The Timberwolves plan to open up a search for a new President of Basketball Operations. That person will lead the basketball department and help decide on GM Scott Layden and coach Ryan Saunders, league sources tell @TheAthleticMIN. No decisions have been made.

— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) April 10, 2019

Nobody really thought Taylor was just going to hand the jobs to Layden and Saunders and call it a lifetime, did we? Unless we hire someone that happens to love Layden, he’s gone. Ryan Saunders will likely move back to an assistant but he does have a better chance of keeping his current role than Scott.

But guess what… none of that matters. 

There is only one thing that matters when interviewing for the next PoBO. 

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Whoever has the best plan for getting rid of Andrew Wiggins is the one that gets the job. That is the only thing that matters and the only question that should be asked in an interview. Until we get rid of Wiggins’ contract in a way that doesn’t strap us for the next 3-4 years, we’re going nowhere. 

With Andrew and Karl taking up nearly 2/3 of our cap space, the Wolves won’t be able to sign any free agent of significance. Beyond money, nobody expects to win playoff games if Wiggins is a main factor in your “winning”  formula. Other superstars know that. However, a franchise who’s only long-term investment is the ceiling-less talent, Karl-Anthony Towns, is one to take seriously if you are a big time free agent who doesn’t mind the cold.

Andrew Wiggins will go down as the worst contract handed out by the Wolves…. ever. He’s a classic example of why you can’t pay that much money to a guy who doesn’t care about basketball any more than you care about your 9-5 day-job. If this were a contact sport like football, he would be JaMarcus Russell and already out of the league. 

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Wiggins has been worse for this franchise over the last two years than Jimmy Butler ever was in his time here. At least Butler had the sack to be honest and bail before we gave him a bunch of money. Wiggins knew he was never going to be anything more than what he is. He flashed just enough to fuck us forever.

Find me a PoBO who can get rid of Wiggins without a scar that lasts through KAT’s contract. Hire him/her/it… etc. The search should be that simple.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Alright, apparently we need to have another discussion about our Minnesota Timberwolves. If you’re still paying attention (I know you probably aren’t) you watched them beat the currently 8-seed Clippers last night, in a game that we lead start to finish at the Target Center. It did get closer than it should have. For a little while in the 4th quarter, I thought the Wolves were going to blow their load all over the brand new arena floor once again, when the Clippers cut what was once a 20 point lead down to 4.  

However, unlike what we’ve seen over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again from the Timberwolves in recent years, Karl Anthony Towns and a wave of veteran Wolves refused to lose… In another reality, it would’ve been fun to watch.

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But last night wasn’t fun. It was frustrating. Very frustrating.

First, why the fuck weren’t we playing these veterans more often when the season mattered? And don’t blame Thibs. I know that’s everyone’s go-to (and he did his fair share of damage) but I NEVER saw anyone calling for more minutes out of Luol Deng or Derrick Rose when he was coaching.

Let’s take a moment to remember why those two even play on this team… But now, everyone is so impressed by Ryan Saunders’ eye for talent. Being able to find that guy who wasn’t quite ready to scab up and die…. what an amazing coach.

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Since Luol Deng became a part of the Wolves rotation on January 12th, he’s played 19 mpg in 13 contests.

Per-36 min, he’s putting up 16/7/1 on .53/.39/.75 shooting splits.

The Wolves have been 6.5 points per-100 possessions better with Deng on the floor. What a revaluation.

— Charlie Johnson (@cjohnsNBA) February 12, 2019

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I dunno if Luol Deng has hit “fan favorite” status, but he's definitely becoming a favorite of mine. https://t.co/BfMUrHDs34

— Tim Faklis (@timfaklis) February 12, 2019

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Where are the calls for more Anthony Tolliver minutes? What about the rookie Keita Beits-Diop? What happened to needing more minutes for a perfect off-the-bench big man and a promising young talent? Imagine what would have been said (no matter the outcome of the game) if Thibs would have played Luol Deng 38 minutes while Tolliver and Diop rotted on the bench…

Actually, let’s just take a look at what everyone said when Deng was named the starter last night before the game…

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This is the kind of forward thinking we talked about

— RandBall (@RandBall) February 11, 2019

Luol Deng is still in the league?? Lol

— Nick (@MrPapagiorgio90) February 12, 2019

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In all of this Ryan Saunders helmet touching and Luol Deng fanfair, the Timberwolves and their fanbase have again forgotten the current state of their team and what is best for the future. 

After losing 4-in-a-row and 6 of their last 7, the Wolves had slumped to 13th in the Western Conference and the tank was again in sight.

CLICK HERE FOR WHY TANKING > WINNING FOR WOLVES

Instead, we stayed stagnant at the trade deadline and kept veterans (like Deng, Teague, Rose, Gibson, Tolliver) on the roster. Guys who can help us win right now. That means we might miss the 8-seed by a few less games, meanwhile dropping 5-10 picks in the NBA draft. How is this a good strategy for a mediocre-bad team like the Wolves?

Please tell me if you can think of ANYTHING that winning now does to help the Timberwolves build a contending team for the future. Please…. go ahead. 

And don’t give me that confidence bullshit. Nothing the Timberwolves do right now on the confidence meter is going to carry over to a completely rebuilt roster in 2020 and beyond…. The chances of making the playoffs are slim to none at this point, and even if we do make it, why are we so happy to get swept by Golden State or Denver in the first round? 

If the NBA season were to end right now (according to tankathon.com), the Wolves would sit in 12th place for the lottery draw, holding a 1.7% chance of getting the #1 pick and just an 8% chance at top-4. Add 3 more losses to the season and we’d drop to 6th in the lottery and jump up to a 9% chance at the #1 pick (37% CHANCE AT TOP-4).

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If only Twitter and local media cared as much about our future as they did about getting Tom Thibodeau fired, Glen Taylor might realize that he again has no fucking idea what he’s doing. But, we don’t care about winning here. We only care that we all can hold hands and that everyone loves Ryan Saunders. We just want to see KAT, Wiggins and the new coach singing songs and laughing together. 

ahhhh soooo heartwarming, who needs winning.

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Thibs could’ve won 60 games and everyone would’ve called for his head.

Ryan Saunders continues to lose and the franchise is spiraling but more and more call for his full-time hire.

In MN, we’re ok with losing as long as it’s on our terms.

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) February 8, 2019

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Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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