Minnesota Timberwolves: Is the Tom Thibodeau era winding down?

Tom Thibodeau’s tenure with the Minnesota Timberwolves could come to an early and rocky end if the Wolves prove to be disinterested early in the year and fall out of playoff contention quickly.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are off to a 2-3 start this season, and things could turn ugly quickly for head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau.

Golden State Warriors’ All-Star Draymond Green recently said, “The league does not emphasize defense anymore.”

With new NBA rules implemented this year including resetting the shot clock to 14 seconds on an offensive rebound rather than resetting all the way to 24 seconds, the league is pushing more offense. And it’s working; through the first five games, 29 of 30 teams are averaging over 100 points.

However, the offensive explosion has not impacted the Minnesota Timberwolves all that much. Former No. 1-overall picks Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins continue to struggle under coach Tom Thibodeau, watching their respective scoring averages decrease over the past year. Owner Glen Taylor has invested over $300+ million in the two players, and if they are not reaching their full potential on the court, the blame will fall solely on Thibodeau.

Thibodeau was cast as a defensive wizard following his days with the Chicago Bulls, but since moving to Minnesota none of that defensive mojo has transitioned over with Thibs.

The Timberwolves gave up 106 points per game in 2015-16 and when Thibodeau joined the following season, that numberactually increased to 106.7 points per game. Last season, the Wolves again had an increase in points allowed to 107.3, and through five games this year it has ballooned to 115.6 a game. Clearly, Thibodeau has not exactly been a defensive whiz thus far in Minnesota.

Additionally, Thibodeau does not exactly develop young players. Shabazz Muhammad was a legitimate sixth man prior to his arrival, averaging 10.8 points under Sam Mitchell in 2015-16. This number dropped to 9.9 in Thibodeau’s inaugural year before Muhammad fell out of the rotation entirely and was eventually released.

Thibodeau has also alienated players. Three-time Sixth Man of the Year winner Jamal Crawford signed last year to provide a veteran presence in the locker room and steady the bench. Instead, JCross was miffed over playing time as his minutes dropped from 26 to 20 per game and he ended up averaging his lowest offensive numbers in years.

Of course, Thibodeau has brought in plenty of former Bulls players including Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson and Derrick Rose, and that’s a whole different issue.

The Butler saga is nothing but a huge public relations mess for the Wolves. Ownership promised Butler they would try to trade him before the start of the season but now have been forced to mend fences with a Butler knowing he will leave in free agency in the summer. It’s hard to believe Butler is playing at his best if he’s already checked out.

A solid player already, Gibson would be that much more valuable if he played in the 1990s. Today’s NBA is about stretching defenses. Gibson started all 82 games last year and attempted 35 3-pointers, making only seven. He also only averaged 2.4 offensive rebounds.

Rose was the youngest ever MVP when he won the award during his 2010-11 campaign. But injuries derailed his promising career and midway through last season Rose even thought about quitting basketball altogether. Rose is not as explosive as he once was, and he only averaged 1.5 assists per game while shooting 23.3 from 3-point range last season.

Also last summer, Thibodeau essentially traded Ricky Rubio for Jeff Teague. While Teague is a better scorer, he doesn’t dish out as many assists (8.7 career assists for Rubio compared to 5.7 by Teague) and does not get his teammates involved as much. A team with scorers including Wiggins, KAT and Butler, does not need a scoring point guard like Teague or Rose; they need a pass-first guard, like Rubio.

Thibodeau also traded away Lauri Markkannen and Zach LaVine, two bonefide NBA scorers, for Butler, who appears as though he’ll end up with just one full season in Minnesota. Markkannen looks like a second coming of Dirk Nowitzki (or, a lite version, at least) and LaVine has started the 2018-19 season hot. Who knows, this could be one of the worst deals in NBA history, especially if Butler leaves and the Wolves get nothing in return.

Thibodeau has not been able to get Butler, Wiggins and KAT to mesh together thus far. Should the T-Wolves fall out of playoff contention early, Thibodeau will end up having a short stay in Minnesota.