The Minnesota Timberwolves have suffered a playoff drought of 13 years, but after an eventful offseason where they added star power, that drought is most likely going to come to an end.
The biggest trade of the offseason
In what was the biggest and most shocking trade of the offseason, the Timberwolves landed Chicago Bulls star Jimmy Butler in exchange for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and the seventh overall pick in the 2017 Nba Draft.
While LaVine was gradually showing improvement, Butler is certainly a major upgrade. With three All-Star appearances and career-high averages of 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.9 steals per game last season, Butler is poised to make the Timberwolves a legitimate playoff team.
Now, the Timberwolves have a big three of their own with Butler, Andrew Wiggins, and Karl-Anthony Towns. Additionally, Butler will reunite with former head coach Tom Thibodeau, who will properly utilize the 27-year-old star.
Free agency additions
The Timberwolves didn’t stop there. Right when the clock struck 12, they completed a three-year deal with Jeff Teague. The 29-year-old will become the team’s new starting point guard and is a more capable scorer than Ricky Rubio ever was.
After signing Teague, the Timberwolves also brought in another former Bulls player in Taj Gibson, who has been coached by Thibodeau as well. Gibson will bring a lot of energy and rebounding alongside Towns, whether he is a starter or bench player.
Lastly, the Timberwolves signed former Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford to bolster their bench. In need of more three-point shooting and scoring, the veteran guard will fulfill the team’s needs.
Other moves
As mentioned above, Teague will become the team’s new starting point guard because Minnesota traded Ricky Rubio to the Utah Jazz for merely a draft pick.
Since Rubio was never able to develop an offensive game, the Timberwolves felt it was necessary to part ways with the Spaniard, which was a wise choice.
The Timberwolves cleared some other unnecessary players as well, waiving the injury-prone Nikola Pekovic and Jordan Hill. Pekovic hadn’t played a game for Minnesota since early 2016, so it was essential to wipe his contract off the pay roll to create a roster spot.
The 2017 NBA draft
As part of the Jimmy Butler trade, the Timberwolves also received Chicago’s 16th overall pick and drafted Justin Patton, a big man with terrific size and lateral quickness who may become part of the team’s rotation. That was the only pick the Timberwolves owned during the draft.
The Timberwolves have become a Western Conference powerhouse after being a non-playoff team the past 13 seasons. They came into the offseason with the mindset to immediately improve and finally landed Jimmy Butler, whom Tom Thibodeau has long desired. Minnesota must still fill out the rest of its bench, but it has been a very successful offseason nonetheless.
Roster outlook
PG: Jeff Teague/Tyus Jones/Melo Trimble
SG: Andrew Wiggins/Jamal Crawford
SF: Jimmy Butler/Anthony Brown
PF: Taj Gibson/Gorgui Dieng/Nemanja Bjelica
C: Karl-Anthony Towns/Cole Aldrich/Justin Patton
Coach: Tom Thibodeau
Offseason Grade: A
