Minnesota Timberwolves: A Model For Future Rebuilding
By Greg Chin
While the Philadelphia 76ers may seem to have the best plan for rebuilding, the Minnesota Timberwolves should be regarded as the true model for a rebuild.
The topic of rebuilding has been a point of contention for many analysts and casual fans alike for the past few seasons. When the word “rebuild” is mentioned in an NBA-context, the majority of the time, the team in question is the Philadelphia 76ers. Over the past few seasons, the 76ers have taken steps that have deliberately cost them wins, while slowly racking up the lottery picks.
Earlier this week, the Sixers surprised everyone by hiring Jerry Colangelo as their new chairman of basketball operations. The move was met with much contention, as it was later revealed that it was orchestrated by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, whose reasoning was that the 76ers’ constant deliberate losing was resulting in a decrease in revenue for the league.
The 76ers, who are in year three of their rebuild, don’t resemble a finished product at all. Some of it is due to their bad luck with injuries (Joel Embiid comes to mind), while blame could be assigned to the organization for trading away prospects who could someday become NBA rotation players, but didn’t quite meet their lofty superstar expectations.
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Meanwhile, over in the Western Conference, the Minnesota Timberwolves are in year two of their rebuild, but have already generated some buzz as a potential playoff team next season. Aided by the progress of Andrew Wiggins, the Wolves have rebounded well from losing Kevin Love, and have been earmarked by many as one of the league’s most exciting young teams.
One of the biggest differences between the two rebuilding modes (76ers vs Timberwolves) is the culture both organizations tried to foster. For the 76ers, the focus was on developing talent by way of playing time, while losing enough games to earn better odds in the lottery.
The Timberwolves, on the other hand, fostered a culture in which the rookies would learn from savvy veterans that the team would bring in. Players like Kevin Garnett, Andre Miller, Tayshaun Prince, and Kevin Martin were brought in (Martin was kept despite not performing well) to provide veteran leadership to a young and impressionable team.
While Karl-Anthony Towns has Garnett to look up to and learn from, Jahlil Okafor has Nerlens Noel as the most experienced big man on the 76ers’ roster. Of course, the lack of veteran leadership isn’t what caused Okafor’s recent disciplinary issues, but it does seem that the young 76ers’ roster (where all but one player has spent less than four years in the NBA) lacks the role model that puts everyone in line.
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The Timberwolves’ rebuilding process isn’t one that we see very often now. Teams don’t usually bring in veteran leadership until midway after year two, let alone midway through year one (Garnett returned to Minnesota just before the January trade deadline last season).
Garnett, Prince and Miller weren’t brought in to win games this season, but rather to guide and teach the young rookies the tricks of the trade.
Just imagine if Okafor had Garnett to imbue wisdom on how to defend the low post properly, or if Tayshaun Prince were around to show Hollis Thompson the tricks of perimeter defense.
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The 76ers’ rebuilding process may seem like an effective on paper, but the true model on how to rebuild your franchise is the Minnesota Timberwolves.