Minnesota Timberwolves roundtable: Grading Wolves offseason

Dunking With Wolves is starting a weekly Minnesota Timberwolves roundtable where we check in with DWW staff in regards to their recent thoughts about the Wolves.

1. What grade do you give the Minnesota Timberwolves’ offseason so far?

Jaime Tyler: Well, it’s been a pretty uneventful offseason for the Wolves thus far, dontcha think? Kidding, of course. This may be one of the most exciting summer’s in Timberwolves’ history, in fact.

What I appreciated about Tom Thibodeau’s approach to the team last year was the notion that he did not make any major moves for the first 12 months of his tenure. His patience proved to be a virtue. It gave him and Scott Layden a chance to work with and evaluate the young roster.

Once Thibs got going, though, boy, did he get going.

On the Butler trade alone, I’d give Thibs’ an A minus. Why the minus? Well, I tend to be high on Zach LaVine‘s upside, and I do think that maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday Wolves fans may look at the career LaVine is having and wonder what if.

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The draft would be an incomplete, for Justin Patton has yet to step on the floor with a Wolves practice jersey on. He’s a project, and with the Wolves’ current roster and two young five-year max players, it’s okay to take a chance on a player.

On the free agent signings, I’d give the Timberwolves a B. I applaud Thibs for filling the needs of experience, toughness, and leadership in the signings. We’ll never truly know what went on behind the scenes in free agent discussions earlier this month.

Sure, a Kyle Lowry or a Paul Millsap would’ve been great to have on the team, but Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson and Jamal Crawford are a trio of veteran players who actually want to play together, in Minnesota, for the Wolves. That, my friends, is something we can be get excited about.

Most needs were addressed this summer, but shooting and depth are still needed.

As far as offseasons go, however, the Wolves had one of the best in the NBA this year. Certainly, one of the best in the history of the franchise.

Vince Massara (@vincemassara): A+. Now, you may think I am generous. However, let’s have a look at the bigger picture. For a long time, the Timberwolves have been irrelevant to everyone who isn’t a fan.

Yes, that hurt to type.

Our summers have been as vanilla as the ‘Cream Team‘ circa. 2012. Do you remember when we were excited after signing Chase Budinger? I do. It was gross. Now we are signing good NBA starters and feeling disappointed. The Timberwolves are relevant, and it didn’t happen until this offseason.

Don’t get me wrong; I am not a fan of every deal.

I don’t like the fact we gathered old Thibs guys, I hate the fact that our best 3-point shooter is still Towns, and I am perplexed that our hunt for a low-usage defensive wing led us to Jamal Crawford. However, when is all said and done, we traded for a top fifteen player in the league and paid 50 cents to the dollar for him. To go along with that, we added a former all-star point guard and a serviceable big.

Furthermore, Kyrie Irving has listed the Wolves as one of the four teams that he wants to play for. That is insane. It shows just how much the Timberwolves have improved this offseason.

This summer has the best Timberwolves offseason in years, and it has to get the top mark.

Christian Anton (@C_AntonNBA): When looking at the Timberwolves offseason the grade I see fit is an -A. This may be the most aggressive offseason I have ever witnessed in the history of the franchise.

To be able to go out and acquire a top 15 NBA player in his prime is one thing. To compliment the trade of Butler with yet another All-Star and two top notch veterans is a dream come true. Now there are rumors of Irving putting Minnesota on his short list of teams for a trade.

The fact that a player of Irving’s accomplishments wants to come to Minnesota is a testament to how good this offseason has been.

The reason I didn’t give it a full A is because there is some work that still needs to be done. The depth at the wing positions is a little scary to me. We all know how top heavy Thibs is with his rotations and one major injury could spell disaster for our current roster.

2. What is left for Minnesota to accomplish this summer?

Jaime: As I mentioned above, the Timberwolves have actively filled many of their needs this summer. However, and I’m not breaking news here, the Wolves still desperately need shooting and depth.

Cynics may say, Thibs doesn’t play his bench, so what’s the difference?

However, the Wolves still need depth at the wing. Brian Sampson, our co-expert, has highlighted several cheap players the Wolves can bring in to fill out their roster.

From multiple reports, it appears Thibs wants to bring in two wings and a back-up, or third string point guard to complete the team.

That would bring the Timberwolves to 14 active roster spots, and just like last season, Thibodeau will keep the 15th spot open for a future trade, midseason pick-up, 10-day contract or something of that ilk.

Fortunately for the Wolves, last year’s free agency bonanza has led to a number of teams that are capped out this year. Most of the league can only offer mid-level exceptions and league minimum contacts.

With Thibodeau, the addition of Butler, and the Andrew Wiggins/Karl-Anthony Towns dynamic duo; the Wolves are in a good position to recruit bench and role players that are not only roster fillers, but genuine contributors to a playoff team.

https://twitter.com/Timberwolves/status/888467426811166720

Finally, the Timberwolves can improve their shooting from within.

While Butler, Teague and Gibson are who we think they are (RIP Dennis Green), it’s unlikely they make a major statistical shooting jump this season. Towns already shoots the ball with amazing accuracy. Andrew Wiggins is the starter who can most help the team with his improved shooting.

Put simply, Wiggins needs to continue improving his outside shot.

It’s key for him, and the Wolves, to be more of a consistent 3-point threat this season. On one end of the floor, Towns and Butler will be running an intimidating pick-and-roll game. On the other, Wiggins needs to be ready to attack the rim and hit the three.

His overall improvement, in shooting and his two-way game, will have a large say in the Wolves short and long-term potential.

Vince: Wings. We still need another solid wing player. There is a chance that Wiggins and Butler do not work out as their games do overlap a little.

Other than that we still need some shooting. The Wolves were the worst team from deep last season, and the trend looks set to continue. Towns is the only player who is above positional average from three. Granted, having a center who shoots threes like Towns is heaven, but you’re robbing Peter to pay Paul, as KAT is an absolute offensive beast in close.

However, there is a new Elephant in the Timberwolves’ room this summer. Kyrie Irving. If Irving decided on the Wolves there will need to be some tough calls to be made. Personally, I think the option with the highest floor is to trade for Irving with a deal that is based around Andrew Wiggins.

He and Butler do overlap and Irving is a star. However, we will assumingly have to play Teague and Irving together for at least the beginning of the season. If we do move for Irving, there will be a lot more moves to follow it.

Christian: I alluded to this in my first point but more depth at the wing positions. I’m not talking about any random player, it is important to add veteran minimums who could actually see the floor this season and contribute.

It is important that Thibodeau gets someone that he feels can help the team or our starters will never get any rest.

The other thing that I’m worried about is the lack of three point presence on the current roster.

The league has shifted to a style that emphasizes three point play. It may be that Thibodeau is building a defense to fit this era with strong perimeter defense as the focal point. Nonetheless a lack of three point shooting is a glaring hole on our roster.

3. What do you think about the report of Andrew Wiggins signing a five-year, $148 million extension?

Jaime: This, Wolves fans, is a no-brainer.

One, due to last year’s updated Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams can now grant two players coming off their rookie contacts the five-year maximum extension. That means Wiggins says ca-ching this summer, and Towns laughs all the way to the bank next offseason.

There’s not a team in the league that wouldn’t offer Wiggins the max next season. Therefore, it’s best that the Wolves get this done and get it done quickly.

Because of that, Minnesota can avoid the conundrum of having to choose from the two young stars to be “the man” or “the face of the franchise” going forward.

Two, if it doesn’t work out, then a team will gladly take him in a trade. Let’s just say, Towns and Butler have great chemistry and Wiggins becomes, somewhat, redundant. His skills don’t quite mesh with Butler’s set, and there’s just not enough space on the floor for the team to operate.

Great! Trade Wiggins for an established, floor-spacing two-way player. What team wouldn’t want a 23 or 24-year-old Wiggins with several years left on his contract?

Three, this essentially will lock up Wiggins and Towns for the next six years together. Starting this October, Wiggins will have one year left on his rookie deal and five more on the extension.

Towns still has two years left on his first contract, and he will definitely be with the Wolves for five more seasons after that.

In short, the Wiggins and Towns duo will be in Wolves’ colors until the end of the 2022-2023 season.

Maybe Wiggins heads to Toronto after that year. Towns may hit Los Angeles or New York after the next. Who cares? The Wolves need to make the most out of the next six seasons and convince their two young stars that this is the place to stay, build a super team, and win multiple championships.

Thibodeau is going about this the right way: make Minnesota and the Timberwolves a destination. Don’t just build for one timeline, the prime of Wiggins and Towns, build for multiple time lines.

The recently added veteran core of the team — Teague, Gibson, Butler, and Crawford — will be getting pretty long in the tooth three years from now. Towns and Wiggins, however, will just be entering their prime.

With the two young stars locked up until the middle of the next decade, the Wolves can then recruit and sign new free agents to supplement their young duo.

The first step in that plan, though, is to lock up Wiggins, which the Wolves will soon accomplish.

What’s the alternative? Trade him for Irving or something…?

Vince: I am somewhere between these two opinions. It seems to change every time somebody asks me.

Rose colored glasses on: I love it.

I think Wiggins is a max player. Is he a perfect player? No. However, he has time, and he is already a proven scorer at NBA level. He has had three different coaches in three years, and for the first time in his career, there will be consistency. He will flourish under Butler, and the two will dine on the terrible depth on the wing in the NBA.

Take the glasses off: Wiggins is a tricky prospect to assess. A scorer who lacks a lot of the other aspects that make an NBA star. Championship sides rarely overpay for players. Their max guys are worth a lot more, and everybody else is at market value or ring chasing. I don’t see Wiggins being worth more than the max to a side at his current rate.

Christian: I love it. Last offseason was a great example of how inflated contracts in the NBA can happen and the important thing here is to lock up Wiggins at a decent price for a while.

https://twitter.com/C_AntonNBA/status/888089465473945601

On paper, the number looks a little steep to a lot of us. However, this is the NBA where superstars get paid like rock stars and Wiggins is on his way to being a superstar.

If Wiggins hit the open market someone would have offered him stupid money regardless for us to match, just look at the Otto Porter situation this year. It is a smart move by the front office to show Wiggins that he is very important to this team, and this contract does that.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see this happen to KAT sometime in the next year as well. Great move by the front office in my opinion.