Maybe I should watch more Timberwolves games before writing this. But there's two things I will say from the jump. One is that, I still believe Minnesota has the most talented starting 5 in the NBA, even though I don't know who the other starter is besides KAT, Russell, Edwards and Gobert. And last I heard, D'Angelo was like on the verge of getting bench or some shit. But that doesn't matter. This is a team with four All-Star level starters, or let me say three players who have already been allstars and a fourth who is likely on his way there, with only Gobert being 30 years old already. And I don't think you can say that about any other squad except maybe the Celtics.
So I placed them at the top of my list of contenders. But I also knew that it would take a certain type of PG to make this work, one that doesn't really exist in the NBA anymore. And that is the true pass-first PG, the exceptional passer and glue guy, but one that can't really shoot and can also demand the respect of superstars. Those are the likes of Rajon Rondo and Michael Carter-Williams who have been chased out of the league by the advent of the Splash Brothers. And again, this only works if the superstar scorers are willing to concede to point, which virtually none of them are these days. The same thing almost happened to Ben Simmons recently, who does sometimes look like he's actually scared to shoot, thus making his purpose questionable if he also isn't running the point. But he's survived, for now.
People don't realize just how much some teams need a Ben Simmons. If an organization goes the superteam route, they're going to need a player like Ben Simmons, someone with other skills who can counterbalance the chucks. Another palyer I can think of who falls into this category, though for different reasons, is Payton Jr.
So when I saw that KAT went down with that funny injury yesterday and the T-wolves now saying that he'll be out for over a month, I already knew that at some point they were going to have to find a way to bench him over an extended period to see if the team is actually better without Towns. Russell may be the scapegoat , but when they traded for Gobert, one thing that wasn't talked about is how doing so made KAT expendable if the experiment doesn't work. Like after this, I don't anyone wants to see him as the face of an ever-disappointing T-wolves squad. And he's definitely a more attractive trade lure than D'Angelo.
KAT is one of the very few no.1 picks of the last few years who actually played like a top pick from day one. Even when you look at that class now, you can't say that the Minnesota made a mistake by picking him. But obviously he isn't a franchise player, like one who could lead a team to a championship. And if he is eventually traded, I think that will become more evident.
But I'm not putting the blame on him either. Even without KAT, this may be the most well-rounded roster Gobert has ever played on. And the Timberwolves may be better off letting Anthony and D'Angelo run wild and free as opposed to also having a third scorer on the list, a 7-footer who'd rather play like a guard. A center who averages almost four offensive rebounds a game is a luxury that most chucks don't have. Throw in another rebounder and PG, neither of whom like the shoot, and take the reins off of Russell.
CONCLUSION
And if that doesn't work, then it backs to the old theory of the Timberwolves being cursed or whatever it is when you allow the tallest person on your team to like shoot the most jumpshots. I don't want to go as far as to diss their braintrust, but its obvious something ain't right here. Giannis came into the NBA like unable to play basketball but is now the most imposing player in the league. Then you have KAT who already had so much talent, and instead of developing them further he's been allowed to shoot jumpshots, like that's the only part of the game that matters these days. Imagine what the Spurs would be if they had allowed Tim Duncan to take his game outside of the paint.
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