Tomas’ Timberwolves Takeaways – Part Three

We’re nearing the halfway-point of the 2015-2016 NBA season, and the Timberwolves are in quite a doozy of a spot.

Currently enduring a six-game losing streak, including a humiliating loss to the 76ers, the team is 12-26. While the season should be an improvement from last season, progress seems to be grinding to a halt.

So is there any gem in the rough to find in such a rough season so far, or is it just easier to look ahead at the prospects in the upcoming draft?

Early into the season, I predicted Ricky Rubio would be the team’s MVP. However, at this point, Rubio is struggling offensively. He’s shooting an atrocious 34 percent from the field — completely unacceptable. While he’s still solid on the defensive end and in the top-five of points produced through assists, these are the same excuses made for Rubio season after season.

He remains my favorite player, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be frustrating. Rubio will eventually need to learn how to lead the team, especially since the veterans of the squad won’t be around forever.

For most fans, the agony of Sam Mitchell as interim head coach has come to light. His offensive schemes feature Wiggins in isolation situations a good portion of the time, making the offense quite dull and predictable.

On top of that, factor in the dismal three-point shooting of the Timberwolves. Most defenses don’t face much difficulty when figuring out Minnesota. Furthermore, his minutes distribution have been increasingly erratic, sometimes letting Karl-Anthony Towns sit on the bench for long periods of time.

I am also somewhat worried about the sophomore slump Wiggins has been enduring thus far. While he’s the MVP of the team so far, most of his numbers have dipped. I’ll attribute some of this to the dismal offense Mitchell has created around the team, but that doesn’t excuse someone who’s in the top-three of three-point play chances created to only sink two-thirds of them.

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While I’m assured of KAT’s loyalty at this point, I’m worried about the frustration Wiggins may feel; the team needs to experience some winning basketball in the next season or so if the franchise wants to have any hope of holding onto this budding superstar.

After a strong start to the season, Bjelica has endured quite a dip, in part due to his erratic minutes (thanks, Sam). He’s had some highlights so far this season, but I was hoping to see more out of the reigning Euroleague MVP. I won’t stress about it too much, and once the team establishes a proper minute distribution he should be more consistent.

I love Adreian Payne as a person, but I hate him as a basketball player. His okay performances are few and far between, meaning he’s taking away valuable minutes to other guys on the roster that could help the team out.

Zach LaVine continues to play at the point guard position, despite pretty much everyone (sans Coach Mitchell, the one that actually matters) acknowledging that he’s better suited at the two-spot. I love the kid, and he’s working extra hard to shed the slump, but all that hard work would actually come to fruition if he was playing in his proper position, along with a proper offense. He’s still a project at this point, but I’d really like to see him thrive in the future.

Shabazz Muhammad has been in excellent form this past month (scoring 15.6 points per game thus far in January), showing a resurgence after coming off mediocre performances during the first two months of the season. I’d really like to see where he takes it from here, and it’s always a joy to see him and Wiggins play on the court at the same time, switching between the two and the three.

Shabazz is a match-up nightmare at the 2 position, bigger and stronger than most 2-guards can handle.

Next: How Tyus Jones Has Impacted the Timberwolves Rotation

While it seems like the team will be delegated yet another lottery draft pick, there’s still time for the young core to improve and show they’re on a path of progress and victory with half the schedule remaining. We’ll just have to watch how long that might take.