I Can See Hope in the Timberwolves again…

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 21: Andrew Wiggins #22 and President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas of the Minnesota Timberwolves attend a press conference to introduce Ryan Saunders as head coach on May 21, 2019 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
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Alright, it’s been a long enough break from this writing thing. In my 4-ish day absence, a lot has happened and I have a lot of content to dump… So, while I battle those demons and get ready for another exciting MSF/Gopher Football announcement, I want to talk some POSITIVITY around the Minnesota Timberwolves.

You read that right… P.O.S.I.T.I.V.I.T.Y.

Too bad for all of those Wiggins Stans who blocked all of our social media over an honest article I wrote a few months back… Think about what their lives are missing now.

My newly found Timberwolves positivity stems from our new chief, Gersson Rosas, who might be the savior Minnesota basketball fans have been waiting for, since the Lakers left over a million years ago. I can’t deny his early genius. Ok, VERY early.. but that’s part of my excitement.

I thought it was going to take an Andrew Wiggins trade to make me believe that the new front office could turn things around before Karl-Anthony Towns decides he’s done with Minnesota (about 3 years down the road at the rate we were traveling). But instead, it only took the HOPE of Andrew Wiggins being (possibly) traded, to shine a light on the dark, aching, Timberwolves ventricle of my Minnesota sports-loving heart.

Let’s start with the D-Lo (attempted) Trade:

I’m not here for moral victories and I’m not going to play the “at least we were in the running” card. Who cares. We failed to land ANOTHER big time player and this time it was Golden State who fucked us.

Ok Eric, I thought we were being positive….

There was more positive than negative, that came out of the collapsed D’Angelo Russell Sign and Trade. We were finally (publicly) trying to unload Andrew Wiggins. After a month or more of “we love Andrew” and “Andrew is part of the solution and future here” coming out of the new front office, we finally saw their true colors. And, so did Wiggins, who was reportedly upset with the rumors. Boo-hoo.

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So, we didn’t land D-Lo but that’s not the story. The Wolves won’t win until they unload Wiggins and his massive contract. As things stand now, I feel a lot better about doing that over the next calendar year, than I did before the D’Angelo Russell rumors started swirling last week.

And now that we have hope for life without Andrew Wiggins, we can look at some of the other moves this front office has made, that will assure you, Thibs is not in MN anymore. It starts with stockpiling young assets that will hold good value when trade discussions present themselves, vs continually bringing in the “crafty veterans” you saw throughout the Thibs tenure.

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I actually called Tom Thibodeau when the Wolves executed their trade exemption and used it on Jake Layman. 4-times, I had to explain to him what the trade exemption was, before he mumbled something I didn’t understand and then hung up.

Much like the Twins’ new front office early on, the new Timberwolves brain trust continues to wow people across the NBA. We seem to be a positive piece of fodder within NBA circles right now… That says enough, just in itself, given how poorly the light of conversation usually looks, when shined on us.

But, I’ll reiterate this point again… If you don’t find a way to move Wiggins in the next calendar year (and replace him with a contributing member of society) then nothing else matters. As long as Andrew is being paid by Glen Taylor, Jarrett Culver might as well be Ndudi Ebi and the Jordan Bell and Jake Layman moves might as well be Pokemon cards I traded in 4th grade.

Listen Gersson, I have hope now… but I still don’t believe. Please, make me believe.

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Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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