It was a weird ending to the season in Minnesota. By all accounts, everyone should’ve been elated. The Timberwolves finished with their first winning season since the Kevin Garnett era and ended a 13-year playoff drought. Granted, they were promptly trounced out of the first round by the Rockets, but that was more or less to be expected.
Still, there was a strange animus lingering over the proceedings. For one, Karl-Anthony Towns did not play up to expectations, and despite it being his inaugural postseason appearance, both Jimmy Butler and head coach Tom Thibodeau were publicly displeased with his effort.
As it turned out, that was a common sentiment for Butler throughout the season in regard to Towns, as well as Andrew Wiggins. And in return, there were whispers that they two young stars were less than thrilled with taking a backseat to Butler. All that talk has since calcified and eventually turned into rumors that one of them might be on the trade block.
That talk has since quieted with the free agent frenzy winding down, but during media availability at his annual summer basketball camp this week, Towns admitted there’s still some mending of fences to be done in Minnesota, although he declined to elaborate any further. Via Michael Rand of The Star Tribune:
“I think I’ve done a lot of things here. I’m very proud of the things I’ve been able to do so far,” Towns said in response to the final question of the session about whether he considers Minnesota a second home. “But I have a lot of things that have to be talked about, so I’ll move on.”
It’s clear much of this has to do with the pecking order, as Towns, Butler, and Wiggins likely all view themselves as the team’s alpha. Ownership voiced their support for Wiggins recently, and the front office has shown a reluctance to engage in any talks regarding Towns, but Butler is an intriguing part of this equation as he is set to enter free agency next summer.
In short, a lot is riding on whether they can figure it out this season. Otherwise, this Minnesota trio might be over before it even really begun.
