What the absence of Jimmy Butler has shown Minnesota

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing since Jimmy Butler went down, but there has been a fair amount of hope.

When Jimmy Butler went down in the first game out of the All-Star break, things looked dire for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Karl-Anthony Towns is a generational offensive talent, and Andrew Wiggins has two-way potential oozing through the Twin Cities. However, Butler had been the mental, spiritual, and physical leader of the Wolves all season long.

With Jimmy G. Buckets at the helm, his team was sitting pretty in the fourth seed (32-26) in fierce Western Conference playoff race. Butler was rightfully a fringe MVP candidate and the Timberwolves were a sneaky dark horse out West.

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Without their mentor and leader, Towns and Wiggins have led their squad to an 8-8 record, with some encouraging wins (Golden State, Washington) and some putrid losses (Philadelphia, Memphis).

It just hasn’t been the same kind of imposing basketball the Wolves were flashing with Butler around.

Although we shouldn’t worry about that for much longer, with the former Chicago Bull recently cleared for full contact practice, meaning his return to the playoff run will not be far behind.

With Butler’s imminent return, many things will change in Wolves world, there has been much to learn from a long stretch of tough games without the team’s best player.

Let’s have a look.

Karl-Anthony Towns is alpha material

When Zach LaVine went down with his ACL injury midway through last season, Karl-Anthony Towns went off a nightly basis until the final night of the campaign – so he did have experience as the main man on an NBA team.

That was on a lottery team looking ahead to an early summer however, this time around the 22-year-old would need to lead his team to the playoffs in a playoff picture that was could send the fourth seed out of the frame with a single loss.

KAT obliged handsomely, posting some gaudy numbers without his All-Star running mate. Including the unforgettable 56-point franchise record night against the Atlanta Hawks:

Towns has put up superstar numbers as the Wolves’ unquestioned first option on offense. He has averaged 25.1 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks on a nightly basis, still hitting 53.6 percent of his field goals including hitting a sizzling 43.1 percent of his 3-point attempts.

Fans were crying out for the big man to get more shots with Butler in the line-up. Without him, Towns is getting three extra shot attempts per game, and his efficiency hasn’t fizzled whatsoever.

With a generational talent like KAT on the court, the offense must flow through him consistently, this is a vital lesson for Butler and Tom Thibodeau.

If Thibs can tweak his offense slightly when his prodigal son returns, that will allow the Timberwolves All-Star center to garner more of the scoring responsibilities. Minnesota’s already impressive offense will add another string to its bow.

Bjelica should be in a sixth man role

When Jimmy Butler hit the ground on that fateful night in Houston, the whole of Minnesota knew that Nemanja Bjelica would have to bring the best version of himself every night until their four-time All-Star returned.

While it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the 29-year-old Serbian, he has shown in his 16 straight starts that he deserves to be playing 25+ minutes when the rotation changes in the coming games.

The combo forward has been a 3-point threat all season, and it was no different in a starting role. His 44 percent long range stroke before the Jimmy G injury was never going to hold up with increased volume, but Bjelica’s 41.5 percent clip is pretty respectable.

As is the 10.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals, Bjelica has put up in the most important 16 games of the season so far.

Along with the flamethrower-like shooting, Bjelly ripped down boards at the small forward position brilliantly – thanks to his 6-foot-10 frame – he also moved drive-and-kick passes to the corner well and defended at a level few knew he could.

Who could forget when Bjelica stuffed this Quinn Cook late-game layup back down the Golden State Warriors guard’s throat:

The only problem with this recent run of form for the restricted free agent is that he may have played his way out of the Timberwolves price range when summer rolls around.

Despite that, Minnesota has him for now and they must make the most of his red-hot shooting and budding all-around game in an enlarged bench role when Jimmy Butler makes his way back to the NBA court.

Andrew Wiggins has grown defensively

The single biggest fear for the Timberwolves went Jimmy Butler tore his meniscus was losing the defensive toughness he brought every night, possibly killing Minnesota’s playoff chances completely.

With Butler on the mend, the Wolves did not drop out of the playoff picture for one second in his absence. Thanks partly to Andrew Wiggins consistently high effort on the less flashy end of the floor.

The 23-year-old has been noticeably more locked in without Jimmy Buckets there to mask his defensive deficiencies, making plays like this one on Dirk Nowitzki – who has 1000 years experience in posting up – has become a nightly occurrence for Wiggins:

With Maple Jordan engaged on defense, the Timberwolves become a much better defensive team (which still isn’t a good one) and when their three-time All-Defense team member returns the pair could join into a formidable wing pairing on both ends.

Below is perhaps the most encouraging defensive play Andrew Wiggins has ever produced. He hounds Washington star Bradley Beal like a rabid dog down the floor and smothers his shot attempt, before sprinting to the opposite corner and locking up Otto Porter all in one foul swoop:

The former Rookie Of The Year has shown flashes of defensive mastery throughout his entire career, but amidst a brutal playoff run without his defensive leader Wiggins has shown he can do it more often than not.

Next: Possible Wolves playoff match-ups

If you’re like me and hungry for more defensive highlights from the Canadian, let’s have a look at one more. Here he puts the shackles on a dancing CJ McCollum, which not many are capable of, forcing him to give up the ball to Jusef Nurkic:

We can only hope he maintains these three lessons and can be easily implemented when Jimmy Butler does return within the next few games.