This Timberwolves player deserves a hero’s welcome at Target Center
By Bret Stuter
The Minnesota Timberwolves may have gotten a great deal of press from the fact that this team has been reaching for the stars in terms of their NBA player acquisitions and aspirations. The prestidigitation effect of the Minnesota Timberwolves headlining trades has been to pull everyone’s attention to the acquisition of All-Star veteran center Rudy Gobert and the divestment of veteran point guard D’Angelo Russell.
And of course, when compared to the Minnesota Timberwolves history of blockbuster trades, Timberwolves fans have plenty to be nervous about. The Timberwolves may have set their expectations too high after trading for Rudy Gobert, but much of the shortcomings this season have not been related to Gobert’s play.
Townsdown, Downtown? Er . . . what?
Rather, the team has fallen short of the pre-season hype due to the fact that Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star power-forward Karl-Anthony Towns competed in just 29 of 82 games in the 2022-23 NBA season. It was not something that anyone could have predicted, and the fact that the team had a veteran center like Rudy Gobert to anchor the Timberwolves front very likely allowed the team to remain above .500 this season.
But you have to take what life throws at you, right?
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Well, the Timberwolves took it all on the chin, and the result was a team that oscillated from very good to very bad. That was the pattern set throughout the 2022-23 NBA season and remains in place even now. But injuries were not the only hurdle to consistent play, as we discovered at the NBA Trade Deadline