The Timberwolves have managed to get a talented young core together in a very short time after losing Kevin Love. Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns have superstar potential, and along with 24-year-old Ricky Rubio, they give Minnesota a great foundation to build upon.
How the Timberwolves’ young core can compete next season
The Timberwolves will surely miss the playoffs, but there’s a chance they’ll be better than most think next year.
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Yet if recent statements from members of the team are any indication, having a bright future is not enough. The Timberwolves want to win now.
“If we stay healthy, it’s going to be a completely different team,” Ricky Rubio told Sports Illustrated’s Ben Golliver. “We want to make the playoffs. It’s been a long time.”
Coach and GM Flip Saunders let Kevin Garnett do the talking on a recent interview with Grantland’s Zach Lowe: “Here’s what KG told our players: If you’re coming to camp on Sept. 29, and you’re coming with the idea that we’re not going to make the playoffs, don’t even bother coming in.”
While it’s hard to see them amassing one of the West’s eight best records next season, the Timberwolves could be competitive if a couple of things go their way.
Rubio needs to be healthy
Rubio has been key to the Timberwolves’ success in the past two years. When he has been on the court, the team has been competitive. When he has sat, the team has struggled. He’s recovering from an injury, but should be ready to go by the time training camp rolls around. That’s amazing news not only for Minnesota’s future win total, but for the development of Wiggins and Towns.
Wiggins got big scoring numbers without Rubio last season as a first option, but his efficiency suffered. The Rookie of the Year’s field goal percentage was almost 5 percentage points better with Rubio next to him, as he took more shots in the paint and in transition. The Timberwolves as a team improved their net rating by over seven points with Rubio in the game.
“As a point guard, I want to make his life easier,” Rubio told Golliver. “Try to get him open shots, run the floor, get easy buckets, really get his confidence going. I remember playing with him in the middle of the season, when I came back from my injury. We were talking and he said, ‘I really like playing with you. You get me the ball at the right time.’”
Something similar will likely happen with Towns. Flip Saunders said that he'd like for Towns to develop his post game first, but it's hard to imagine him getting enough touches in that setting. Wiggins and Shabazz Muhammad do a lot of work in the post, and if Nikola Pekovic is healthy, he will need to be fed on the block as well.
At least early in his career, Towns will need Rubio to set him up on pick and rolls, an area in which Towns should excel thanks to his touch and athleticism. Towns’ perimeter shooting will come in handy in helping a team that lacks marskmen to spread the floor. Just like he found Kevin Love for countless pick-and-pop opportunities, Rubio could get Towns plenty of unguarded looks to ease his transition to the NBA.
While having the veterans healthy is a must for the Timberwolves to exceed expectations, that alone won’t be enough to help them remain in the playoffs race if Rubio doesn’t make the youngsters better.
They need to run
To be competitive in the West, the Timberwolves will have to play to their strengths. They have neither the shooters nor the elite isolation scorers to have a good half-court offense. What they do have are tremendous athletes and a fantastic passer on their roster.
Rubio is great at finding players in transition. When he was healthy in the 2013-14 season, the Timberwolves ranked seventh in the league in fast break points and played at the fourth-highest pace in the league. As a result, their offense was in the top 10 in the league. Obviously having Kevin Love around had a lot to with that, but Rubio orchestrated things beautifully on the break and could do that again with his new running mates:
The Timberwolves are not the most disciplined bunch on defense, but they did rank in the top 10 in steals last season despite missing one of the league's best ball hawks in Rubio. Their defensive rebounding was terrible, but adding Kevin Garnett and Towns for a full season can mitigate that. After every live-ball turnover and long rebound, Minnesota should push the ball, allowing Wiggins, Zach LaVine and Towns to overwhelm opponents with their athleticism.
The Wolves could surprise a lot of teams by playing disruptive defense and relentlessly running.
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The Timberwolves, like any young team, will go through some growing pains. Player development should be the focus and at times it might run counter to short-term success. Saunders’ teams have traditionally been slow-paced, which could also prevent the team from maximizing its current strengths.
If they do commit themselves to becoming a running team and Rubio stays healthy, however, they could double their win total from last season. It won’t be enough to make the playoffs, but it will give a suffering fanbase a taste of what’s to come and the young players the motivation to improve that only comes from winning.
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