Historically, the teams in the All-Star game were split by conference, East vs. West. However, the teams have been created through a draft system for the last five years. Two of the best players in the league are selected to be team captains, LeBron James and whoever the best player in the opposing conference is. Each captain selects their team from the pool of All-Star players, and those teams play against each other.
Kevin Durant drafted Karl-Anthony Towns and old friends Zach LaVine and Andrew Wiggins this year. This will be the first time all three players have been on a team since Tom Thibodeau traded LaVine to the Chicago Bulls for Jimmy Butler in 2017. Now that all three players are All-Stars on different teams, it seems like a good time to reflect on what the Wolves core would have looked like and what repercussions they’ve faced from the trades they made.
Trades
When the Timberwolves acquired Butler from the Chicago Bulls, there was excitement in the air. Butler had made the All-Star game in three consecutive seasons before joining the Wolves. He averaged over 20 points per game while also being one of the best defenders in the league. Butler did not disappoint on the court in his first season with the Wolves. He averaged 22.2 points, 2.0 steals, 4.9 assists, and 5.3 rebounds a game. Jimmy also helped bring the Wolves to their first playoff appearance since their Western Conference Finals loss in the 2003-04 season.
Despite all of Jimmy’s talent, and the exciting season of basketball, it is still somewhat difficult to call the trade for him a victory. Personality conflicts between Jimmy, KAT, and Wiggins caused a rift of legendary proportions in the locker room. When it became public that Butler was unhappy with the team and demanded a trade, the Timberwolves lost a lot of their trade leverage. They dealt Butler and Justin Patton to the Philadelphia 76ers for Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless, and a 2022 second-round pick.
While Covington and Saric are good role players, teams often look for at least one young player with star potential and a first-round draft pick in exchange for a player of Butler’s talent. Instead, they got three older players who are no longer on the team, and a draft pick that they haven’t been able to use yet. The risk didn’t pay off, given that the Wolves traded away young talent in LaVine, Kris Dunn, and a first-round pick that became Lauri Markkanen to get Butler. It makes you wonder how good Minnesota would be if they had followed the path of patience and developed their young core instead of trading it away.
How good could they have been?
Since the Wolves traded LaVine, he has averaged over 23 points per game in all but his first season in Chicago. He has also become a better distributor, averaging over 4.0 assists a game in his last four seasons, despite not having a very good team around him until this year. However, his injury history is still a concern. LaVine has yet to play over 63 games in a season since leaving Minnesota, and he may not surpass that threshold this year either. LaVine is reportedly seeing a specialist this week due to a nagging left knee injury.
Similarly, Wiggins has had success in a less prominent role on the Golden State Warriors. While many of his individual counting stat averages have dropped a bit, his efficiency has skyrocketed now that he’s taking fewer shots. Wiggins only had an effective field goal percentage of above .500 once in Minnesota, and that was in the half-season before they traded him to Golden State. In his last two full seasons with the Warriors, Wiggins’ eFG% has been .543 and .564. Additionally, his defense has gotten much better. Wiggins’ defensive box plus/minus was always below minus-1.5 in Minnesota. However, it was minus-0.4 and 0.2 in his last 2 seasons in San Francisco.
And while Markkanen may never be an All-Star, he has been a solid role player for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are currently third in the Eastern Conference. What Markkanen lacks in strength as a 7-footer, he makes up for with finesse and an ability to stretch the floor. He could make a fun frontcourt pairing with KAT. They can both shoot well and switch between power forward and center responsibilities.
While all of the players above have had strong individual seasons, it’s tough to say how well they would have played together. The team’s roster construction would be more heavily weighted towards offensive capability. As we’ve found out from Minnesota’s last several games, having a high-powered offense doesn’t guarantee wins when your defense is proportionately bad.
In addition, on-court chemistry may have been an issue. During Wiggins’ time in Minnesota, he was considered the second-best player. It wasn’t until the Timberwolves traded LaVine and allowed him to lead his own team that we saw him blossom into the star he is now. Had LaVine stayed in Minnesota, his development may have been hindered by the team’s prioritization of Wiggins. If LaVine had developed more as a scorer internally, then the team and coaching staff likely would have had to convince Wiggins to find a smaller usage role on offense because of how good LaVine had become.
While Wiggins has successfully taken on a smaller role in the Bay Area, it’s probably much easier to be convinced to take fewer shots when you’re traded to a team with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Additionally, Steve Kerr is one of the league’s best coaches, and Draymond Green is a great defensive mind. It’s entirely possible that Wiggins would not have become the defender he is today without their coaching.
Wiggins was not an especially good defender when he was on the Wolves. His lackadaisical nature was part of why Jimmy didn’t want to be on the team. The Warriors have a very specific style of play with lots of off-ball movement, and Wiggins learned how to fit into their scheme. He no longer has to carry the load of being the presupposed second-best player on the team like he did in Minnesota.
New Core
Alternate timelines aside, the Wolves are a lot of fun to watch right now, and we had to go through all that turmoil to get to this point. Even if the Wolves had kept that core together, there’s no guarantee they would be as good as they are now. They had to have a rough season and a half after Butler left to have the opportunity to draft Anthony Edwards No. 1 overall. Trading Wiggins landed them a great point guard in D’Angelo Russell, even if it also cost them a first-round draft pick.
Acquiring Covington in the Butler trade allowed them to later make another trade with the Denver Nuggets for Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt, two important parts of the Timberwolves current roster. It also got them noted movie star Juancho Hernangómez, who they traded with Jarrett Culver for Patrick Beverley. The process that led to this point may have been imperfect, but the Wolves are now a competitive team with a bunch of young talent, and a bright future. It’s best to leave the ‘what ifs’ behind and enjoy the positive vibes and exciting basketball.
