The Minnesota Timberwolves disappointed their fans in the 2017 season, something that is becoming a habit for this team. The problems are caused by inconsistent and poor coaching. The only way for the Timberwolves’ franchise to break their habit of losing is to relieve Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations Tom Thibodeau of his coaching duties. According to official NBA statistics, the young team only managed to earn 29 wins in the 15-16 season, and fans had higher expectations for 2017. The team started the next year led by rapidly improving second and third year players Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, respectively. However, despite the hype surrounding young stars Towns and Wiggins, the team only managed to improve their win total by two with an overall record of 31-51, finishing third to last in the Western Conference. 

The team made some big changes the next year, trading with the Bulls for established All-Star Jimmy Butler, as well as adding veterans Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, and Jamal Crawford from free agency. The roster changes, on top of another year of experience for the Wolves’ young stars, left the fans demanding a playoff appearance, for which they had waited 13 years. The Wolves gave their fans what they had asked for…barely. The Timberwolves needed all 82 games of the regular season to clinch a playoff spot with a victory over the Nuggets in the final game of the season. It ended the playoff drought, yet in a season where the team had the talent to be a top four team, it was disappointing to end in eighth place. 

The common factor and cause of the back to back disappointing seasons in 2017 and 2018 was coach Tom Thibodeau. The former Bulls coach was brought in to improve the team’s defense and help their young stars improve, but in Thibodeau’s first year with the team they were ranked 27th in the league in defense and neither of their young stars managed to earn an All Star appearance. In the next season, the Timberwolves’ defense only improved to 25th in the league, despite the addition of All-NBA defender Jimmy Butler.

Thibodeau also acts as the team’s President of Basketball Operations, and the additional workload clearly takes away from his coaching. Thibodeau was very successful in Chicago, making the playoffs in all five years that he coached there. However, Thibodeau has not changed his coaching style to benefit the Timberwolves, which prevents the team from playing to its strengths. 

The Timberwolves are one of the youngest, most athletic teams in the NBA, yet Thibodeau prevents them from playing a fast-paced game that would help them bring their game to the next level. In addition to this, Thibodeau seems to refuse to play through Karl-Anthony Towns, who is a young powerhouse (and an All-Star), and has a physical advantage over almost everyone he meets in the post. 

Coach Tom Thibodeau is holding the team back from reaching an elite level and the next step for the franchise is to remove Thibodeau of his coaching duties and possibly even his other responsibilities as well.