Minnesota Timberwolves handed more poor offseason grades

The Minnesota Timberwolves have had a relatively quiet offseason. Or, at least that’s what we’re told.

In truth, they’ve made a pair of plays and a couple of astute two-way signings. But no, they haven’t made any significant splashes and had no picks in the 2021 draft.

Another pair of offseason grades lists were concocted by NBA insiders, and once again, the Wolves didn’t rank highly.

Minnesota Timberwolves handed two more poor offseason grades

It was less than two weeks ago that The Athletic’s David Aldridge ranked the Wolves last in the league in terms of offseason moves. ESPN’s power rankings, which are a bit of a different measure but also partly a reflection of the past several weeks, also had the Wolves surprisingly close to the bottom.

Now, two other analysts have weighed in on the offseason. Let’s start with yet another less-than-favorable grade.

The Athletic’s Zach Harper gives the Minnesota Timberwolves…

Zach Harper of The Athletic is working through the entire league, reviewing the offseason for each individual team. His dedicated article on the Wolves (subscription required) was a bit confusing, but here we go.

Harper gave the Wolves a ‘D+’ grade for the offseason, but he also didn’t dislike much of what they’ve done.

The one place where he’s a bit off base is that he incorrectly calls Ricky Rubio a better player than Patrick Beverley, which is the one roster spot and role that the Wolves effectively swapped players.

We’ve written about this extensively here at DWW, but here are the cliff notes: in a vacuum, one could certainly argue that Rubio and Beverley are equal players. On the Wolves current roster, however, Beverley is unquestionably a better fit as a relatively low-usage guard with the ability to play off the ball and knock down 3-pointers at an above-average clip. Defensively, he’s an upgrade as a point-of-attack defender, which is a role that Minnesota has been sorely lacking.

Harper goes on to say that the Wolves slightly improved on the wing with the addition of Taurean Prince, which is another point that could easily be quibbled with. He also thinks that the Wolves will be largely the same in the frontcourt.

Ultimately, he gives the team a ‘D+’, which seems harsh for a team that has been quite open about simply wanting to get healthy to see what they have.

ESPN’s Kevin Pelton gives a slightly more optimistic Minnesota Timberwolves take

Kevin Pelton of ESPN has put out his own list of offseason grades (subscription required). Pelton is one of the most analytically inclined analysts and his articles are typically steeped in hard, cold facts, compared to some of the other experts out there who may have inherent biases and see things through a very … national lens.

Pelton gave the Wolves a C+. While not great, it’s obviously better than Aldridge’s last-in-the-league ranking from a couple of weeks ago, and also better than Harper’s ‘D+’ grade.

His analysis is brief, but he really only calls them out for a lack of urgency in upgrading the “edges” of the roster.

Importantly, there were three teams that received worse grades than the Wolves in the Western Conference alone. The Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, and Sacramento Kings each received a ‘C’, while the New Orleans Pelicans received a ‘D’. (As it turns out, giving up draft capital to get older and worse while taking on salary is generally not a good thing.)

The Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs each received the same ‘C+’ grade that the Wolves were given.

Overall, it’s hard to argue with the C+ grade. That’s average, right? Again, it’s difficult to rake the Wolves over the coals for not drafting anyone when they traded those picks over a year ago, and for not signing anyone when they didn’t have cap space. Yes, they put themselves in that position, but that’s because they built the roster that they wanted — which is also a roster that we haven’t seen take the floor together for any significant length of time.

Now, we just have to see if Gersson Rosas was right all along and if the limited flexibility isn’t a big deal after all. Only a few weeks left to go…