This season has been another season of extreme disappointment for all Timberwolves fans, who returned to the playoffs last year without being favored and lost six games against the Grizzlies, so it also gave fans confidence to make a breakthrough this year. However, the team performed quite poorly, not only finishing 8th in the West with a 42-40 record, but also losing the playoff playoffs with the Lakers, and finally only narrowly defeating the Pelicans to get the last playoff ticket. Against the No. 1 Nuggets in the West, the Timberwolves barely fought back, and after only 5 games, the Timberwolves were eliminated again. Now looking back on this season, the failure of the Timberwolves is not unexpected, and it can even be said that they are to blame, let's take stock of the various bizarre events of the Timberwolves one by one!
1. Historic ten-for-one, stud Gobert.
Last season, although the Timberwolves were also eliminated in the first round, their performance was still very good, so the team management also hopes to improve the overall strength of the team by strengthening it in the summer. However, what people didn't expect was that they actually completed a shocking trade, that is, 5 players including Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Kessler, Jared Vanderbilt, and 5 future first-round picks were sent to the Jazz in exchange for a Rudy Gobert. It seemed like a controversial deal at the time, and today it seems more of a source of the team's failure. Gobert is averaging 13.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game this season, a drop of not a single star compared to his Jazz days. And his combination with Towns did not produce the expected chemistry, on the contrary, it was precisely because of Gobert's arrival that Downs' space on the inside was narrower, and Downs, who had no advantage in speed, was difficult to make waves in the No. 4 position, which was also the key reason for the Timberwolves' poor performance at the beginning of the season.
In addition, looking at the performance of the players who were sent away, the Timberwolves should shout regret even more. The 21-year-old Kessler is not only 9 years younger than Gobert, but also has been quite surprised this season, averaging 9.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, shooting 72% from the field, completely a young version of Gobert. Beasley has a steady output in both the Jazz and the Lakers, averaging 12.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, making a total of 235 three-pointers. Vanderbilt has also made a good contribution, currently with 6.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in the playoffs, and is an important interior rotation player for the Lakers. Even Beverley, who has slipped in form, can still provide good defense and mental power, and with a huge future, the Timberwolves have undoubtedly suffered great pain.
2. Towns suffered a serious injury, and the overall strength of the team declined.
The Timberwolves have also suffered a certain amount of injury this season, which naturally has a big impact on the team's record, the first is Downs, as the team's interior core, he only played 29 games in the regular season this season, missing as many as 53 games, and in these 54 games, the team's record is only 27-26, you can imagine the importance of Downs to this team, averaging 20.8 points per game. 8.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists, although Downs' combination with Gobert this season did not play the desired effect, but purely in terms of personal ability, Downs still has a good hard solution during the regular season, and he also has a good outside shot, to a certain extent can create enough space for Edwards' breakthrough, his long-term absence, naturally the Timberwolves' tactical system is greatly hit, and the overall threat cannot meet the requirements. If it weren't for Downs' accidental injury, perhaps the Timberwolves would have had a chance to move up the rankings during the regular season, so they wouldn't be so passive at the end of the season, and even have to play two consecutive playoff playoff games to qualify for the playoffs.
3. Sending Russell away in the middle of the season, the team suffered another heavy blow.
The Timberwolves' outrageous operation is not just a ten-for-one stud of Gobert, they have staged another wave of "against the sky" before the end of the trade deadline this season, that is, using D'Angelo Russell as a trade chip in exchange for Jazz veteran Mike Conley, young player Alexander Walker and three future second-round picks. You know, although Russell's performance this season is indeed not as good as in previous years, after all, he is only 27 years old, and after Downs' injury, Russell's role in the team's offensive and organizational end can be seen with the naked eye. This season, he can have 17.8 points, 3 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and shoot 39.6% from three-point range, and the guard line he and Edwards partner with has both breakthroughs and long-range three-point shooting, as well as the organization that the team desperately needs, and the effect is still good.
After sending Russell away, although Conley got by the Timberwolves still has oil, he is 35 years old after all, no longer the iron-blooded point guard of the Grizzlies, and averaged 11.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game this season, which is already quite a difficult performance. Although Walker played quite well in the playoffs, in previous seasons, he failed to prove himself in both the Pelicans and the Jazz, averaging only 6.2 points per game, and on the whole, the importance of these two players is still not as important as Russell, so the deal ended in a failure for the Timberwolves.
4. Infighting broke out at the end of the season, and the team was in crisis.
Of course, the event that made the Timberwolves completely lose control was the combination of Gobert and Anderson in the broadcast camera at the end of the season. If the previous three problems, the team can also make up for it to a certain extent through cooperation and training, then infighting is not only a technical problem, player infighting has always been a taboo, which led to the result that Gobert was instantly put on the cusp, not only encountered the criticism of major media, but also was severely punished by the Timberwolves with internal bans and fines, which to a certain extent also led to the Timberwolves finally losing to the Lakers in the playoffs and passively facing the more powerful Nuggets. In addition, the team's important starter, McDaniels, who averaged 12.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1 block per game, also failed to control his emotions after the team infighting, and smashed his palm, because the fracture was reimbursed for the season early, which was definitely worse for the team. Overall, these four events ultimately contributed to the Timberwolves' failed season.