Minnesota Timberwolves: Complete 2017 offseason grades

The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming off their greatest offseason in franchise history. They went above and beyond simply addressing team needs.

The 2017 NBA offseason brought the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise back to life. Heading into the offseason, they were a team built around a young core that consisted of Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine.

Head coach Tom Thibodeau took over the team in 2016 and has been a man on a mission. He posted the team’s best record since the 2013-14 season during his first year. Thibodeau expects a lot out of his players and you can tell the difference when his teams are on the court.

Even though the Timberwolves improved last season, they still fell short of the playoffs. LaVine missed a large portion of the season due to a season-ending injury, which did not help their cause. They were efficient on offense as they scored effectively against their opponents. Their two biggest problems were defense and bench depth. Those problems ultimately lead to too many losses.

To say that the Minnesota Timberwolves improved on their weaknesses this offseason is an understatement. Their bench is much deeper after adding quality players during the draft and free agency. Additionally, they added a player that is a three-time All-Defensive Second Team player to the starting lineup.

Not only are the Wolves projected to make the playoffs this year, they are projected to finish as high as fourth in the Western Conference. The Timberwolves organization was very busy during the 2017 offseason. There is no doubt they greatly improved the team.

Let’s look at the offseason moves the Minnesota Timberwolves made.

Blockbuster trade on draft night

The 2017 NBA Draft was very exciting for the Minnesota Timberwolves. They made a franchise-changing trade that set the tone for the rest of the offseason.

The Timberwolves sent Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the No. 7 pick of the 2017 NBA Draft to the Chicago Bulls. In return they received three-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler and the No. 16 pick of the draft. This trade officially set the tone for both franchises: The Bulls are rebuilding and the Timberwolves are ready to win.

The fact that the Timberwolves received a first round draft pick in addition to Jimmy Butler made the trade even better. That did not seem likely to happen based on prior talks between the two teams. It was starting to look like the Timberwolves were going to have to part ways with Andrew Wiggins to get Jimmy Butler.

They somehow managed to keep Wiggins and still get Butler. For that reason, the Timberwolves are the clear winners of that trade that set the tone of the offseason. Many NBA fans are starting to realize how good of a deal the Wolves got after seeing how much the Boston Celtics may have to give up for a worse overall player in Kyrie Irving.

After being the face of the Chicago Bulls, Butler is ready to just play his role in helping the Timberwolves win this upcoming season. He told the following to the Chicago Sun-Times in a phone interview when asked about what it meant to get traded as the face of the franchise.

"“It doesn’t mean a damn thing, I guess being called the face of an organization isn’t as good as I thought. We all see where being the so-called face of the Chicago Bulls got me. So let me be just a player for the Timberwolves, man. That’s all I want to do. I just want to be winning games. Do what I can for my respective organization and let them realize what I’m trying to do.”"

Jimmy Butler will not have to worry about being the face of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Towns has that covered.

Grade: A

Picking Patton

Part of the Jimmy Butler trade involved the Minnesota Timberwolves swapping the No. 7 overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft for the Bulls’ No. 16 overall pick.

The seventh pick ended up being Lauri Markkanen, who will be a good fit for a rebuild in Chicago with LaVine and Dunn. The 16th pick of the draft was Justin Patton.

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Patton is the new youngest player on the Timberwolves. He filled an overlooked hole on the team. The Wolves did not have sufficient depth at the center position. The main reason for that was because former center Nikola Pekovic did not play a single minute last season due to injury problems. That left Cole Aldrich as the main relief for Towns. Aldrich is serviceable at best.

Patton is a big upgrade to Aldrich. He has the potential to impact both sides of the floor due to his athletic ability and skill.

The Timberwolves will receive a boost on defense right away with the addition of Patton. He has an excellent feel for the game defensively and that is easier to translate to the NBA than offense.

Below is a video of Patton getting two help side blocks in the same possession.

Patton is coming into a good situation. He will have an appropriate backup role for a player of his caliber. He can take his time and develop during the season. The Timberwolves improved their bench with this draft pick with a young player that has a high ceiling.

Grade: B

Signing Teague

Ricky Rubio was a solid point guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves the last six seasons. Despite giving the Wolves his best, he was traded to the Utah Jazz for a future first round pick. The trade ultimately ended up being a move to make cap space to sign Jeff Teague during free agency.

Jeff Teague is an overall upgrade from Rubio. Last season Teague averaged 15.3 points per game to Rubio’s 11.1. While last season was Rubio’s best career year offensively, the team still opted for a point guard who has the ability to put up more points.

Teague is a better defender than he often gets credit for. He makes a lot of scrappy defensive plays that turn into points on the offensive end. In addition to that he is a good passer — not as good a passer as Ricky Rubio, but still an above-average passer for a starting point guard.

Grade: B+

Getting Gibson

Tom Thibodeau brought in a second familiar player to his system during free agency. The first was Jimmy Butler during the draft. The second was Taj Gibson, who played under Thibodeau all five seasons he was the head coach of the Chicago Bulls. Gibson was signed to a two-year, $28 million deal.

Gibson immediately makes the Wolves better, though he isn’t a lock to start at power forward.  Gorgui Dieng is coming off a solid season where he started all 82 games. It will be an interesting battle to watch unfold as we inch closer to the season.

Both players are good rebounders and defenders. Additionally, both can score the basketball decently well. Gibson does not have as good of a shot as Dieng, but he does have better moves around the basket.

The signing of Taj Gibson shows that the Wolves are committed to improving their defense. Gibson is a perfect fit for Thibodeau’s style and will help set the tone defensively for the team. We will just have to wait and see whether that is as a starter or off the bench.

Grade: B+

Signing Crawford

Last season the Minnesota Timberwolves bench was not effective. They were the least productive overall bench in the NBA. The team’s moves this offseason ensured that will not be the case again. They signed Jamal Crawford to a cheap, two-year deal worth $8.9 million during free agency to head up the second unit.

Even at 37 years old, Jamal Crawford is still a dynamic scorer in the NBA. Last season he averaged 16.8 points a game for the Los Angeles Clippers. Those are very impressive numbers for a player who only started in one game during the 2016-17 season.

Crawford is a smooth shooter, but is best known for his ability to get open due to his crossover. He even earned himself the nickname “J Crossover” from effectively using that signature move throughout his career.

Jamal Crawford is excited to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves and told the Star Tribune the following simple answer when asked why he chose Minnesota over other contenders.

"“It just made sense on every level.”"

Grade: B

Filling out the roster

Outside of the big moves, the Timberwolves still had to fill out their roster for the season. The signed a couple guys to the team in efforts to do that. With very little cap space to play with, these are players the Timberwolves hope are ready to take that next step in their career.

Melo Trimble was the biggest name the Timberwolves signed to fill their roster. They signed him to a partially guaranteed contract. He likely will spend some time in the G League this upcoming season. After an excellent college career, he is a guy that does have some upside if he can figure out the NBA game.

The Timberwolves also signed Anthony Brown. They signed a two-way deal with Brown that allows him to spend time in the G League and NBA.  Brown has an intriguing element to his game that could help the Wolves. Last season he shot a 46.6 3-point percentage in the G League. If he can bring a percentage close to that to the NBA, there is a spot for him in the rotation next season.

Grade: C+

Overall

Overall the Minnesota Timberwolves had an amazing offseason. They shook up the NBA and put themselves right in the mix of the top teams in the NBA. It was a good indicator when Kyrie Irving listed the Minnesota Timberwolves as a preferred destination for a trade.

Their starting lineup is going to be much stronger than last season. More importantly, they will be better defensively and have more bench depth.

The 2017 NBA offseason made the Minnesota Timberwolves jump from a young rising team to a team that has a chance to take down the Golden State Warriors in the coming years.

Next: Ranking NBA teams by tiers for the 2017-18 season

Final Grade: A