Minnesota Timberwolves: What happens if the season is cancelled

The NBA season is in flux right now, and possible cancelation seems to be looming. What happens for the Minnesota Timberwolves if it does?

Without a doubt, this has been the longest week in NBA history. Not just for the Minnesota Timberwolves, but for all teams, and fans, everywhere.

On March 11th, just one week ago, the NBA announced that it would be suspending its season indefinitely. Soon after, league commissioner Adam Silver went on NBA on TNT and announced that the suspension would last at least 30 days.

Following that, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommended canceling any events of more than 50 people for the next eight weeks, or 56 days, nearly twice what the league originally suggested.

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With that 56 day timeline, that puts the NBA in a tough position, as the postseason would be happening during one of the hottest times of offseason. The draft and the free agent signing period would both be happening around that time, and would doubtlessly be affected.

Because of that, there are questions about whether the NBA will simply cancel the 2019-2020 season. What would that look like? And how would that affect the Timberwolves?

First off, what would an NBA season cancellation even look like? Well, presumably, they’d treat it like a reverse lockout season. Instead of having a shortened season that would end with a postseason, the league would leave team records where they are, and 2020 would be left with no NBA champion.

As weird and eerie as this sounds, it’s probably what works best for the league. The NBA would simply stop all basketball activities up through the beginning of the draft, and the 2020 offseason would resume as if nothing had actually happened. That is, assuming that we’re able to pick things back up by then.

So, using that system as a guide, what would a season cancellation look like for the Minnesota Timberwolves squad? What implications would that have on the franchise?

Well, one area to consider is the part-time workers who help to make the experience for the fans. This includes the vendors, ball boys, cleaners, and security in the arena. Now, after a long and anxious wait, the Timberwolves finally announced that they would be paying their part-time workers:

Now, that money will certainly go a long way, but if the season is canceled, it should be Glen Taylor’s responsibility to make sure that the workers are cared for to the same extent that they would be in a typical NBA season.

The next thing to consider in the event of a cancellation is where this season would place, just in terms of record, in the last few seasons. Frankly speaking, this year didn’t go nearly as well for the Timberwolves as both the franchise and the fans had hoped it would. A mix of roster turnover, inconsistent leadership, and injury problems led to two separate 11-game losing streaks and having the Wolves be far removed from the playoff picture.

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This season is certainly one that Timberwolves fans would like to forget, shutdown aside, and having a cancelation put an asterisk next to a fairly dismal record for the team could give the fans some hope moving into next year.

Another aspect to consider is the new and improved Timberwolves roster, with the addition of D’Angelo Russell, still hasn’t played too many games together. While that didn’t hurt them too much in their first game back against the LA Clippers, they also weren’t able to turn that immediate success into a prolonged run.

While practices can help a team build its chemistry, nothing works to bring a team together like playing games. Players learn the rotation that the team will be using, and they’re able to adjust the style of play, however slightly, to fit the role that the organization is asking for them. That’s something that just can’t be done in practice.

If this new lineup doesn’t get the chance to play together and be formed in the heat of games, that could place the Timberwolves at a distinct disadvantage to start the next season. While an early losing streak isn’t too concerning for a good team (just look at the Memphis Grizzlies this year), it could hurt a team who tends to go on streaks like the Timberwolves.

A league cancellation could also hurt the Timberwolves offseason prospects, both in the draft and in free agency. While the new lineup is promising, promising can only go so far when it comes to convincing free agents to come to the team. In a free agent pool like the one last summer, that may not be as big of a problem because a lot of good players go under the radar. However, this summer all the talent is up top, and the Timberwolves need every advantage they can get.

This affects the team in the draft too. The NBA is currently in the era of player enlightenment, and while it’s a good thing that players are taking control of their own destinies, it can hurt relatively small-market teams without a wealth of talent like Minnesota.

If the NBA were to cancel its season, it would send ripples across the entire league and would affect all of the teams in a myriad of ways. Nonetheless, should the league see the season end last week, the Timberwolves would have a hard time gaining any foothold in the next season, and it could set back the rebuilding process another year.