3 Timberwolves that earned untouchable status, 3 who could be cut loose
By Bret Stuter
The Minnesota Timberwolves must now pivot from competing in the NBA Playoffs over to a strategic assessment of the current roster, and the planning of how to better assemble the team for the 2023-24 NBA season. In the process, the Timberwolves front office will take a discerning view of those players who competed for the team, and judge whether they fulfilled the team’s expectations.
Next, the Timberwolves front office will begin the even more time-consuming process of identifying possible fits and upgrades at each position on the team’s roster, and whether or not those upgrades are achievable. After all, the Timberwolves cannot stand idle and let the teams who are more talented widen the gap, while teams that are behind them close the gap.
Like any race, the Timberwolves must now jockey for optimal position. Unlike other races, there are those who believe that the Minnesota Timberwolves invested too much into winning now, and did so at the cost of future competition.
Like sacred cows, NBA fans do what the fans of many professional sports teams do. Some Timberwolves fans covet those traded draft picks simply because those picks could be the path to a talented rookie. But nobody knows who that might be today. What we do know is that without the presence of Rudy Gobert, the Timberwolves may not have advanced to the NBA Playoffs this season.
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Is a second consecutive NBA Playoff appearance worth future draft picks? If not, then what is the cutoff? What is the value of those picks, if not the value of the players chosen with those picks? In the end, it has and will ultimately be about the players.