Minnesota Timberwolves: Defending Tom Thibodeau’s Timberbulls

Tom Thibodeau has received plenty of criticism for turning the Minnesota Timberwolves into, well, the Timberbulls. But is that really the worst thing?

Over the last two-plus years, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been remade in Tom Thibodeau’s image. That much is true, and it is undeniable.

Now, with rumors that the Wolves are interested in the Knicks’ Joakim Noah and Luol Deng, formerly of the Lakers, the hand-wringing has reached a fever pitch.

This weekend, Thibodeau reportedly met with Deng, who was recently bought out by Los Angeles after appearing in exactly one game last season.

Rohan Nadkarni fanned the ever-burning flames late last week by claiming that someone “needs to stop” Thibodeau before he completes his Wolves-to-Bulls conversion fantasy.

Here’s what Nadkarni had to say, in part:

"Thibs’s fetish for former Bulls is no secret. His biggest move as Wolves president was trading for Jimmy Butler last summer. And then, instead of adding shooting to his bricky lineup, he also reunited with forward Taj Gibson. By the end of the season, Derrick Rose—who basically peaced out on the Cavs for a bit—was also on the roster. What started as a cute story—Thibs and Butler back together!—ended with Thibodeau sitting in a room, surrounded by flames and former Bulls, saying, “This is fine.”…A potential Deng signing on its own is not really a big deal. Again, he could end up being a sneaky-good acquisition. The troubling aspect of such a move would be that it shows Thibodeau is still trying to lean on his past success as opposed to looking ahead, which is the job of most good general managers."

The first portion is a fine summary of exactly what Thibodeau has done thus far in Minnesota. But it also glosses over the fact that the Butler and Gibson additions were fantastic basketball moves, former Bulls or not.

The addition of Rose was panned before it ever happened by yours truly, and his re-signing this summer was equal parts questionable as it was inevitable. It’s also the only truly borderline move that Thibs has actually made regarding a former Bull player. In fact, the only other Wolf with former Bulls ties that has been on the team was 2016-17 third-string point guard Aaron Brooks — hardly a controversial use of a final roster spot.

Nadkarni himself admits that adding Deng wouldn’t be a big deal; the Wolves do need depth on the wing and Deng was a good player for a long time and basically rested all of last season. He should still have at least a little bit of tread on his tires.

The idea that Thibodeau is actively avoiding being forward-thinking is only partially true. While the optics of meeting with and apparently hoping to sign former Bulls players can be a bit … foggy, Thibodeau hasn’t exactly been confined to this thinking. Recent signings of Anthony Tolliver and Euroleague standout James Nunnally signify that he certainly isn’t planning on acquiring any former Bulls to play heavy minutes off the bench; a Deng or Noah addition would slot them in at something like the 14th or 15th man on the bench.

Outside of the optics, the only true concern is if such thinking alienates the non-Timberbulls, and in particular, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. If the angst between Butler and the two former Rookies of the Year is real, than Thibodeau only risks making it worse if he continues to push solely in the Butler/former Bulls direction.

After all, it remains far more likely that both Towns and WIggins are on the roster in 12 months than Butler, who is a free agent and has been rumored to be interested in playing in virtually every big  market in the league.

(I remain in the camp that Butler is highly unlikely to be traded and there remains a solid chance he takes the money and the option to stay with Thibs next summer, but that largely hinges on the team’s finish next spring.)

At any rate, the Timberbulls stuff has been exaggerated just a bit. Concerning? Sure, but it’s worked to this point in that the team won 47 games and would have had home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs if not for 21 missed games from Butler last year.

Now, if Deng and/or Noah ends up on the team and playing consistent minutes over the likes of Nunnally, Tolliver, or rookie Josh Okogie … then Wolves fans will have something to be up in arms over.