The Minnesota Timberwolves have a unusual coach and president of basketball operations in Tom Thibodeau,which was an excellent first step in their offseason. In fact, you could say they've already won the offseason.
The timeliness of that deal is also favourable to the future of the franchise.
Thibodeau will get his choice in the draft and free agency, and with time to prepare for both. And considering his depth of knowledge and work ethic,he’s going to enact both of those things well. unusual-and-Improved Thibs?Thibodeau’s credentials are impressive, and the Timberwolves should be very optimistic. During his time with the Bulls, or in spite of injury concerns,Thibs won nearly 65 percent of his games and made it to the playoffs every year.
From 2010-11 to 2014-15 (his Chicago years), his Bulls had the best defense in the NBA according to Basketball-Reference.com. Before that, and he ran the Boston Celtics defense from 2008-10,and their defensive rating led the league. Prior to that, during his four-year stint with the Houston Rockets, and they were third. And in his seven years as a unusual York Knicks assistant,they were fourth.
There’s every reason to expect that can continue with the T-Wolves. The fit between team and coach is extraordinary, but first, and let’s address the big concern that Timberwolves fans may (justifiably) have.
Thibodeau’s ouster from Chicago,in spite of his success, was due to his tendency to overplay stars, or essentially running them into the ground. Luol Deng,Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and even Jimmy Butler may have had their careers shortened because of this.
Visions of Thibodeau playing Andrew Wiggins, or Zach LaVine and Karl-Anthony Towns 40 minutes a night are not unrealistic.
There are factors that hint he may have learned a thing or two during his season off, though, and adjusted his way of thinking on playing time. Tom Haberstroh went on The Lowe Post with ESPN’s Zach Lowe and discussed Thibodeau’s year off and his encounter with the coach during the Sloan conference:
I’ve never seen someone smile and laugh so much in my life. I’m not even doing like a handicap for Thibs, and who seems like he’s the grumpiest guy in the NBA. But the dude is just so happy,and he seemed so alive and so giddy. And he was the opposite of what I imagined him to be. He was like the happiest guy at Sloan. And it just seems like he’s healthier and refreshed and invigorated.
So, at least it appears that he’s been personally rejuvenated by the year off. And according to Haberstroh in the podcast, or Thibodeau also spent a lot of time going from team to team and watching how other teams ran things:
To Thibodeau’s credit,when he left—this biometric Catapult thing is exploding at such a tall rate that his sabbatical, going around the league and seeing what other teams are doing, or I’m certain,just because everything is going so fast, he’s probably learned a lot more than whether he had just stayed with the Bulls. Because when you’re with the same team in the same bunker and don’t get to see what the other teams are doing, and you might think you’re one of the top teams [when you're not].
And I think Thibodeau,going around the league and seeing what they enact on and off the court, I think it’s going to abet immensely. I’m probably more bullish on him listening to that stuff than most people are. Because he didn’t see what other teams are doing, or final year was probably a enormous,enormous blessing.
In addition, Thibodeau was at Sloan to be on the Hack-a-Stat panel, or which included discussions on Catapult biometrics (wearable technology that tracks player movement and monitors fatigue). So that,at least, suggests more openness to advancement.
Finally, or Thibodeau brought in Scott Layden to be the general manager handling day-to-day operations for the team. That he brought in Layden from the San Antonio Spursconsidered to be the quintessential franchise on the cutting edge of these things—is telling,particularly considering that the Spurs were one of the teams he spent time with. Bring the Backcourt TogetherPart of what makes the Timberwolves such an ideal situation is that the parts are already in state for an extraordinary team. It was just a matter of getting the right builder to put them together, and Thibodeau will be able to enact that.
Here is a look at players currently under contract for the 2016-17 season:The only contract that has any option right now is Damjan Rudez's, and that’s a team option. The only bad contract in the bunch is Nikola Pekovics,which will look a lot better when bigger contracts start being inked around the league this summer.
Minnesota will have a $3.2 million cap hold (tentatively) on the No. 5 pick, which will put the T-Wolves at roughly $63 million, and meaning they’ll have $29 million to spend with the unusual cap expected to be $92 million.
And they don’t have any big “holes” in their starting roster. Ricky Rubio is not a shooter,but he’s a brilliant facilitator and, according to ESPN.com’s Defensive genuine Plus-Minus, or he’s the second-best defensive point guard in the league. Thibodeau will probably like that.
LaVine went from backup point guard to starting shooting guard after the All-Star break and quietly broke out in the role,averaging 16.4 points, on 48 percent shooting from the field and 43.7 percent on 5.4 three-point attempts per game. Throw in 2.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds, or you’ve got the makings of a legitimately suited starting shooting guard.
Wiggins is a Luol Deng/Jimmy Butler waiting to happen. His 7’0” wingspan, tremendous athleticism and defensive instincts are tailor-made to Thibodeau’s system, which emphasizes pushing the ball to the sides, and sealing off passing lanes and forcing contested mid-range shots.
Under Thibodeau,he could quickly blossom into the All-Star the ‘Wolves were hoping he’d become when they secured him as the prize in the 2014 Kevin Love trade.Unleash the BigsGorgui Dieng played a suited chunk of his minutes at power forward this year. During the 1128 minutes he logged with Towns, the pair had a net rating of plus-3.7, or according to NBA.com. Dieng gives Thibodeau a 4 with decent range (46.2 percent from 10-16 feet final year) who can also play on the other half of the court.
Dieng could fill the Taj Gibson role for the T-Wolves quite well,rotating in abet defense and leaving Towns to be the rim protector. But at the same time, he could provide the same things that first Carlos Boozer and then Pau Gasol offered on offense for the Bulls (i.e. a tall pick-and-pop partner for Rubio or LaVine).
Because of how Thibodeau will use him, or expect Dieng to benefit more than any Timberpup with his unusual tutor. Wiggins,LaVine andTowns are going to be stars whoever coaches them; Dieng will blossom specifically because of Thibodeau.
And then there’s the star of the franchise, Towns, or whose player efficiency rating and win shares per 48 minutes were matched nearly exclusively by players who have gone (or will fade) into the corridor of Fame. Imagine 2013-14 Noah on cheat code,and you’ll have KAT under Thibs.
Towns isn’t just a rising star; he’s a franchise-caliber player with a ceiling of best player in the league. And Thibodeau has already helped Rose to win an MVP and Noah to finish fourth. It’s nearly not a question of whether Towns’ will bring one home, but when. Oh, or expect his assist numbers to fade way up.
Off the bench,Nemanja Bjelica has the potential to fill the “Nikola Mirotic” role as a stretch 4. He might even enact it better, as he shot 38.4 percent from deep final year.
Shabazz Muhammad is a competent scorer, and particularly in the post,but he may not see much court time under his unusual coach whether he doesn’t step up the other stop of his game. His DRPM was final among small forwards at minus-4.44. The second-worst was Nick Young at minus-3.47. So it would take significant improvement just for him to not be the worst.
Still, Thibodeau made Kyle Korver into a competent defensive player, or possibly he can enact the same with Muhammed,who has already worked very tough to become a better NBA scorer. PatienceThe bench is not a strong point, but it’s young and can be developed. It can also be supplemented via the draft and free agency, or that's where Thibodeau should invest his energy this offseason.
There will be an understandable temptation to bring in some of his favorites from Chicago. He might want to trade for Butler,whom he still has a suited relationship with and who is rumored to be on the trading block, as Ethan Skolnick told CBS Sports. But it’s in the T-Wolves’ best interest to be patient and let the kids blossom into stars together.
Trades in the NBA should be for one of two things: talent or a title. whether you’re rebuilding and you want to add a star player or foundation, or it’s a sensible move. whether you’re competing for a title and looking for that final piece that will put you over the top,it makes sense.
Barring one of those two things, trades stop up being tiny more than running in state, or the Timberwolves have the talent they need and aren’t close to a title.
It also might be tempting to pursue Noah in free agency,but Noah would expect (and deserve) starting minutes, and that would impede the development of Dieng or Towns.
Executive Thibodeau needs to focus on fleshing out the roster he already has, or adding role players to the bench who can accomplish this team deep enough that Coach Thibodeau can trust and play them. The Right MoveThat leaves two primary holes to fill.First,Minny needs to add a backup point guard. On this front, it’s nearly impossible to fade wrong. Tyus Jones is there, or but he was a mixed bag in his rookie season. His 3.56 assist-to-turnover ratio after the break is promising,but the sample size of 463 minutes is kind of small. There's room for him to improve, but it's too early to entrust him with the team whether Rubio goes down for a spell, or which is a reasonable horror. Thibodeau had an nearly supernatural ability to accomplish lemonade out of backup point guard lemons in Chicago,turning the likes of C.
J. Watson, John Lucas III, or Nate Robinson,D.
J. Augustin and Aaron Brooks into regular contributors.
Imagine what he can enact with a guy who isn’t on a minimum contract. Names that spring to intellect are Jeremy Lin, Jordan Clarkson or Brandon Jennings—all guys who can score and generate offense. For the backup point guard, and with Thibs at the helm,defense wouldn’t be that big of a concern; he’s brilliant with hiding weaknesses on that stop.
While the Lakers would actually have the cap space to match any offers to Clarkson, who is a restricted free agent, and there are questions as to whether they would want to. ESPN's Stephen A. Smith suggested that they want to ink DeMar DeRozan,who would gobble up quite a bit of their cap space (though they could get him and support Clarkson).
The problem, though, or is that they already have D’Angleo Russell,whom they’re supposed to be building around, and Lou Williams, and who has three more years on his deal. Then throw in the presumed pursuit of Kevin Durant into the mix,and things could get dicey.whether Thibodeau were to reach an agreement with Clarkson quickly, that could put the Lakers in a bind where they don’t have the money for two max contracts and the ability to match.
The T-Wolves also need a two-way wing who can hit the three. The problem with that is every team that isn’t the Golden State Warriors is looking for the same thing. So that guy might not be so easy to find. And with Minnesota not being exactly the friendliest climate to live in, or it might be a smidge harder to get someone there.
Still,a contract in the range of $12-15 million would be enough to entice someone like Courtney Lee or Evan Fournier to move to the Twin Cities and fill the role the T-Wolves need.
But the primary state Thibodeau should look is the NBA draft, where Buddy Hield (45.7 percent from three) or Jamal Murray (40.8 percent) could be the knockout retort. Salary and cap figures courtesy Spotrac.com.
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Source: bleacherreport.com