Minnesota Timberwolves: How a good offseason could have been great
Point Guard
In the hours before free agency kicked off, deals began to leak, and one of them tipped the hand to Minnesota’s target to replace Ricky Rubio at the point. Jeff Teague, a former All-Star with the Atlanta Hawks and most recently running the offense in Indiana, was now the largest free agent acquisition in franchise history.
Teague is a talented player, able to initiate offense and create opportunities for himself and others driving into the paint. Defensively he’s far from a turntable out there, able to hold his own if not lock down All-Star guards. And at 29 he figures to still be in his prime throughout the length of the three-year, $57 million deal he signed.
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Blue Man Hoop
The Timberwolves added a good young point guard to replace Rubio, but he wasn’t the best player available. With Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns in the starting lineup this team won’t suffer from a lack of offensive creation – what they most need at the point is defense and three-point shooting. Teague is average at best in each of these areas, shooting 35 percent from behind the line last season.
Kyle Lowry may have been a pipe dream, and he signed for a much larger contract – one averaging around $33 million per season instead of $19 million. Jrue Holiday also signed for more years and average salary than Teague, but he would have fit this team like a glove with his shooting, defense and age.
The best play available here was George Hill, who signed for an identical three years, $57 million – with the third year only partially guaranteed. Hill is both older than Teague and has dealt with more injury issues, and that has to be stated. This wasn’t the case of a team setting its money on fire, but it also wasn’t the best move from a team-building perspective.
Hill excelled alongside Gordon Hayward and Rudy Gobert last season. Defensively he locked down the best opposing backcourt player, and pairing him with Jimmy Butler would enable Andrew Wiggins — a good but not yet great defender — to take the least threatening of the opponent’s 1-3 instead of their best wing.
On offense Hill had a terrific season, scoring 16.9 points per game on 40.3 percent shooting from long distance, on a robust 4.8 attempts per game. As a better shooter on more volume than Teague, Hill would give this team the spacing they need on offense without needing the ball in his hands.