We continue our series taking a look at the Timberwolves franchise leaders in each category. This time, we’re ranking the top shot-blockers in team history.
Blocks are often an overlooked statistic, but they take the right combination of jumping, timing, and anticipation.
They can shift momentum, create fast breaks, and even win championships; like this one:
Although any player can block a shot, of course, it’s usually the power forwards and centers who excel in this category. In the Timberwolves’ 28-year history, they have had plenty of electrifying big men who put their bodies on the line to protect the rim at all costs.
In today’s NBA, with the rise of the stretch-four, big men who can defend the hoop effectively are crucial to a successful basketball team. This has been a consistent trend throughout the history of the league, dating back to the days of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain when blocks weren’t even an officially tracked statistic.
Fortunately for today’s Timberwolves, they have one of the most exciting up-and-coming shot-blockers in Karl-Anthony Towns, who just missed out on this list. If his third season keeps pace with his first two in terms of blocks, he will come in at the fourth spot of this list. (Which speaks to both the dearth of true shot-blockers in Wolves history and Towns’ level of talent.)
For now, enjoy this video of Towns mercilessly blocking former college teammate Devin Booker:
Let’s take a look at the current top-five shot-blockers in Timberwolves franchise history.
5. Christian Laettner
Arguably the best Duke Blue Devil of all time, Christian Laettner made history during the 1992 NCAA Tournament with “The Shot” to beat Kentucky in the tournament final as the buzzer sounded.
After his college career concluded, Laettner was picked by the Timberwolves with the third-overall pick of the 1992 NBA Draft. He was relatively small for a power forward/center during a physical era in the NBA, coming in at 6’-11” but weighing a meager 235 pounds.
Laettner didn’t let that stop him from having a successful NBA career, however. He spent his first four seasons in Minnesota before being traded to the Atlanta Hawks in the middle of the 1995-1996 campaign. In total, he played 13 seasons in the NBA with six different teams.
During Christian Laettner’s time in the Twin Cities, he tallied a total of 299 blocks. Although he was often labeled as a draft bust, he did great things for the Wolves on both sides of the ball, excelling at the fundamentals of basketball.
Laettner wasn’t an overtly flashy player like many of today’s NBA stars, but he did his job well and stuck around the league for 13 years. His physical glass cleaning, polished post work, and hustle on defense led him to average over 16 points per game and seven rebounds per game throughout his tenure with the Timberwolves.
Some of his best seasons, including his lone All-Star nomination, came with the Atlanta Hawks. But 299 blocks over three-plus seasons in Minnesota was enough to slot him fifth on this particular list.
4. Al Jefferson
“Big Al” spent only three seasons with the Timberwolves from 2007 to 2010, but he still left a sizable impact. Coming in at fourth on this list, he registered 300 blocks, only one more than the aforementioned Laettner.
Jefferson was sent to Minnesota from Boston as one of the main pieces in the Kevin Garnett mega-trade. He was drafted straight out of high school by the Celtics in 2004 and was a blossoming star, just 22 years old at the time of the trade.
During the 2007-08 season, Big Al started all 82 games for the Wolves while averaging 21 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. He also scored a career-high 40 points against the New Jersey Nets that season, and then matched that total again in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats later in the campaign.
Jefferson started the 2008-09 season looking like an elite big man, averaging 1.7 blocks and 23.1 points per game, but was unfortunately snubbed from the All Star Game:
Fifty games into the season, he tragically tore his ACL and was unable get back to pre-injury form. In the midst of a five-year, $65 million contract, he was traded to the Utah Jazz in the summer of 2010 for a pair of first-round draft picks.
Although he never fully blossomed with the Timberwolves, Al Jefferson found success later in his career with Charlotte, and is still playing for the Indiana Pacers at the age of 32. He has yet to be named to an All-Star game.
3. Gorgui Dieng
Dieng is the lone player on this list that currently plays for the Timberwolves, and at age 27, he is just hitting his prime. He has spent the entirety of his four-year NBA career in Minnesota, totaling 367 blocks.
Gorgui Dieng was born in Senegal, where he remained until he came to the United States in 2010 to play under Rick Pitino at Louisville. After spending three years with the Cardinals, he was drafted 21st in the 2013 NBA Draft.
“G,” as he is known, has been one of the most consistent pieces of the Timberwolves team. He isn’t a big point scorer or a flashy player, but he is a fundamentally sound rim-protector who can come up with monster blocks:
When called upon, he can also make plays on the offensive end of the court with his post-game and mid-range shooting. He averaged 10 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game in 2016-17, his first full season as a starter. He was also named as the Dunking With Wolves Defensive Player of the Year.
Although Dieng was a solid starter last season, the recent signing of veteran Taj Gibson has brought up the question of which player will start at power forward next year. Although Tom Thibodeau hasn’t shone any light on this issue, “G” will be an impact player starting or coming off the bench as a sixth man.
2. Rasho Nesterovic
Rasho Nesterovic was the Wolves’ first-round selection in the 1998 draft. Many teams had taken notice of the young Slovenian seven-footer a couple years earlier after he was named the MVP of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.
Due to playing in Europe, Nesterovic only joined the Timberwolves for the final two regular season games as well as the playoffs in the 1998-99 season. However, he played four full seasons for the team after that, averaging 1.2 blocks per game while also adding 7.5 points per contest.
Nesterovic’s best season with the Wolves was the 2002-03 season, where he averaged in the double digits in points. San Antonio took interest in the Slovenian and signed him to a contract, where he later won a championship in the 2004-05 season.
The seven-footer thrived as a big body in the paint on defense and as a post-up finisher on offense. Although Rasho Nesterovic is hardly a household name, he did his job and blocked shots consistently for four seasons and ended up second on the Wolves’ career block list with 373 blocks.
1. Kevin Garnett
It should be no surprise to anybody to see Kevin Garnett’s name at #1 here. He holds the team record by an unequivocal margin in virtually every major stat category. His 1,590 blocks in the Minnesota organization nearly triples the closest player.
“The Big Ticket” was drafted straight out of high school by the Timberwolves. He was the fifth-overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft and stayed with the Wolves for 12 seasons before being traded to the Celtics, where he won the NBA championship that he was unable to achieve in the Twin Cities.
Regarded as one of the best power forwards of all-time, KG won the MVP award for the Timberwolves in 2004, as well as making 15 All-Star appearances over his career.
Garnett’s offensive ability was stellar, but his defensive prowess was unmatched. He combined size, strength, athleticism, and grit to solidify his name as one of the best interior defenders ever. Over his career, he made the All-Defensive First Team an impressive nine times and the All-Defensive Second Team three times.
In 2015, a 38-year-old Kevin Garnett returned to Minnesota in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets. He played a couple more seasons with the Wolves while mentoring the young players and then eventually retired in a Timberwolves uniform on September 23, 2016.
Garnett made an abundance of highlight reel blocks and defensive plays, as can be seen below.
It remains to be seen what the next chapter in the Garnett-Timberwolves saga will be, given the rocky relationship between KG and owner Glen Taylor. The ship has appeared to have sailed in terms of a minority stake in ownership — at least while Taylor remains the majority shareholder.
Next: Best and Worst Case Scenarios for Karl-Anthony Towns
Stay tuned to Dunking With Wolves throughout the weekend as we keep an eye on any potential free agency nuggets while the Timberowlves look to fill out their roster.