What people are saying about Thibodeau to the Timberwolves

Tom Thibodeau, a coach with one of the best winning percentages in NBA history, was hired by the Timberwolves on Wednesday to perform the duties of both head coach and president of basketball operations.

As one might expect, the online basketball community has a lot to say about this hiring — and most of it is positive. It’s surreal for the majority of Wolves fans, no doubt, after enduring the past 12 years of playoff-less, direction-less basketball, but it’s the new reality nonetheless.

We’ll have lengthy analysis for you here at Dunking With Wolves on this move, what it might mean for the minutes breakdown and rotation of the players currently on the roster, and what it might mean from a draft/free agency/trade market perspective over the summer and into the fall.

In the meantime, let’s take a spin around the basketball universe and see what other folks are saying about the hiring.

First up is Sean Deveney of Sporting News. He didn’t have much in the way of groundbreaking thoughts or analysis, but he did have this interesting tidbit:

"And yes, look for Thibodeau to consider a deal involving the Timberwolves’ No. 1 pick, which is currently slated for fifth. If the pick does not fall in the top two, Thibodeau — whose team already has three key players (Wiggins, Towns, Zach LaVine) who are 21 or younger — would likely explore the trade market. Again, it’s not that Thibodeau has a total aversion to rookies, it’s just that he knows he needs to teach the guys he has how to defend before this team can move forward."

A trade of the Wolves’ top pick would not be a surprise, although it could take awhile to develop. If the pick lands at #4 or #5 and Thibodeau likes, say, Buddy Hield of Oklahoma, it would make sense to hang onto the pick and see if he can be selected, but if the draft unfolds in a different way, there could be deals on the table depending on a variety of contingencies.

Sam Amick from USA Today debates the effect that Thibodeau’s relationships with the players from Team U.S.A. might have on free agency and the nearly $27 million in cap space that the Wolves will have this off-season.

"But this idea of the hard-driving Thibodeau speeding up the Timberwolves’ learning curve is enough to make you wonder if Minnesota might have a chance to become elite in the next few years. And from a free agency standpoint, it certainly doesn’t hurt that he has extensive experience as an assistant coach on the American national team and, thus, has relationships with the best of the best in today’s NBA. The Timberwolves are expected to have approximately $27 million in salary cap space this summer."

Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post had the following to say about the impact that Thibs will make on the Wolves’ defense from day one:

"Given the amount of defensive weapons on this Minnesota team – from Towns to Wiggins to Rubio, plus the potential for growth from LaVine and whoever the Timberwolves take with their first round pick – there’s every reason to think Thibodeau can take Minnesota from 27th in defensive rating, where the Timberwolves ranked this year, to somewhere in the top 10, or at the very least just outside of it. And while Thibodeau’s offenses were criticized in Chicago, the Bulls were a top-five offense in 2011, when Derrick Rose won the MVP, and then were a borderline top-10 offense the following season even with Rose missing half of that season. It bears noting that while he was maligned for his offensive system during his final season with the Bulls, Chicago finished 10th that year; this season, with a similar roster, the Bulls finished 25th in offense."

The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who broke much of the Thibodeau (and new general manager Scott Layden) news over the past few days, chimed in with a bit of a different angle, positing that Thibodeau “always had his eyes” on coaching the Los Angeles Lakers, but L.A. couldn’t move fast enough and simply didn’t have the core that the Timberwolves have. That meant that the job in Minnesota was the one that Thibs wanted.

Also from Woj’s piece:

"The Timberwolves coaching staff marvels over Towns’ tenacity and character, his obsession with becoming one of the great ones. Kevin Garnett told him that if he wanted to be the leader of the franchise, he needed to be the first one to practice and the last to leave – and Towns did it. Before every game, Towns did a hard 20-25 minute workout on the floor, working up a sweat and bringing it into the game. There is strong talent on these Wolves, including Andrew Wiggins and an unselfish point guard, Ricky Rubio, who defends the way that Thibodeau demands."

Wojnarowski goes on to discuss some of Thibodeau’s disagreements with the front office in Chicago, including when Thibs wanted to draft Gorgui Dieng over Tony Snell but the higher-ups overruled him. Woj explains that Thibodeau was “never blameless”, which certainly is not hard to believe and should not burst anyone’s bubble. Not this week, anyway.

Next: Timberwolves End-of-Season Awards

But it is surreal, isn’t it? But here we are, and Tom Thibodeau and his .647 winning percentage are officially employed by the Minnesota Timberwolves, along with the man who was the San Antonio Spurs’ assistant general manager for the last four seasons.

Is it October yet?