Minnesota Timberwolves: Pros and cons of Taj Gibson

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OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – APRIL 21: Taj Gibson /

The Minnesota Timberwolves signing of Taj Gibson comes as a bag of mixed reactions.

Almost from the minute Tom Thibodeau took over as President of Basketball Operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves, every ex-Chicago Bulls player was rumored to be linked to the team. Taj Gibson happened to be one that came true.

Minnesota and Gibson came to an agreement which will pay the former Bull $28 million over two years. According to Spotrac, he is set to earn $13,658,537 of that during the 2017-18 season.

After playing the first seven-plus seasons with the Bulls, the power forward was part of a trade deadline deal which saw him moved to the Oklahoma City Thunder along with Doug McDermott and a 2018 second round pick in exchange for Joffrey Lauvergne, Anthony Morrow and Cameron Payne.

Gibson started 16 of his 23 games with the Thunder but was unable to make a big impact. He only averaged 9 points and 4.5 rebounds in 21.2 minutes per game. That was somewhat of a disappointment as his previous play in with the Bulls suggested that he had bounced back from an underwhelming 2015-16 season.

Per Game Table
Season	Age	Tm	MP	FG%	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PTS
2014-15	29	CHI	27.3	.502	.717	2.6	3.8	6.4	1.1	0.6	1.2	1.2	10.3
2015-16	30	CHI	26.5	.526	.692	2.8	4.1	6.9	1.5	0.6	1.1	1.1	8.6
2016-17	31	TOT	25.5	.515	.715	2.0	4.2	6.2	0.9	0.5	0.8	1.3	10.8
2016-17	31	CHI	27.3	.521	.714	2.2	4.8	6.9	1.1	0.5	0.9	1.4	11.6
2016-17	31	OKC	21.2	.497	.718	1.7	2.8	4.5	0.6	0.6	0.7	1.2	9.0

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Even though his play has slipped of late, Minnesota is hoping he can return to the peak of his career when he played under Thibodeau.

Regardless, there are pros and cons that come with every signing, especially an aging veteran whose skills appear to be declining.