How The Minnesota Timberwolves’ Veterans Will Help Develop Their Young Studs

No team in the NBA is dripping with more potential than the Minnesota Timberwolves. After a miserable 16-win season — which had a lot to do with injuries — they used the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft to take Kentucky big man Karl-Anthony Towns, who has by far the biggest upside of anyone in the draft. By teaming him with Andrew Wiggins, the Wolves could eventually have a duo on par with Durant-Westbrook or CP3-Blake – and that’s before we get to some of the other enticing players on Minnesota’s roster. Needless to say, the Wolves have a lot to be excited about. At the same time, however, they also have to ensure that these incredibly talented young players are developed properly.

When a team has the raw talent that the Timberwolves have, there’s one prime directive: Don’t screw it up. Don’t have your young players learn bad habits, and don’t have them attempt to improve without any guiding hands to help them reach their full potential. As anyone who was thoroughly disappointed by the Derrick Coleman-Kenny Anderson Nets teams of 20 years ago can attest, when talent isn’t properly developed, the results can be sorely disappointing.

That’s why the Wolves have made an impressive effort to bring in a veteran presence to mentor their exciting young players. When Kevin Garnett was brought back to Minnesota at the trade deadline, the Wolves had no way of knowing they would win the draft lottery and acquire a near ceiling-less stud like Towns, but now that they have, it’s hard to imagine a better player for him to learn from. KG was a great defender and also known for an excellent mid-range game on offense, and these are qualities we’ve already seen from Towns. When we consider the potential for Garnett to help Towns continue developing his game, as well as his ability to act as a team disciplinarian, it’s clear that he’s the perfect player to develop Towns, as well as every other promising youngster on this team.

The Wolves also turned a few heads this offseason by acquiring Tayshaun Prince, who will be 35 years old going into this season. Prince isn’t the player he used to be — as his unimpressive numbers with the Grizzlies indicate — but he’s still a solid defender and, more importantly, a great guy for Wiggins to learn from. Now, Wiggins has far more raw talent and athleticism than Prince ever did, but that might actually make Prince the ideal mentor. Wiggins is the type of player who is such an incredible athlete that sometimes it feels like he doesn’t have to try. That’s a major bonus, obviously, but still an advantage that can lead to laziness with the wrong approach. If you don’t have to try on every single play, after all, it makes sense that you might not.

But it’s never been that easy for Prince. He’s always been a tenacious defender, but as his offensive skills faded, he relied on his D to remain useful. It’s a big part of why the Grizzlies kept him in their rotation for so long, despite his sorely limited offensive capabilities. Wiggins has the ability to become an incredible defender in his own right, and with Prince taking him under his wing, it’s hard to imagine the reigning Rookie of the Year not getting there.

Finally, there’s the summer signing of Andre Miller. This one is pretty self-explanatory; they don’t call him The Professor for nothing. Indeed, Miller’s unspectacular, but technically sound play is a big part of why he’s hung around in the league for so long. Zach LaVine has more athleticism than Miller could ever dream of, but none of the technical mastery of the game. Frankly, there are times when it feels like he’s still figuring out how to play basketball. The great fear with LaVine is that while he’ll keep throwing down monster dunks and enjoying successful heat checks, he’ll never become a complete basketball player.

The presence of Miller should go along way toward alleviating that concern. Of course, we aren’t sure if LaVine will ultimately be a point guard or a shooting guard, but he could certainly still learn a lot from Miller, no matter which backcourt spot he ultimately occupies. And hey, it’s not like Tyus Jones – or even Ricky Rubio – couldn’t use a few pointers.

There are a lot of questions facing the Wolves going into this season. Is Rubio actually on the block? Will they be able to move Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic? Will they be one of the league’s worst teams again, or do Towns and Wiggins develop enough to get them into 35-win territory (or maybe more)? All of these concerns will be sorted out in due time, but for now, the Wolves can be confident that with the strong veteran presence of Garnett, Miller, and Prince, they’re in a good position to capitalize on a future that looks very, very bright.

×