Minnesota Timberwolves: Pros and cons of Taj Gibson

Pro or con: Defense?

Ahhh, defense. The apple of Thibodeau’s eye. The soul of his being. It’s what he’s built his whole career around.

Reportedly, it’s why he traded for Butler and signed Gibson.

However, I only believe one of those players will help Minnesota on the defensive side of the court next year and his name rhymes with futler.

Gibson’s defensive reputation proceeds him to the land of 10,000 lakes. He’s most remembered for his first five years in Chicago when he put up a combined 16.6 defensive wins shares (3.32 average) and 10.4 (2.08 average) defensive box plus/minus.

Since then, however, his defensive play has slipped significantly. During the past three years, he’s averaged 2.67 win shares and 1.03 defensive box plus minus. As Gibson continues to age, you can most likely expect those numbers to continue to decline.

That doesn’t mean that he won’t be a defensive upgrade over the other players on the roster. Gibson still knows how to play the game and has been around the league long enough to know the scouting reports on the majority of the players he’ll go up against.

At 32 years old, he’s also not far enough out of his prime where his athleticism has completely escaped him.

Next: Thibodeau and the Timberlwolves are zigging while others zag

Either way, Gibson will prove to be an upgrade over the likes of Nemanja Bjelica and Cole Aldrich, just not as much as we’d like.