The Minnesota Timberwolves’ system is broken, and here’s how to fix it

The problem with the Minnesota Timberwolves system

First off, let me state right off the bat that this is not a “hit-piece” on Gersson Rosas or even the front office. This isn’t even really a huge criticism if I’m being honest. The Timberwolves front office has done a really nice job and they have brought in really exciting players. The problem is the system that they want the Timberwolves to play in. Right now, Minnesota just isn’t equipped to run it.

Rosas comes from the Houston Rockets organization and the Daryl Morey school of building a basketball team. That means a lot of 3-point shots and a heavy incorporation of analytics. And that’s not always a bad thing. It clearly worked for Houston, with the Rockets repeatedly falling just inches short of the NBA finals. But it’s not working for Minnesota. At least, not yet.

Before Rosas took over as President of Basketball Operations, that distinction belonged to Tom Thibodeau, whose last name I still can’t spell correctly even after three years of talking about him. Thibodeau was a hard-nosed, defensive style coach and executive, who tried to bring that with him to Minnesota. And it could’ve worked.

The defense was one area the Timberwolves desperately needed to improve in. Unfortunately, Thibodeau did everything short of replacing Crunch with Benny the Bull when it came to building the team, and the strong Chicago Bulls lineup that might’ve given LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers a run for their money at one point were now mainly broken down, and couldn’t contribute a ton in a starting role.

During this time (from the 2016-17 season until January 2019), Minnesota ran a very “traditional” style of basketball. During the 2017-18 season, the height of the Thibodeau era, Minnesota came in dead last in 3-point shots attempted per game but shot 35.7 percent from that range, which at least placed them in the top-20 in the league. They were also tied that season for the 23rd fastest pace in the league but did manage to convert that slow, inside look game into a top-five offense, coming in fourth in offensive rating just three points below the Golden State Warriors.

So, what happened? Well, in the 2019-20 season–the first, um, full (?) season without Thibodeau–Minnesota switched styles. Suddenly, they were averaging the third most 3-point shots per game but were converting those looks into a bottom-eight offense and the third-worst 3-point percentage. Without a drastic change in the lineup, a drastic shift in the playing style could not have been easy on the team, and sure enough, it wasn’t.