The Timberwolves are Good?!

 

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Last year, I wrote a blog post about the rise of the Timberwolves and young star Anthony Edwards. I talked about how, even though they were one of the worst teams in the league, Minnesota had a lot of potential and had the talent to make some noise in the Western Conference if they were able to stay healthy and put it all together throughout an entire season. Well, I am pleased to inform my last year's self that his Timberwolves are currently 42-30, which is good enough for the six seed in the West, and they have been firing on all cylinders lately, with a record of 11-2 since the All-Star break. Here, I am going to discuss the biggest factors as to why the Wolves have blossomed into a legitimate playoff team, and what has made them one of the most exciting teams in the league in 2022.

KAT

The most important factor to the Timberwolves successful season thus far has been the elite play of big man Karl-Anthony Towns, who is having the best season of his career up to this point at the age of 26. He's putting up his usual statistics, averaging 25 points per game, 10 rebounds per game, 1 steal and 1 block while shooting over 50 percent from the field and over 40 percent from deep. However, his stats do not fully tell the story of the year he is having. He has always been ultra-talented on the offensive end of the floor, but he has become much more assertive this season, and you can see when watching the games that he knows he can dominate whoever is across from him. He is truly the only player in the NBA who possesses his combination of size and scoring versatility. The game has never seen a true center shoot the long ball at the efficiency and consistency that Towns does, while also being able to score on anyone down low and take bigger guys off the dribble with ease. To add to that, it appears that he is also growing into the leader the Wolves have needed him to be, and that is because of the apparent chemistry this team has developed thanks to guys like Edwards and Patrick Beverley (who will be touched on next), as well as the guidance of second year head coach Chris Finch. It looks like Towns is finally in a stable environment around people that embrace him for who he is, which is something that he has mostly lacked in his NBA career so far.

Patrick Beverley

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I will readily admit that I was not a fan of Patrick Beverley before he came to Minnesota. I always looked at him as a pest and agreed with Russell Westbrook when he proclaimed that all Pat Bev does is run around, and that he doesn't actually guard anybody. My opinion could not be much different now that he has been on the Wolves for almost an entire season. Beverley has become the heart and soul of this team and is exactly what Minnesota needed in order to go from a bottom of the barrel team to legitimate playoff team with hopes of making some noise in the Western Conference. Upon arriving in Minnesota, Beverley joined a group of young guys with almost no playoff experience to be found, as well as a lack of focus on the defensive end of the floor. KAT and D'Angelo Russell have been known as below average defenders for their entire career's, and Anthony Edwards had shown flashes of potential on that end but was lacking the focus to truly be considered a good defender. With the combination of head coach Chris Finch putting more of an emphasis on the defensive side of the ball and veteran Patrick Beverley's presence, this team has seen a total shift from years past where they consistently had one of the worst defenses in the league. Now, there are not many teams that play harder on that side of the ball than the Timberwolves do, and Towns and Russell have dramatically improved in that area as well. This team has developed a culture in which anything other than winning basketball is unacceptable, and that largely has to do with the leadership and energy of Patrick Beverley.

The Leadership of D'Angelo Russell

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Timberwolves point guard D'Angelo Russell has been a highly criticized player since entering the league. He got traded by the Lakers and Magic Johnson because Magic said that he needed a "leader," and that he needed somebody "that can make the other players better and also that players want to play with." Russell even later said that "Magic kicked me in my ass on the way out." DLo has also been criticized for his lack of effort and skills on the defensive side of the ball. His ability to score and play make has never been in question, but there were always concerns about his lack of athleticism and motivation to play winning basketball. However, Russell has been a crucial part of the Wolves success this season and they certainly would not be in the position they are in without him. He has grown into a quarterback type of role for these young Wolves, as he runs the offense and is constantly seen coaching guys up and communicating where they need to be, especially on defense. Even though Russell's scoring stats are a bit down this season, he has begun doing so many important things that do not show up on the stat sheet. His passing ability is underrated; he sees the floor very well and makes a lot of impressive passes each game that most players can't make. His off-ball defense has improved tremendously; he makes a lot of subtle plays on defense each game especially when it comes to help defense and communicating. And most importantly, he leads the Wolves in clutch scoring. He has always been trustworthy with the ball in his hands late in the game, and he has only built on that quality on a Minnesota team that was in need of leadership and a steady hand at the end of games.

The Role Players

The Timberwolves have had so many role players step up this year and become integral to the season this team is having. First and foremost, Jarred Vanderbilt has improved mightily and fits excellently in the starting lineup at the four. His high-energy play has been key to the culture that Minnesota is building. Nobody is going to outwork Vando out there, and if you watch a Timberwolves game you are going to notice that he is the scrappiest player on the floor who rarely gets beat on 50/50 balls.

Their second most important role player so far has been Jaden McDaniels. The second-year player is oozing with potential and will only keep growing. He has improved as a shot-maker and his long arms and quick feet have already translated to a lot of success on defense early in his career. The Wolves are really going to need him to get healthy come playoff time.

A few other Wolves have made this team's bench unit one of the best in the league. You get reliable offense and crafty scoring from backup big Naz Reid. Malik Beasley is starting to show why he was one of Minnesota's most impressive players the last few years, as he is the ultimate sharpshooter who is lethal when he gets hot. Even though he has been having a down year he has still shown that he is deadly when he finds his rhythm from beyond the arc. Jaylen Nowell has really grown into his own as a player, providing scoring at every level off of the bench. Taurean Prince has also stepped into a three and d role for this team, adding to their improved defense. These guys have all helped fuel a bench that is not only exciting but does their job in providing a spark when the starters need a breather.

Anthony Edwards

I feel as if I would have been doing Ant a disservice if I didn't go into a little more detail about how much he means to this Minnesota team moving forward. He is maybe the most exciting player to watch in the league who is full of energy and has such a fun personality. He is also a freak-athlete who has all of the tools to be a full-blown superstar in this league soon. His elite athleticism and growing offensive game are already pretty polished for a guy who was considered "raw" as a rookie just a year ago. His biggest issue right now is consistency. On some nights, he is the best player on the floor who cannot be stopped, driving to the rim and finishing over bigger defenders while also hitting contested jumpshots. However, on other nights he shoots dismally from the floor and barely makes an impact on the game. Once he can learn how to bring it on a consistent basis, look out. The scary thing about Ant is that he is only 20 and is actually younger than some of the best rookies currently in the league, like Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes. He still has so much room to grow and he was right on the cusp of being an All Star this year as a sophomore. The sky is the limit for him in the years to come.

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If the Wolves want to win in the playoffs this year and even advance into the second round, they will most likely need Ant to be at his best on a consistent basis. However, if the Wolves want to be a true contender in the West with this core, Ant is going to need to establish himself as the guy in Minnesota in the next few seasons. This current group has shown it is good enough to compete with the best squads in the league, but it is unlikely that they are actually able to make a deep playoff run. Nonetheless, if Edwards blossoms into the superstar that Timberwolves fans know he can be, this team truly could be a force to be reckoned with in the West that would have the ability to beat anybody, even in the playoffs.

All in all, this has been the most exciting season I have ever watched as a Timberwolves fan, and only the second time I will have ever seen one of their teams in the playoffs. Unlike the team in 2018, this team is exciting and likable, and there is a lot to look forward to when it comes to the young talent they have on their roster as well as what looks to be an established head coach in Chris Finch. Hopefully this is the start of a standard being set in Minnesota that the Timberwolves are no longer going to suck every year.

Below, NBA Youtuber Tukeeknows shares some really good insight into why this Wolves team is so exciting and how much potential they have for the next few years: