Minnesota Timberwolves: 5 big goals for 2018-19 NBA season

By Luke Askew | Oct 4, 2018

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 23: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves has the ball against James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets in Game Four of Round One of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on April 23, 2018 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Rockets defeated the Timberwolves 119-100. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

5. Improve defensively

The Timberwolves are bad on defense. It’s really that simple.

Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns have shown some signs of improvement, but still aren’t even close to where they need to be.

There’s no defensive metric that can paint the whole picture for how good or bad an individual is on defense. Most of that is left to the eye test. Unfortunately for KAT and Wiggins, they both get failing grades no matter how you study their defense.

The tools are there, though. KAT has good mobility for someone his size and he’s a decent shot-blocker. Wiggins is long, athletic and should be able to stay in front of anyone. They just need to learn how to buy in completely on both ends of the floor and play good team defense.

KAT is 22 years old and Wiggins is 23, so there’s no reason to give up on their defensive abilities (or lack thereof) just yet. It’s extremely discouraging, though, that in their two years with Thibs (a known defensive guru), their defense has improved minimally, if at all.

With the departure of Jimmy Butler expected to come at any moment, both of these young franchise cornerstones will have to pick up the slack on defense if the Wolves want to have a winning 2018-19 season.

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