Timberwolves Roundup: League Pass rankings, too many stars?

The Timberwolves are ranked highly in Zach Lowe’s latest League Pass rankings. Plus, FiveThirtyEight wonders if the Wolves have too many stars on their roster.

As NBA preseason rolls on, there are plenty of interesting notes and nuggets involving the Timberwolves from around the internet.

Earlier this week, ESPN’s Zach Lowe posted Part One and Part Two of his annual League Pass rankings, which lines out which teams are the most watchable. Lowe gives each team a score from one to ten in a variety of categories, which ranges from how fun the team itself is to watch, plus uniform and court designs, broadcasting duos, unintended comedy, and more.

The Timberwolves have typically ranked fairly well — lately because of Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, and Ricky Rubio. The former three names all remain on the roster, of course, but the style of offense will probably be decidedly less pretty. But between the addition of Jimmy Butler, improved uniforms, a new court design, and Tom Thibodeau’s…enthusiastic…in-game coaching style, the Wolves slotted in as 10th in the 2017 rankings.

Lowe is fantastic, so please be sure to read the full piece and the entire Wolves entry at the above link to Part Two, but here is an excerpt specific to Towns.

"Karl-Anthony Towns brings needed panache. He might be the only big man in history who can overpower some patsy with a jump hook on one possession, and then run off a baseline screen, like a mutant Kyle Korver, for a catch-and-shoot 3 on the next. He has soft touch, and he accelerates through the lane with shocking speed and ferocity."

Mutant Kyle Korver. Awesome.

FiveThirtyEight.com, which is part of the ESPN network of websites, published an article from Chris Herring with the title “The Timberwolves Might Have Too Many Stars”. Ridiculous, right?

Indeed, the NBA world has more or less worshiped teams that have been able to accumulate gobs of superstars, dating all the way back to the 2007-08 Boston Celtics. The “taking my talents to South Beach” Miami Heat come to mind, of course. And most recently, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers. Shoot, as of this summer, throw the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder in the mix as well.

Herring’s case focuses largely on usage rate (the percentage of team possessions that end with the ball in a player’s hands while they’re on the floor). Yours truly took a look at this exact consideration just a few weeks ago. My conclusion? That the Wolves can overcome some initial spacing issues with some level of ease as four of the five likely starters (and seven of what are likely to be the top-eight rotation players) are at least league-average 3-point shooters.

While it’s fair to wonder if score-first wings like Wiggins and Butler will be willing and able to consistently make the correct play with the ball in their hands, it’s worth noting that Butler has learned to just that, increasing his assist rate during each and every one of his first five years in the NBA. Framing the concern as having “too many stars” would seem to be a bit of a mischaracterization of the situation; nearly half the playoff teams in the league have at least a couple of high-usage stars that work together on some level.

Lastly, the story is out as to why Taj Gibson chose to become the first NBA player in history to wear the number 67 on his uniform. And it’s for an awesome reason.

"Gibson, who grew up in the Fort Greene projects, wore No. 22 throughout the last eight seasons with the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder, but that number belongs to Andrew Wiggins in Minnesota. Gibson said one of the main reasons for the switch came after speaking to children in the same neighborhood where he grew up. Fort Greene is home to P.S. 67, Charles A. Dorsey School, in New York.“I asked a couple people in the neighborhood, and they asked me, ‘What number are you going to pick?’ And I asked them, ‘What number should I pick?'” Gibson said. “They said, ’67!’ They said it with a smile on their face. I said, you know what? At first I was like, nah, but then I was like, if that’s what you want me to put, why not? It’s only a number, so why not? It represents my neighborhood, so why not?”"

Gibson went on to explain to ESPN’s Nick Friedell that Tom Thibodeau understands what it’s all about and has even been to a couple of his friend’s funerals in the area.

Next: Timberwolves dominate NBA GM survey

Hopefully you enjoyed the Timberwolves-Warriors game overnight. Stay tuned to Dunking With Wolves throughout the rest of the week as we continue to cover the team’s trip to China and provide a variety of Wolves-related content for your preseason reading pleasure.