Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 bounce-back candidates in 2019-20

The Minnesota Timberwolves will be counting on major improvement across their roster to pursue a playoff spot. Here are three players the Wolves need to return to their previous selves.

Following a disappointing 2018-2019 campaign that saw the trade of Jimmy Butler, the dismissal of Tom Thibodeau, and the regression of nearly every player not named Towns, the Minnesota Timberwolves are hopeful for a playoff return based around youth and an improved culture.

Following the hiring of Ryan Saunders as head coach and appointment of Gersson Rosas to president of basketball of operations, the Wolves have been active this offseason in creating a positive environment and acquiring rotational players that can best support the skill-set of their franchise player, Karl-Anthony Towns.

Despite the support these additions may provide, the Wolves will be relying on some familiar faces if they hope to return to the playoffs.

Gorgui Dieng

Since signing a four-year, $62 million contract in the summer of 2017, an offseason of spending almost every GM would like to forget, Gorgui Dieng has been unable to live up to the expectations of Wolves fans.

In the 2016-17 season, Dieng started all 82 games and averaged 10 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game, and an effective field goal percentage of 51.4 percent in 32.4 minutes per game.

The numbers seemed to indicate that Dieng was an efficient player that was bound for continued improvement entering his age-28 season while starting alongside a rising star in Towns.

However, in the summer of 2017, Tom Thibodeau decided after one season as head coach and president of basketball operations that it was time for the Timberwolves to make changes in order to become immediate contenders, and he left his imprint on the Wolves in transactions that would affect the team for years to come.

That summer, Thibodeau traded Dieng’s favorite pick-and-roll partner, Zach LaVine, along with Kris Dunn and the No. 7 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft to the Chicago Bulls for Jimmy Butler and the No. 16 pick in the 2017 Draft.

But, the most impactful move of that summer for Dieng was the signing of Taj Gibson.

Following the signing of Gibson, Dieng was relegated to a bench role that he has never seemed comfortable taking. After starting 185 games in his first four seasons, Dieng has started only two games in the past two seasons.

Despite his dismay with his current status on the bench, Dieng can remain a valuable contributor for the Wolves. Dieng is a strong pick-and-roll defender, and began hitting corner threes at an encouraging rate of 42.9 percent this past season.

Following the signings of Jordan Bell and Noah Vonleh to one-year deals, and the potential for a lack of minutes due to an increased usage of small-ball lineups from Saunders, it is imperative that Dieng continue providing solid big man minutes for the Wolves. Or else he may be out of a rotation spot.