After a brief period of calm, the Minnesota Timberwolves front office has begun to make some worrying moves. Can they right the ship before it’s too late?
For years, Minnesota Timberwolves fans have had to put up with questionable draft picks, worrying free agent signings, and head-scratching trades. And that was just the David Kahn era.
Then fans went to a little bit of hope with Flip Saunders taking over the reigns, only to have his tragic passing coincide with another few bad years. Following that, there was the Tom Thibodeau era, which was like buying the sushi special at a restaurant in that it seemed good at the time but only left you with massive regrets and a bad taste in your mouth.
Then, finally, after years of dysfunction and the team not looking like it has any sort of direction, things finally began to look up. They asked Flip’s son, Ryan Saunders, to take over the coaching reigns. They brought in Gersson Rosas who, while also being a smart businessman, seems to be a genuine fan of the team. And they combined Karl-Anthony Towns with his long-time friend in D’Angelo Russell, which almost certainly secures at least one extension from the big man.
Except now they’re back at the table, and that sushi special is looking really appetizing.
The eyebrows were raised early in this offseason when Minnesota seemed reluctant to give Jordan McLaughlin any sort of extension. McLaughlin had shown some insane promise as a rookie guard for the Wolves, averaging 7.6 points, 4.2 assists, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game while averaging under 20 minutes. And that’s not mention the roughly 40 highlight reel dunks he’d give every game. On top of all of this, McLaughlin was a fan favorite. It was going to be a long time until we saw some Timberwolves basketball, surely they would sign him to put on a showcase during the preseason, right?
Well, no. In fact, McLaughlin was only recently added to the team. Very recently. Like, Saturday recently. This means that not only was McLaughlin unable to participate in any preseason games, but because he’s on a two-way contract, he can only spend a total of 45 days (roughly 20 games) with the team. The rest has to be with the Iowa Wolves.
Moving on to the draft, many questioned the decision to choose Anthony Edwards over the presumptive “best available player” in LaMelo Ball. Now, the decision certainly isn’t as head-scratching as, say, passing up on Stephen Curry or Ray Allen or Brandon Roy, but it’s still raised a few eyebrows.
Then, came free agency; a period of time that always gives Minnesota Timberwolves fans shivers thinking about all the players the team has missed out on in the past.