In the NBA, the mechanics of building and retaining an effective roster is incredibly challenging. The Minnesota Timberwolves know that lesson all too well. But Timberwolves fans, frustrated for years with the cycle of bobbing to the NBA Playoffs for one appearance, and then falling back in the standings for several years, it’s come to a point where there is a desperate hope for a better way.
And yet, the vicious and unrelenting cycle continues this season. After the Timberwolves hired the brightest and best minds and NBA executives in the league, and after countless roster moves that all seemed to be superbly matched with where the Minnesota Timberwolves wanted to go this season, the wheels on the Wolves wagon are already starting to wobble.
Drop ballast to get this balloon rising again
The Timberwolves are struggling right now, sinking from the dead weight of too few players bearing the burden of too many minutes. And whether by sea or by air, objects that are sinking can only rise once more by getting lighter. In the NBA, that oftentimes means trading players who are underperforming or simply not a great fit on the team’s roster.
But the Minnesota Timberwolves may be motivated to place some players on the trade block for other reasons. You see, this team has almost no wiggle room in terms of changing course and acquiring new players, with the exception of signing free agents. That may or may not be the way this team wants to continue. And as far as draft picks? The team has almost none to give away.
Those may not even be pain points for the Minnesota Timberwolves organization. But if they are, then the only remedy is to trade current players, amass roster upgrades, draft picks, or salary cap space, and then try to weather the 2022-23 NBA season, putting it all down to a learning experience, only to regroup for the 2023-23 NBA season. So who may shock fans to be traded at the deadline?