been nice, but he’s not exactly on the same timeline as KAT, Wiggins and the rest of Minny’s baby-faced crew. Instead, the Wolves added the fiery Kris Dunn to the mix, providing the roster with depth and a potential long-term replacement should the franchise move on from Rubio.

Rubio is more valuable to this team than people realize, but Dunn’s potential should not be overlooked, especially as he grows with Wiggins, KAT and LaVine under a head coach who will instill proper defensive values in his players.

The Timberwolves didn’t completely address their need for locker room veterans, as Aldrich and Hill can hardly be considered for that designation. But Minny provided depth for the frontcourt, nailed the draft, added a helpful perimeter shooter, and even if Garnett retires, they’ll still have Thibodeau to fall back on to teach these youngsters proper habits.

More hoops habit: Denver Nuggets: 2016 Offseason Grades

For a franchise relying primarily on internal growth for their exceedingly bright future, Minnesota’s patient summer and successful draft was more than enough for a good grade, even if the rest of their offseason was a bit low-key.

Grade: B