Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 players facing the most pressure in 2018-19

The Minnesota Timberwolves are in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Which players will feel the burn most once games get underway?

We’re within a week of the 2018-19 NBA season starting, but the drama surrounding the perpetually depressing Minnesota Timberwolves couldn’t possibly be higher (right? RIGHT?!)

Amidst stagnant negotiations with the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler returned to practice a few days ago, giving NBA Twitter and Game of Zones more ammunition for the coming season than they got all offseason.

The ruckus of a players-only meeting that may or may not have happened (according to Jeff Teague) and Jorge Sedano’s report that Miami Heat head honcho Pat Riley called Tom Thibodeau a “motherf***er” after Thibs asked for additional pieces have driven this melodrama to a deafening scream of insanity–or perhaps that’s just the sound of poor Wolves’ fans begging for this all to end.

Even if Butler’s return looks like a victory for the eternally stubborn Tom Thibodeau, the superstar will still most definitely be traded at some point over the next several months. Butler’s taunt, “You f***ing need me. You can’t win without me,” per ESPN‘s Adrian Wojanrowski, aside, the Wolves will indeed face a steep reality once they trade Butler away.

Head coach Tom Thibodeau is going to try to crack the playoffs no matter what, but the team’s roster sans Jimmy Butler probably doesn’t have what it takes.

Here are the players who’ll be under the most pressure to get this team producing (aside from Jimmy Butler, who again, will likely end the season with another team and who is only under pressure to stay healthy so he can secure a max deal next summer).