Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 reasons their season is over

1. Injuries and rotation structure

Head coach Tom Thibodeau will always catch heat for the regular season responsibility he leaves with his starters. But now, after Minnesota has reached its first postseason in over a decade, it may be finally time for a change in strategy.

Players such as Luol Deng, Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose were never the same after playing in Thibs’ high activity system. While it’s unfair to place injury blame on him, it’s clear that it may be time for a switch in philosophies, especially considering the coincidences.

The Timberwolves averaged about 26 bench points per game which ranked second to last in the NBA. If that wasn’t bad enough their bench point differential was dead last in the league to go along with the least amount of minutes played. That’s simply not a winning recipe in today’s NBA anymore.

With a couple of additions, (depending on the status of Crawford and Rose), providing more minutes to players like Tyus Jones Nemanja Bjelica could help everyone in the long run. For further perspective, Minnesota was one of two teams in the NBA to have three players average at least 35 minutes a game. The other team was the New Orleans Pelicans, as they had a key star go down with a big injury and change the course of their season.

On Feb. 23, the Timberwolves suffered theirs, as Jimmy Butler went down with a knee injury, having everyone initially fear for the worst.

The Timberwolves were fourth in the Western Conference before Butler’s injury, with a record of 36-26. While it’s unknown if the minutes and lack of a bench would soon catch up to them in the wild West, the injury changed matters completely.

This also goes without mentioning Jeff Teague’s scary knee injury that kept him out a few weeks.

With Butler out of the lineup, Minnesota went from fourth to eighth place, their season hinging on a play-in matchup with the Denver Nuggets in game No. 82 to determine whether they’d make the playoffs at all.

Butler worked his tail off to return, but was battling the effects from surgery and a wrist ailment, and wasn’t himself completely in the postseason. However, he showed flashes of what makes him special and with a full offseason to recover, should be back to form next season.

Next: Full two-round 2018 NBA Mock Draft

Minnesota can only hope to follow along as year two of their Big 3 could have several job implications on the line. With some hard work and a little luck, maybe we’ll be writing this article later on next year. Or maybe, we won’t have to write it at all.