Dunking With Wolves
Fansided

Minnesota Timberwolves eliminated from playoff contention

ByDylan Jackson|
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - MARCH 22: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts to an injury during the first quarter of the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center on March 22, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - MARCH 22: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts to an injury during the first quarter of the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center on March 22, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

The Minnesota Timberwolves have been eliminated from playoff contention following a San Antonio Spurs win on Thursday night.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have finally been eliminated from a possible playoff berth after what has been one of the unluckiest seasons for any North American sports franchise in the past several years.

This isn’t exactly shocking news.

The Timberwolves, who started the season 2-0, currently hold the 2nd-worst record in the NBA at 16-44 with only 12 games remaining in the season. Minnesota was among the first two teams eliminated from playoff contention (along with the Houston Rockets, who had a 20-game losing streak earlier this season).

The Timberwolves have dealt with several unfortunate injuries/suspensions/COVID-related issues that effectively derailed the season before it began.

Karl-Anthony Towns has only played 38 games, D’Angelo Russell has only participated in 30. Malik Beasley, due to a suspension (and now injury), has played in 37 games.

The Timberwolves most prominent player this season has been first overall pick Anthony Edwards – and quite simply – if your most consistent player is a rookie, your team won’t be very good.

This season’s misfortunates are going to carry over into the offseason, as well. As of right now, the Timberwolves only have a 40-some-percent chance at retaining their draft pick, assuming they remain within the bottom-3 teams of the league.

Before the trade deadline last season, Minnesota dealt their 2021 pick (top-3 protected) to the Golden State Warriors (along with Andrew Wiggins) in order to bring in D’Angelo Russell.

In the middle of this season, the Timberwolves made the decision to fire Ryan Saunders, who was 7-24. Since bringing in coach Chris Finch, Minnesota has been slightly better, at 9-20.

The Timberwolves have been bad. Really bad. Stereotypical-Minnesota-Timberwolves bad. Any of the top-3 selections in this year’s draft class could be franchise changing (yes, we say this every year), but especially with a largely untested core group of players (I mean, KAT and Russell haven’t even started over 10 games together).

Next season is going to be an interesting one, especially if the Timberwolves retain their pick and are able to add other veterans to the roster. Last night, though, the season officially ended.

Home/Timberwolves News