Minnesota Timberwolves losing streak proves team needs KAT back

To listen to some Minnesota Timberwolves fans, the sooner this team is rid of point guard D’Angelo Russell and power forward Karl-Anthony Towns, the better. In their minds, the team needs to be rid of both players because shooting guard Anthony Edwards is only being held back by the burden of carrying them.

Huh?

And yet, the Timberwolves have not had the benefit of KAT’s play, and have not broken .500 play. With the latest loss to the Miami Heat, the Timberwolves have now fallen to a record of 16-18, and 6-7 since Towns has been absent. The biggest problem now is the fact that the Timberwolves are losing to the caliber of teams that they could face in the NBA Playoffs.

I think I understand the frustration that some fans feel. The lack of success has been tough sledding, and the team has struggled to find the right fits on the Timberwolves roster to take the team to the next level. After years of trying, and failing, the path taken by the New Orleans Pelicans, trading away All-Star Anthony Davis and now very much competing for the top spot in the NBA Western Conference looks awfully appealing.

But that was never an easy transition. Those Pelicans were 33-49, in the last year of Anthony Davis. They fell to 30-42 the following season, climbed to 31-41 the following year, and improved to 36-46 in the 2021-22 NBA season. It was not until the 2022-23 NBA season, some four seasons after parting ways with Davis, that the Pelicans are enjoying success.

The Timberwolves roster will take time to synch up

This was never going to be a quick fix. The Minnesota Timberwolves front office is new, and as such only had second-hand information with which to reassemble the roster. This is not a team that can win on the back of Anthony Edwards alone. Data analytics applied to an NBA team seeking the NBA Championship needs three stars to win it all.

Right now, the Timberwolves believe that they have those three players. It’s just a matter of getting them all healthy and playing together in time to win a berth for postseason play. Once the Timberwolves, if the Timberwolves, can make it to the NBA Playoffs, the belief is that this roster can match up in a best-of-seven series.

Right now, the Timberwolves are losing games too frequently. Despite the 150-point outburst against the Chicago Bulls, the Timberwolves have not been scoring as consistently as they had with Karl-Anthony Towns in the lineup.

Despite the struggles of the Minnesota Timberwolves at 16-18 this season, I would not rush to any conclusions about the trade, the roster, or any projections just yet. This is a team that has played 34 games, and many of those games, 13 to be exact, have been without Towns.

The Timberwolves need all hands on deck this season. This is not a team that has enough talent to win without the best of everyone on the roster. Fan frustration? Sure, it makes sense. The Minnesota Timberwolves have struggled to win consistently. But the lesson learned is that shedding quality players is not a quick fix. Rather, it only resets the clock to another multi-year rebuild.

Not everyone is patient, I get that. But give this team time to gel before launching into tirades about how the Timberwolves need to be rid of players just yet. Remember, trading away players may seem like the right idea, but it only makes matters worse unless you have an upgrade to slide into that vacancy.