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Minnesota Timberwolves: Takeaways From Media Day And Real Training Camp

By Aaron Mah

Mar 7, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett (21) raises his arms to get the crowd pumped up in the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at Target Center. The Timberwolves won 121-113. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett (21) raises his arms to get the crowd pumped up in the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at Target Center. The Timberwolves won 121-113. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 21, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Canada forward Anthony Bennett (10) reacts after a dunk against the Dominican Republic in the men’s basketball preliminary round during the 2015 Pan Am Games at Ryerson Athletic Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 21, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Canada forward Anthony Bennett (10) reacts after a dunk against the Dominican Republic in the men’s basketball preliminary round during the 2015 Pan Am Games at Ryerson Athletic Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /

The Bennett Release Was Beneficial For Both Parties

Looking at the legion of bigs the Timberwolves trotted out on Media Day, and the first day of training camp subsequently thereafter, it made it abundantly clear why Minnesota had to cut bait on the highly-polarizing former No. 1 overall pick in Anthony Bennett.

Simply put, Bennett, who was entering the final year of his rookie-scale contract, would have had an uncomfortably hard time carving out a role and earning material minutes in a frontcourt so deep with talent — talent that the Timberwolves brass would prefer to develop over the former UNLV Rebel,.

Not only did it save the franchise approximately $2 million, it effectively freed the team to hand the keys at the 4 to Garnett, Nemanja Bjelica and Adreian Payne.

Let’s face it, AB was never Flip’s “guy”; he was merely a throw-in (although, an unprecedentedly-hyped one at that) in the Andrew Wiggins-Kevin Love trade. Contrariwise, Saunders proactively seeked to acquire Payne last season, and signed Bjelica despite knowing the Wolves had a significant logjam up front. Bennett would have never gotten his fair shake — extremely damaging to someone who famously struggles with his confidence.

As currently constructed, it gives Mitchell and Newton the opportunity to properly assess Bjelica and Payne, who’ll assume most of the backup power forward minutes behind KG.  Moreover, the Wolves will most certainly explore jumbo-sized lineups with Gorgui Dieng or Karl-Anthony Towns manning the position, or go small, with Shabazz Muhammad or Tayshaun Prince sliding over to the 4.

Next: Rubio Looks Healthy

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