Over the first third of the schedule, the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ season has been nothing short of disastrous.
After losing to the Mavericks on Monday, the Wolves’ record fell to 6-18, leaving them in last place in the Western Conference.
As a once-promising season quickly fades away, it’s time to begin assigning blame for the ongoing debacle.
Assigning blame for the Minnesota Timberwolves’ lost season
This has significant ramifications for the future of the franchise. Normally, the Wolves’ struggles would give them the hopes of a high draft pick. That hope is significantly diminished this year, as President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas traded the team’s 2021 first-round pick to the Golden State Warriors in the deal that brought D’Angelo Russell to the team.
At the time, this trade seemed like a victory, and in many ways it still might be just that. The Wolves needed to get off of Andrew Wiggins’ contract, and according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, many executives around the league believed it would take two first-round picks to move that albatross.
Gersson Rosas managed to get off of Wiggins’ deal with just one first-round pick attached while acquiring a player whose offensive game meshes perfectly with his incumbent star. That can certainly be seen as a win.
Also, the pick is top-three protected, which leaves some hope of the Wolves retaining said pick, but trading it away in the first place was a gamble by the front office that the team would at least be in playoff contention. Now, with this team’s poor performance this season, the Wolves risk a disastrous season with no pick to show for it.
Meanwhile, with each passing season, the clock on Karl-Anthony Towns’ contract and happiness continues to tick, which adds urgency for the franchise to capitalize on having an elite player on their roster.
This season has been particularly frustrating for fans who have waited to see what the duo of Russell and Towns are capable of accomplishing. Unfortunately, more than a year after the Russell trade, the two have shared the floor for just five games, and the team remains in a bottom-dweller in the league.
With frustration naturally comes blame. While it may be easy for fans to blame a coach or player or executive for the team’s failure this season, the reality is that there are many sources of blame for how this season has played out.
Let’s take a look at a breakdown of the blame for this season, assigning each aspect of the team a percentage of the total blame.