It’s nearly impossible to build a perfect basketball team, although you don’t need to tell the Minnesota Timberwolves that.
A few weeks ago, the game 82-0 was gripping the nation as basketball fans tried to build a fantasy team of all-time greats that could go 82-0 on paper. In the game, you get five spins to build your team. A randomizer gives you a franchise and an era, for example, ’90s Timberwolves, and you pick one point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center until your starting lineup is complete.
With a little luck and a little ball knowledge, you could end up with a team with ’60s Golden State Warriors Wilt Chamberlain at center, ’50s Atlanta Hawks Bob Pettit at power forward, any version of LeBron James at small forward, ’80s or ’90s Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan at shooting guard, and ’80s Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson running the point, and you would get the coveted 82-0.
Fortunately for the tech overlords, the 82-0 algorithm doesn’t have to deal with the second apron or contend with 29 other general managers whose entire job is to mog you in trades, free agency, and the draft.
The Timberwolves have done most of their offseason team building ahead of free agency, which, contrary to Shams’ social media activity, officially started Tuesday evening. Tim Connelly started things off by salary-dumping Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets. He re-signed Ayo Dosunmu to a five-year, $122 million deal in technically free agency. And the biggest news: trading Naz Reid and a haul of draft capital to the Charlotte Hornets for LaMelo Ball (and Josh Green).
Since free agency officially started, Bones Hyland and Jaylen Clark have signed new deals to stay in Minnesota, while Mike Conley has signed with the Boston Celtics, and Kyle Anderson is headed to Toronto. Two days into free agency, and the pool of available players has all dried up.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are doing a reverse Jamaican bobsled team. The Raptors are rolling things back to 2019. And LeBron is doing whichever high school dance where the girls ask the boys. The Timberwolves have little money left to pay new hires, and they are on the verge of closing up shop for the summer. But looking at the roster, there’s an issue with Connelly’s 82-0 strategy.
He’s missing a power forward.
As currently constructed (as of July 6, when trades are official), the Timberwolves have:
- An All-Star point guard in LaMelo Ball.
- An All-NBA shooting guard in Anthony Edwards.
- An All-Defensive center in Rudy Gobert.
- And an all-around small forward in Jaden McDaniels.
But there’s no eligible player in the power forward slot. Sure, the Wolves have players who could slot up or down a position, but no natural power forward. That’s a problem. Even the aforementioned 82-0 roster (Chamberlain, Pettit, James, Jordan, Johnson) is only 78-4 if you don’t fill Bob Pettit in as power forward. The Timberwolves need to find their power forward to fill out and balance the roster; luckily, there are a few options.
The first option is the easiest, and probably the most likely. Jaden McDaniels, get ready to learn power forward, buddy.
He is Minnesota’s most natural fit at power forward. McDaniels is 6’9” with a seven-foot wingspan. He’s slotted in at the 4 when needed sparingly across his first six seasons in the NBA. He’s tall enough, he’s long enough, but he’s not thick enough to battle in the paint every night.
McDaniels is only 185 pounds. He is built perfectly to hunt ball handlers like Jamal Murray and Devin Booker for sport. Still, McDaniels is likely too small to deal with bigger, stronger opponents for 30 minutes a night. In this scenario, you would also likely slot 6’4” Ayo Dosunmu into the starting lineup at small forward. Now you have an undersized front line next to 34-year-old Rudy Gobert. The Wolves were built with size in mind just two years ago; now they’re looking to slim down.
If McDaniels at the four isn’t the answer, the Timberwolves could fill the position by committee. Terrence Shannon Jr. has a guard’s skill set in a forward’s body. He’s only 6’6”, 215 lbs., but has the strength and athleticism to play above his size for a dozen minutes per game. He showed in the playoffs that the way to fully unlock him is to put the ball in his hands and get him out in transition. Throwing him in the post negates that. Still, Ball, Edwards, and McDaniels in the starting lineup with TSJ would be a supernova.
Joan Beringer could dabble at power forward. But the second-year seven-footer is so clearly the heir apparent to Rudy Gobert at center and hasn’t shown the requisite skill to be a power forward in the current NBA in his rookie season.
The power forward market has shriveled up fast. If the Wolves look elsewhere for the power forward, they’re looking at guys like David the body Roddy, Jeff Green, Guerschon Yabusele, and other also-ran players who might be willing to take near the vet minimum for a year.
LeBron James is out there, and if winning was the only thing driving his decision, signing a minimum with the Timberwolves and delivering the first men’s championship since 1991 to the city would be the one thing he could do to really give himself a trump card over Michael Jordan in the GOAT debate. He won’t sign in Minnesota, but he’d fit perfectly into the Timberwolves starting lineup that could protect him on offense and defense.
If Tim Connelly is playing 82-0, he had four really good spins in a row. Now he’s looking down the barrel of the 2000s Milwaukee Bucks in his last spin, spoiling an otherwise meticulously assembled roster.
