Who are these Minnesota Timberwolves that emerged from shame and utter mediocrity to mold into a product that appears competent and structured?
In late April, Chris Finch’s squad took out the top-seeded Utah Jazz in back-to-back games, causing many to foam at the mouth while pondering how the heck it happened. Minnesota followed up those two wins with two more consecutive victories against the lowly Houston Rockets and the play-in bound Golden State Warriors. Sure, the Rockets are awful, but it would’ve been on par for Minnesota to beat the Jazz twice only to lose to the Rockets. But they didn’t!
Now, as this season winds down, the Wolves need to take a page out of the New York Knicks’ playbook to take the next step and become a playoff team in 2021-22.
What the Knicks have accomplished so far this season is nothing short of miraculous. Tom Thibodeau has taken a miserable franchise and flipped them into a legitimate playoff team in his first year. That name alone, Thibodeau, may have you closing out of this piece before we even get into it. If that’s your prerogative, so be it. But the Wolves can take many ideas from this New York team to become a playoff-bound franchise next year.
There’s the obvious one, so let’s get it out of the way. Defense. The Wolves have been next-level bad defensively this year. On the flip side of the coin, the Knicks have been one of the best defensive units in the NBA all year long. They rank at or near the top in points allowed per game, opponent field goal percentage, and opponent 3-point percentage.
New York didn’t add a bunch of defensively-savvy players in the offseason last year to bump those numbers up, either. The reality is the scheme that Thibodeau has implemented, and the relentlessness of the players on this roster have caused the turnaround.
The Knicks weren’t great defensively a year ago, and they brought back almost the same roster this season. Julius Randle and RJ Barrett, among others, constantly talk about the effort on the defensive side and the desire to shut down opponents. Minnesota can’t be much worse on defense next year than they are this year. They’re currently giving up the second-most points per pop at 117.6. The offense can be as good as it wants and has the pieces to excel, but it will all be for naught if the defense doesn’t make adjustments next year.
Minnesota has a young roster with gobs of talent, similar to the New York’s. Arguably, the Wolves have more to work with.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards appear to be cemented as pillars of the franchise. Having D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley in the fold as second-tier players is certainly a luxury other teams wish they had.
Randle emerged as a first-time All-Star this year. Barrett has taken his game to another level this year, shooting a much-improved 40% from 3-point range. Immanuel Quickley has shown tremendous strides as a rookie, too. The Knicks have been able to use that blend of young talent and the veteran presence of guys like Derrick Rose and Nerlens Noel to design a team destined for the playoffs.
With Minnesota’s young talent, along with a veteran point guard in Ricky Rubio, there’s no reason to think they can’t be a carbon copy of what the Knicks did in terms of going from disaster to playoff team in the snap of a finger.
One big difference between these two, oddly enough, is cap space.
The Knicks entered last offseason with the most cap space in the NBA, and they will be near the top again this summer. Meanwhile, the Wolves have exhausted many of their financial resources on the massive contracts of Towns and Russell. The results haven’t backed it up yet, but Minnesota is hoping those deals pay off in the long run and result in multiple playoff appearances.
New York is already a playoff team and poised to make at least one big splash once the summer rolls around. They have seen results while still needing a superstar, or another franchise pillar like the Wolves have in Towns and Edwards. Randle is one. Barrett could potentially be another, but it’s more likely he settles in as a third option in the Big Apple.
The Knicks have become what the Timberwolves should strive to be: A typically miserable team that flipped the switch in one offseason to punch a ticket to the playoffs. It sounds outlandish, but given what Minnesota’s front office has invested in the current roster, along with the team buying into Finch’s methods down the stretch of this year, 2021-22 could and actually be the year they turn it around.
