The Timberwolves are seriously lacking heart and energy

 

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When it comes to the NBA World, unless you were living under a rock this summer, you know that the Wolves made arguably the biggest splash of the offseason by acquiring three-time defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert from the Utah Jazz in exchange for one of the biggest trade hauls in NBA history. This haul included four first round picks, the Wolves 2022 first round selection, Walker Kessler, and several established role players. Three of these role players were critical to the Wolves success last season, including Patrick Beverley, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley. This was a massive haul for the Wolves to package for the star center, but they did it because they believe that they filled a huge hole by bringing in an elite rim protector with the assumption that it would elevate the defense to another level.

As things stand right now, the Jazz have surprised everyone, sitting atop the West at 10-3, while the Wolves have gotten off to a rocky start at 5-7, which puts them in at 10th in the West thus far. As is to be expected, the fans in Minnesota are beginning to panic since the expectations were higher than usual for team because of the blockbuster deal. Since Minnesota fans are so used to seeing a terrible product on the floor every year, everyone was a little extra juiced for this season because this squad was expected to be one of the best in franchise history (I know, not saying much),

Unfortunately, the Timberwolves took all of that excitement and high hopes and crushed it with their frustrating, lackluster performance to begin the season. The foundation of last year's team was built off of playing gritty and with high energy, and this team has looked to be anything but that. As soon as they're in a deficit, the lethargy sets in and most of the guys look like they couldn't really care less about playing defense or providing any spark. At times like this, teams usually look to their star players for leadership. However, the Timberwolves "stars" possess very little of that. Karl-Anthony Towns, probably the team's best player, has never been considered a leader, especially if you're asking Jimmy Butler. His leadership attempts always feel forced and out of character, and the way he goes about dramatically whining to officials doesn't exactly inspire the rest of the squad. Anthony Edwards is still very young and probably hasn't been around long enough to settle into much of a leadership role yet. Plus, he has his own issues he needs to worry about, such as lack of discipline, inconsistent shooting, and lack of focus on the defensive end of the floor for a team who desperately needs it. And the new acquisition, Rudy Gobert seems to still be feeling things out and could potentially step into more of a leadership role as the year goes on. Finally, D'Angelo Russell is seemingly anything but a motivator, as I'm not sure if I've seen anyone get paid that much money to look more lackadaisical on the basketball floor. His poor shot selection, inefficient shooting, lack of focus, awareness, and hustle on defense are all frustrating to say the least. As one of the vets on the team, he is expected to be consistent while leading by example, and he has done anything but that this season. He plays with very little heart, and his nonchalance combined with inconsistent shooting are growing old to Minnesota fans.

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What's even more concerning with the Timberwolves slow start is this: they shelled out a ton of their current and future assets in order to make this team a contender right now. You don't put together one of the largest trade packages in NBA history with the goal of making it out of the first round; you do it thinking that you are going to win a championship, in this case during the four years that you possess of Rudy Gobert's contract. Right now, the starting five is having a hard time meshing, with Russell's shooting struggles, Edwards letting his spacing concerns be known publicly, and, most of all, the lack of heart from a team that showed so much of it throughout last season.

However, things aren't all bad yet. As mentioned earlier, the Wolves are 5-7, which certainly isn't exciting but it also isn't a reason to panic just yet. Last year's team started 4-9, which included plenty of the fan base writing them off as lottery-bound once again. As we know, they ended up figuring it out by going 46-36 and making their first postseason appearance since 2018. Nonetheless, so far, the biggest difference between that team and this one is that last year's group was filled with guys eager to compete. This year, the team is desperately missing the presence of the important players that helped propel them to the postseason last season. Pat Bev has been credited with providing the leadership that this crew so desperately needed, even going as far as holding meetings early in the year to make sure each player on the roster knew exactly what their role was. Although his fiery competitiveness can appear to be a little much sometimes, it was exactly what a young team that had never experienced true success needed. Jarred Vanderbilt was their starting power forward all season and proved to be one of the most competitive players in the entire league. Night in and night out, you'd see him diving on the floor for loose balls, corralling offensive boards, and just playing his heart out; he was and still is the epitome of a spark plug. Additionally, they've also missed Malik Beasley. Even though he was streaky at times, he provided them with much-needed three-point shooting and is another guy that plays hard every single night.

Sports Illustrated

All in all, like mentioned earlier, it may not be time to hit the panic button, but it is time for the Timberwolves to start playing with some fire. If they don't start looking like the 50-win team we expected them to be, fans have every right to start questioning the decision to make the blockbuster trade for Gobert. If this thing doesn't work out, jobs will be lost, players will be moved, fans will be outraged, and the team will be in turmoil. However, that would just be par for the course for the Timberwolves.