Minnesota Timberwolves: Assigning blame for an already lost season

Assigning blame for the Timberwolves’ lost season: The players themselves

The individual players: 20 percent

When it comes down to it, it’s ultimately up to the players to win games. Regardless of the team’s roster construction and coaching, there have been several players on this team’s roster that have underperformed this season.

Ricky Rubio has been one of the most disappointing players to this point. Aside from his contract and potential future trade value, Rubio was brought in to help maximize the young players around him, as he did in Phoenix for Devin Booker and in Utah for Donovan Mitchell.

However, Rubio has failed to mesh with Russell, often being a stagnant piece in the Wolves’ offense when he isn’t handling the ball. To be fair, Rubio tested positive COVID-19 this summer, so it’s hard to know how the virus has affected him. However, he has nowhere near reached the front office’s expectations this season, averaging a career-high in turnovers per 100 possessions (25.1) and shooting a career-low 16.1 percent from 3-point range this season.

The Wolves’ 2018 and 2019 first-round picks have also been disappointing this season, to say the least.

Jarrett Culver and Josh Okogie have repeatedly shown a lack of growth in his offensive game. Okogie is shooting 17.6 percent from behind the arc, and as Dane Moore points out, ranks as one of the worst catch-and-shoot players in the NBA.

Meanwhile, Culver’s preseason confidence has disappeared. His 3-point percentage is down from last year, and his free throw percentage remains just 60.6 percent.

Critics can say what they will about where Culver was drafted, but the bottom line is that Culver hasn’t met the expectations of the team and front office.

Another glaring disappointment has been Juancho Hernangomez, who signed an extension worth an average of $7 million annually over the next three seasons. At that price, Juancho should at least be a staple in the rotation as a stretch-4, but he has rightfully been cast aside almost completely by Jarred Vanderbilt and Jaden McDaniels, even prior to his COVID-19 diagnosis.

Juancho has shot just 31.7 percent from three this season, and that number is skewed slightly high due to a single game against Denver during which he scored 25 points on 62.5 percent from three. If we set aside that game, Juancho’s mark is much, much lower and is especially damaging to the team given the clear shortcomings in other areas of his game.

Juancho has one of the worst defensive ratings on the team and struggles to score anywhere inside the 3-point line, leaving him with little to contribute to the team when he struggles with shooting.