4 surprising Minnesota Timberwolves Media Day revelations

The Minnesota Timberwolves certainly have been active in the past few months. But until now, it’s all been primarily faceless stats, active imaginations, and hypothetical scenarios. Players who have never competed together on the same basketball court are not only expected to generate instant and lasting chemistry but win competitive NBA basketball games in the process. And until now, everything was based on faith and speculation.

But the NBA Media Day changes all of that. Each year, the Minnesota Timberwolves join 29 other NBA teams in showcasing their players, coaches, and even team executives.

Similar to a school open house, the Minnesota Timberwolves honor the media one day each year to give access to pose questions to everyone in the organization. That, in turn, builds interest and optimism among the fanbase, which in turn helps to drive ticket and merchandise sales.

Timberwolves Media Day has a new vibe

But this year is noticeably different. The buzz is more than an NBA Playoff team returning for another shot at the post-season competition. This year’s Media Day was electrifying, a debut not only of the new executive suite of NBA savvy professionals but a glorious unveiling of a roster that boasts as much pure talent as any roster in the NBA today.

The biggest question to that is the simplest one: Can they pull it all together this season? After all, fans have observed the team exchanging copious amounts of players and future draft picks for this roster. Now, can they win? Let’s dive into some player segments to try to uncover that answer:

D’Angelo Russell is content with no contract progress

First, let’s focus our attention on the elephant in the room, PG D’Angelo Russell‘s contract situation. If there is one single player who should be ecstatic with the Timberwolves roster reconstruction, it’s DLo. He has been a player who has struggled to find his way so far on the Minnesota Timberwolves roster,

The Timberwolves are in no hurry to extend Russell because, simply put, the team wants to see how well he drives this high-powered roster this year. The addition of center Rudy Gobert will help D’Angelo Russell tremendously. Not only does Gobert offer Russell a wide range of options out of the pick and roll, but Russell will have a much greater number of options to charge to the basket, pass to the open shooter, or simply lay up a perfect lob pass to Gobert for an almost certain score.

That will almost certainly drive up DLo’s value, and that means his contract offer will inflate accordingly.

Austin Rivers is a player to keep on your radar

I like the calm demeanor that a veteran like Austin Rivers brings to this team. While he may not be putting up All-Star numbers, he is a 10-year NBA veteran who followed Minnesota Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly from the Denver Nuggets to the Timberwolves. Clearly, Connelly loves his locker room presence.

He was as brutally honest as the cold winter winds can be. But that is a good thing. He is not arriving with a misconception that winters are mild in Minnesota. They’re not. But that also opens the door to honesty as well. Rivers still has a serviceable three-point shot, coming in at 34.2 percent in 2021, as well as a 41.7 percent shot from the floor, and a 72.7 percent shot from the free throw line.

He won’t give you 30+ minutes in a game, but he can rotate in for a solid 20 minutes per clip. He is a headsy calm and collected player who can be counted on when you need him to show up.

Eric Paschall nearly quit basketball

Another touching message was delivered by Eric Paschall, who admitted to the press that he contemplated quitting basketball. While that may strike some fans in the wrong way, it has several positive elements to it. Let’s talk this one through.

Players who opt to stick it out oftentimes are like playing with house money at a casino. They are more apt to enjoy the game, have fun, and as a result, perform better than ever. Paschall came back to basketball by choice. He is here because he wants to compete.  And he played alongside center Rudy Gobert on the Utah Jazz just last season.

He has a sweet three-point shot, serviceable rebounding can score, and is versatile enough to help the team out in a number of ways. While he is on a two-way contract, he could play his way into a standard contract before long.

A lot of optimism surrounding this team thanks to Rudy Gobert

There is a new swagger in town, and it appeared as soon as the Minnesota Timberwolves traded for All-Star center Rudy Gobert. Is Gobert worth all the hype? Does he truly make this Minnesota Timberwolves roster that much more competitive? We think so, yes.

The Timberwolves set out to find a rim protector center in free agency, which would allow the team to move offensive-centric Karl-Anthony Towns to the power forward spot. But the team quickly learned that they could land the best rim-protecting center in the NBA, which reset their entire board. They made the trade. Gobert is an incredibly accomplished NBA player, but on the Minnesota Timberwolves, he becomes the cornerstone to the image of an NBA Championship roster.

It starts with amplifying media attention. Gobert’s presence has attracted a lot of NBA attention to the Timberwolves franchise. Now, the Timberwolves simply have to deliver with winning, and that will come soon enough.

In the end, what did we truly learn about these Timberwolves on Media Day? They are a robust and talented group of NBA players who are focused on winning this year. Now? We can put faces on the players.