The Minnesota Timberwolves had two players rank in a recent top-100 list.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that the Minnesota Timberwolves only have two players that appear on Bleacher Report’s Top 100 Player Rankings.
But then again, it was just last year when four Wolves appeared on Sports Illustrated’s Top 100, although only two were on ESPN’s list. In 2018, five Wolves players were on SI.com’s list.
It’s clear that the current version of the Timberwolves is rather top-heavy; there are exactly two guys on the roster who have been All-Stars, and they happen to be the two guys who are also on maximum contracts. Beyond them?
Role players in various stages of their individual development, such as Josh Okogie, Jake Layman, Juancho Hernangomez, and James Johnson. There are also young players who have plenty of runway to improve but aren’t top-100 players as we stand today, including Jarrett Culver, Jordan McLaughlin, and Naz Reid.
But there aren’t any proven veteran role players this side of Johnson. No Taj Gibson or Jeff Teague, who each appeared on lists such as this in recent years. No third wheel who is at least a perceived “star”, like Andrew Wiggins.
Instead, the Wolves have exactly two players who the rest of the league takes note of, and the rest of the roster, while considerably improved from 12 months ago, remains in constant flux.
We’ve recently taken a look at D’Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns‘ individual rankings in Bleacher Report’s top 15 players at their respective positions. Now, we take a look at where they each landed in the composite list of the top 100 over at Bleacher Report.
Before we do that, keep this in mind: yes, president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas and the front office believe that they have their two building blocks, their cornerstones to carry the franchise to the next level. Are they where they need to be for the Wolves to be championship contenders? Obviously not. And this list demonstrates that, albeit on a crude level and from something resembling a 10,000-foot view.
Rosas believes that this duo has plenty of growth remaining. They’re each only 24 years old, after all, and if they both show even moderate growth as Rosas and Co. upgrade the roster around them, this is a playoff team. But if one or both of them makes exponential growth? Look out.
Let’s look at the rankings for both Russell and Towns.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Two players ranked in Bleacher Report’s top 100
No. 45 – D’Angelo Russell
Minnesota Timberwolves point guard D’Angelo Russell lands at No. 45 on Bleacher Report’s Top 100 Player list.
This feels only slightly low. Remember, he was an Eastern Conference All-Star in 2019, which effectively puts him in the top 25 or 30 players in the league. (Yes, there are 24 actual All-Stars, but factor in injury replacements and the superior depth in the West, and that seems about right.)
A year-plus has passed, and Russell was moved from Brooklyn to Golden State. Suddenly, the perception of DLo changed from rising superstar finally realizing his potential to a high-usage, shoot-first, no-defense point guard putting up numbers on bad teams.
Of course, had Steph Curry not been injured early in the 2019-20 campaign, things may have looked differently. Instead, Russell was forced to be what was essentially a one-man show on the worst team in the league, and his all-around game suffered because of it.
At his best, Russell is a creative distributer with the ability to score from virtually anywhere on the court. He can dominate in the pick-and-roll and has developed limitless range with a quick trigger. Defense is still an issue, and if he wanted to take the next step offensively he’ll either need to add a couple of points to his 3-point shooting percentage or somehow start getting into the paint and drawing fouls more often.
But as it stands today, a No. 45 ranking isn’t the worst thing for Russell. It still means that the Wolves two of the best 45 players in the league, and that should be enough for a playoff berth.
Interestingly, he is one spot ahead of former backcourt mate Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets. Part of the analysis by the Bleacher Report crew for Dinwiddie has to do with how much of an impact Russell’s offensive ability had on Dinwiddie, who regressed after D-Lo left town.
Here’s hoping that Russell’s offensive talents can boost his backcourt mates in Minnesota in similar fashion.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Two players ranked in Bleacher Report’s top 100
No. 14 – Karl-Anthony Towns
Karl-Anthony Towns’ ranking on lists such as these tends to fluctuate anywhere from right around No. 10 all the way up to around No. 20. There isn’t a real consensus on his overall on-court value, save for him being one of the best offensive big men in the game and the best shooting center of all-time, full stop.
The issues are well-documented, and they all have to do with defense. Despite only playing in 35 games this year, Towns demonstrated an ever-evolving and still improving offensive skillset. He upped his 3-point rate from .270 in 2018-19 to .445, meaning that 44.5 percent of his field goal attempts came from beyond the arc in 2019-20. Not only that, he upped his percentage to 41.2.
Towns has always been a skilled post player, and now he’s added perimeter playmaking to his arsenal at the behest of Rosas and head coach Ryan Saunders. Shockingly, his turnover rate actually went down while his assist rate rose.
On the offensive end, the sky really is the limit for Towns. Defensively, however, KAT is nowhere near scratching his potential.
Coming into the league, everyone expected Towns to be a switchable big man with the ability to guard in the post and protect the rim. He has done all of those things at the NBA level, but with no semblance of consistency.
Former coach Tom Thibodeau’s defensive concept wasn’t a perfect fit for Towns. In one year under associate head coach and defensive coordinator David Vanterpool‘s scheme, Towns showed flashes but was all too often caught out of position and taken advantage of by quick opposing guards.
Here’s the thing: if Towns can show anything resembling above-average defense over a course of a season, the Wolves will be an easy qualifier for the playoffs and Towns will be a consensus top-10 player. It’s that simple.
Next year at this time, lists such as these will hopefully rank the Wolves’ star duos even higher, and perhaps they’ll even be joined by a third Timberwolf…