Timberwolves fans can delight in Cavaliers’ downfall

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ complicated 2022-23 season ended with a hard-fought loss to the top-seeded Denver Nuggets. In the final seconds at Ball Arena, Anthony Edwards’ three-point prayer barely missed to send Minnesota home for the summer.

After very nearly pushing the team with the best record in the Western Conference to six games despite being down two of their most important players for the entire series, Wolves fans have to feel encouraged about how their team performed in the face of tough circumstances. With the roster moves they made this season, the team appears to be set up for success in the long-term.

But there are still those fans of other teams that want to make a mockery of the Timberwolves and celebrate their failures. Thankfully, one new development in the NBA Playoffs should alleviate some of the heat Minnesota has been catching from fans and pundits.

NBA fans view the Gobert and Mitchell trades differently.

Last summer, much of the offseason discussion was fixated on the Utah Jazz and their two All-Stars, Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. With Utah set to blow their roster up and deal away their two stars, everyone wanted to know where the two teammates would be headed.

Of course, Gobert was dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first week of July 2022 in a trade package that many would agree was over the top. Minnesota gave up three rotation players, four first-round picks, and the runner up in 2023 Rookie of the Year voting. Much was made of this deal, with some even calling it “the worst trade in NBA history.”

No matter how they felt about the trade, this obviously bothered many within the Timberwolves fanbase. Two months after this, the Cleveland Cavaliers ended up being suitors for Donovan Mitchell and gave up a similar package to get him. They surrendered three first-round picks, two first-round pick swaps, and three other players including 2023 Most Improved Player Award winner Lauri Markkanen.

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ first-round exit makes the Timberwolves’ season more bearable.

What is bizarre is that despite the similar nature of the two trades, NBA fans seemed to enjoy trashing the Timberwolves and their fanbase more for the Gobert trade than they did the Cavs for the Mitchell trade. In reality, Cleveland’s deal could end up aging far worse than Minnesota’s.

Both teams gave up arguably too much for their respective star player, but the Timberwolves appear to be the ones that did more with the cards they were dealt, and look to be set up better for success going forward than the Cavaliers. That is why Wolves fans should be rejoicing at the Cavaliers’ unexpected first round exit.

Yes, Minnesota was eliminated in five games in round one of the playoffs, but they went out without three of their top seven rotation players in their final game of the season. They fought until the bitter end against a stacked Nuggets team in a series they were not expected to have any chance of winning.

Meanwhile, experts overwhelming picked Cleveland to defeat the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference first round. Instead, a talented Cavs team melted down and was on the losing end of a gentlemen’s sweep at the hands of the Knicks.

At the end of the day, Timberwolves fans can count it a win that their tumultuous, adversity-filled year turned out to be far more of a success than the disappointing campaign the Cavaliers had.