1. Direction
As previously talked about, Minnesota had a bright future with LaVine, Towns and Wiggins. They had complementary pieces in Kris Dunn, Gorgui Dieng, Ricky Rubio and Tyus Jones. At the time, they also were looking at the No. 7 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
While Butler made the All-Star team and the Wolves made the playoffs at the end of the 2017-18 season, the high hopes were squashed only 15 months later when he demanded a trade.
Minnesota cleaned out its front office and started hiring guys who fit the system and understand basketball. Associate head coach and defensive coordinator David Vanterpool and Rosas are just two names that get it and have had a large impact already in their short time here in Minnesota.
Last summer, Minnesota signed a bunch of players that were low-risk, high-reward players. Most of them were on one-year deals, which created more cap flexibility: Jordan Bell, Noah Vonleh, the acquisitions of Treveon Graham and Shabazz Napier, and so on.
The Wolves now have more flexibility in the coming years as Russell and Towns serve as the main two big contracts on the roster. Provided Johnson opts into his contract, he will be the next largest deal at around $15 million.
There’s also plenty to be sorted out with Beasley and fellow restricted free agent Juan Hernangomez, but those are good problems to have.
Minnesota now has young, star-caliber talent and will be entering the draft with the chance at the No. 1 pick and the Brooklyn Nets’ pick at 16. The future looks bright in Minnesota and while the record wasn’t the best in 2019-20, there were still quite a few positive takeaways from the current campaign.