Latest Timberwolves rumors are clear: D’Angelo Russell will be traded

The Minnesota Timberwolves are becoming more and more obvious as a team that needs to make some midseason course corrections. At 21-22, the Timberwolves are not an NBA Playoff team, and in many ways do not resemble one. Of course, this was the prototype season for the new and improved Timberwolves roster. Or, if you prefer a software developer’s analogy, this is the beta version of the Timberwolves roster. It was rolled out to identify and correct bugs before mass production and distribution.

And yes, some deal-breaker bugs have been identified.

The Timberwolves defense continues to allow 60+ percent shooting from the perimeter. That’s embarrassing. The Timberwolves’ offense is content to allow All-Star center Rudy Gobert to get one shot on the basket in a critical game. Worse yet, Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch is good with that. Not only is Rudy Gobert growing more and more agitated with the situation, but ignoring Gobert on offense allows opponents to focus five defenders on four Timberwolves shooters.

Pressure is building

That’s not good. And at some point, the frustration will build until it becomes a major issue that Coach Finch cannot ignore.

I’m not sure why the Timberwolves continue to ignore these problems. They are not going to grow out of them, and the signs so far indicate that they are here to stay. The challenge is that the Timberwolves roster has been such a changing turnstile so far, that any correction plans coached into their lineups and rotations are at risk of being lost as the team has to start and play a new set of healthy players in the next game.

But that does not address the Minnesota Timberwolves’ biggest problem: