Tom Thibodeau has led a masterful turnaround with the Minnesota Timberwolves and deserves to be in the Executive of the Year conversation.
With the Minnesota Timberwolves sitting just a half game behind the San Antonio Spurs (pending the outcome of Monday’s Spurs game against the Atlanta Hawks), Tom Thibodeau should be the leading candidate for the NBA’s Executive of the Year award.
During the Summer of 2016, the Timberwolves were coming off a 29 win campaign, their second season in a row finishing with less than 30 wins, and hadn’t been to the playoffs since 2003-04. They traded their star player, Kevin Love, the previous year and were in a complete rebuild once again.
While they had promising young talent in Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, they had a long way to go to make the leap into playoff contention.
That’s when owner Glen Taylor decided to take a leap of faith by bringing Thibodeau aboard and handing him worlds of power. Too much power, some said. Not only was he named head coach, but he was also given the title President of Basketball Operations. He then brought in Scott Layden as the team’s General Manager, but we all know who calls the shots.
During the first Summer, Thibodeau aimed high by attempting to bring in Joakim Noah and Luol Deng, both players who had tremendous success under him in Chicago. Fortunately for the Wolves, he struck out, as both guys signed massive deals with the New York Knicks (four years, $72.6 million) and Los Angeles Lakers (four years, $72 million) respectively.
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He settled for re-signing Gorgui Dieng to a four year, $62.8 million deal and brought in Cole Aldrich for three years and $21.9 million and Jordan Hill for two years and $8.2 million. While the Dieng extension still has time to play itself out, the Aldrich and Hill moves have been total duds.
Hill only appeared in seven games for the Timberwolves last season, was waived over the Summer and wasn’t re-signed by an NBA team.
While Aldrich proved he could be a serviceable big man off the bench with the Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers, he has yet to make any noise in Minnesota. After appearing in 62 games last season, he’s only played in 10 games all year despite being completely healthy. He still has one year and nearly $7 million left, but look for Thibs to waive him this Summer because his contract is only partially guaranteed.
Thibs also drafted Kris Dunn with the number five overall pick in 2016 and he turned out to be a disappointment throughout his rookie campaign.
Despite not adding much external talent to the roster, Minnesota was expected to take a huge step forward last year, simply due to the internal growth their young players would experience. However, that didn’t happen as nearly everyone planned, and the Timberwolves finished the season a disappointing 31-51.
While the initial go-round of moves was uninspiring, to say the least, Thibodeau hit a couple of home runs this past offseason that’s led directly to their huge turnaround.
It all began with the best trade of the Summer when the Timberwolves sent their seventh overall pick (Lauri Markkanen), Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine to the Chicago Bulls for Jimmy Butler and the 16th overall pick (Justin Patton).
Midway through the season, Butler has emerged as a bonafide MVP candidate and has given this team the swagger they were so sorely missing since the Kevin Garnett era. He also plays both ends of the court and is a great role model for what Wiggins can become if he applies himself.
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A little more than a week later, the Wolves agreed to send incumbent point guard Ricky Rubio to the Utah Jazz in exchange for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s first-round pick. This might have been underselling Rubio’s value a bit, but the pick was much-needed for a team who doesn’t hold a first rounder in 2018 and will be cap-strapped for the next few years to come. As the season has played out, the trade is looking better and better, as Rubio and the Thunder continue to struggle.
On July 10, Thibodeau came to agreements with Jeff Teague and Taj Gibson. The former has played as advertised and has given Minnesota another scoring boost alongside Butler, Towns and Wiggins. Although he might not have been the best fit for this team, he’s certainly helped give them a veteran presence at the point guard position.
Gibson has been like putting a pair of jeans on and finding a $20 bill in the pocket. He was expected to come in and provide them with intensity and versatility on the defensive end, but he’s been so much more. At 32-years-old, he’s unquestionably having the best season of his career.
Thibodeau also brought in Jamal Crawford to provide a much-needed scoring punch off the bench. This is probably the most underrated move he made all offseason. Without Crawford, the Wolves’ already sometimes anemic bench, would be even worse.
While other General Managers and decision-makers deserve credit for building their teams, Thibodeau should be the leading candidate for the Executive of the Year award.
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All of his moves may not have panned out exactly how he wanted, and he’s definitely had his fair share of luck along the way (Shabazz Muhammad rejecting a massive contract extension), but Thibodeau is doing something that great basketball minds before him haven’t been able to do for a long time: He’s turning the Timberwolves into a legitimate contender in the Western Conference.