Can the Timberwolves escape mediocrity?
Minnesota has to get creative to entice talent to their franchise. Will they be able to, or will they stay on the treadmill of mediocrity?
I was watching a college basketball blowout the other day with some friends, and one of the guys turned to me and said, "You're an NBA guy, what would you do if you were the GM in Minnesota?"
My shoot from the hip response was "Trade D'Angelo Russell." Which garnered the instant retort, "Yeah, for who?"
And it's a fair point. It wasn't long ago that Golden State was lucky enough that Minnesota was sweating them hard to get one of Karl-Anthony Towns' closest friends to join the crew in Snow City. But the instant "trade Russell" reaction is also born out of a general dislike of Russell's game. When he came into the league, he talked about patterning his game after one of my favorite players — Manu Ginobli — which had me excited. But Ginobli is an exquisite meal at a fine Italian restaurant. Russell is Chef Boyardee. And that's fine. Chef Boyardee has its place. You need something to threaten your kids with if they don't eat the delicious food you prepare for them.
Some of it is the inefficient shooting, some is the frustration about his inability (or unwillingness) to play defense. But I'm probably being too hard on old D'Angelo. Russell, Towns and Anthony Edwards aren't exactly world-beaters, but they aren't the worst trio in the league either.
And that's sort of the problem. The Wolves are teetering dangerously close the dreaded "treadmill of mediocrity" — the no man's land of hunting for a low playoff seed which pairs with a mediocre draft position. Minnesota is 17-20, operating with a negative overall point differential and sitting squarely in 10th place in a surprisingly soggy-bottomed Western Conference.
There are signs of hope. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Wolves have played the sixth most difficult schedule to start the season. And, weighing that factor into consideration, their adjusted defensive rating profiles as the seventh best in the league. If this seems high to you, I agree. No one expects a team led by Towns, Russell, and the second-year Edwards to hold up on defense. They're supposed to be the type of team that comes out gunning and hopes to win a shootout.
But their offense has been as frigid as the land in which they live, ranking a freezing cold 23rd (again, according to dunksandthrees). For all his flaws, Russell does fit as a pick and roll partner for Towns. Edwards continues to improve. The offense should tick back towards average as their schedule eases up.
If you're the Wolves, you're hoping to win on the margins. Sign a smart free-agent with the mid-level exception this offseason, swing a trade or two to make some incremental improvements, and hopefully nail what will likely be a top 15 draft pick. Identify a team with an intriguing young player who doesn't have a sure spot in the rotation. Maybe call Atlanta and see what it would take to get Cam Reddish?
One thing is for sure, you've got to get creative when it comes to landing guys. You're not luring marquee free agents to the freezing North.
About last night…
The Mavericks retired Dirk Nowitzki's number last night. Here's his full speech. What an awesome moment:
Dirk Nowtizki and Steph Curry stand alone as players who have changed basketball to the highest magnitude in the 21st century. He's the first successful stretch four, stayed with the same team for 20 years, and he birthed the current generation of position-less basketball. There's also this:
Kyrie Irving made his return to Brooklyn's lineup. He looked exactly like the Kyrie Irving of old — still the most coordinated player in the league, still the smoothest finisher Brooklyn has, and still an important piece of their title hopes.
The Nets are back to being the villains. Those cute David Duke Jr. and Patty Mills games are over. When Brooklyn has Harden, Irving, and Durant in the lineup, they can beat just about any team.
Kevin Porter Jr. returned to the lineup after serving his one-game suspension. While he may have gone 3-13 from the field in 35 minutes of action, he hit the shot that counts:
Clips surfaced of KPJ speaking to the media about his relationship with John Lucas, how much he appreciates him and that he's the coach who pushes him the hardest. It's no surprise then that things got a bit heated between the two, and no surprise that KPJ came back as a professional.
Scores, stats, & notes:
Hornets 140, Pistons 111 — Kelly Oubre hit eight threes in the fourth quarter. Trey Lyles led Detroit in scoring. That's all you need to know.
Sixers 116, Magic 106 — We need to start a dialogue on this:
Rockets 114, Wizards 111 — Christian Wood and Jalen Green each scored 22. The Wizards played Kyle Kuzma 43 minutes. Beal led all scorers with 27, but fouled out with nine minutes left to go.
Spurs 99, Celtics 97 — Jaylen Brown's missed layup as time expired gives San Antonio a big win over Boston. The Celtics (18-20) just can't seem to get back to .500 basketball.
Nets 129, Pacers 121 — Kevin Durant (39-8-7) and Domantas Sabonis (32-12-10) each put up monster stat lines. Lance Stephenson scored 30 points on 12-19 shooting, and no, it's not 2013.
Mavericks 99, Warriors 82 — The magic of Dirk was within them. Luka's 26-7-8 propelled Dallas to a huge win without Porzingis. Nobody picked up the slack on Steph's cold night (14 points, 5-24 FG, 1-9 3PT).
Raptors 117, Bucks 111 — The Raptors are dangerous when they have their five. Toronto's starters scored 102 of their 117 points, lead by Pascal Siakam's 33. Also, no Giannis for Milwaukee.
Timberwolves 98, Thunder 90 — Uh oh. Don't like this.
Jazz 115, Nuggets 109 — Bogdanovic's huge night (36 points, 13 rebounds) allowed Utah to beat Denver without Rudy Gobert. Jokic put up a monster line of 26 points, 21 rebounds, and 11 assists. Utah just has too many guys who can score double-digits.
Heat 115, Trail Blazers 109 — You have to see how Kyle Lowry got ejected.
Terrible. I understand refs have to be prideful so they don't get walked all over. But there needs to be a "Wait, it's not what it looks like" button that someone can hit to get this ejection revoked. Even Kyle Lowry, one of the league's premier grifters, is not going to throw a ball at a ref.
Hawks 108, Kings 102 — I won't ever come on here and say that the Hawks are better without Trae. I love Trae Young. But the Hawks are certainly better defensively without Trae. Fox and Haliburton combined for 54 points, but it was Atlanta's six double-digit scorers (led by Kevin Huerter's 25 points) that gave them the win.