Minnesota Timberwolves: Injuries Killing Even Modest Expectations
I have a bad feeling there is going to be an about-face from me in regards to the current state of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In reality, I’m far too stubborn to do a complete reversal of the philosophy and outlook I championed, but I can concede that it may be a very rough go of it in the interim for this group.
The past month or so, I have talked about the Wolves needing to streamline their rotation and skew younger without a reasonable path to the playoffs in the West. I wrote about trading Kevin Martin to a shooting-desperate contender and Corey Brewer to a team that needs his glue-guy skill set. Even Nikola Pekovic was on that list, simply in my mind because he didn’t fit as well as he may have in past seasons. It was all about accelerating the Wolves’ rebuilding effort.
Well, patience will be a real virtue now. I’ll need it in droves; I’m getting what I want with young guys not being blocked by blah guys, but in truly leaning on them, and all of them, this early situation may make for a frightening scene.
When Ricky Rubio went down, it was a shock that the Wolves decided to go with Zach LaVine to start in his place; he wasn’t even really a point guard at UCLA. And while it was fun to watch, the experiment already appears to be over. The past few games he’s had about 15-20 minutes per game, which is probably where coach Flip Saunders wanted to keep it in the first place. I want to see him, but I want it to be in a more controlled environment. Giving him the keys to the offense surrounded by other spring chickens is hardly that. Rubio’s return will make for a more clear order of things, but that appears to be a long way off.
In lieu of that, and other circumstances, it seemed clear that the team looked to Kevin Martin to carry the scoring load. And he did, in pretty efficient fashion (26-of-37 shooting and 71 points in the two games before his injury). I was pleased about that; he could take some of the pressure off Andrew Wiggins and hopefully boost the trade stock enough that some team would be willing to swallow his unattractive contract.
But now he is gone for the foreseeable future with a fractured right wrist. This is in addition to the wrist and ankle issues that Pekovic is dealing with. He’ll be back soon but it may linger all season. It means that Gorgui Dieng, whether in a starting or reserve role, will still play major minutes. He’s ready for it, but it is just another scenario of youth being surrounded by youth.
With all that’s going on, I keep coming back to a vision of, for the next couple of months, a team comprised of Zach LaVine still getting minutes backing up point guard and shooting guard; Andrew Wiggins and Shabazz Muhammad, who is showing some signs, playing major interchangeable minutes at the two and three; Anthony Bennett getting 25-30 minutes at the three and the four; and Dieng getting about 30 filling in for an injured or resting Pekovic. It could be even more pervasive if some of the trades materialize, although I figure it would have to be quite an offer, at least while the team is ravaged with injuries.
Is the prospect of this exciting? To me, yes it is. I’ve been asking for it. But maybe that was more in the hope that the young guys earned those minutes rather than necessity.
We’ve seen what being handcuffed looks like in the NBA this season. I’m not sure anyone is thrilled with the Philadelphia 76ers model, at least this season.