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5 things that went wrong for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2020-21 NBA season

Karl Anthony-Towns #32 against the Indiana Pacers.
Karl Anthony-Towns #32 against the Indiana Pacers.

The Minnesota Timberwolves had a promising end to the 2020-21 NBA season with rookie Anthony Edwards one of the few bright spots during a difficult year. Anthony Edwards blossomed into a future star and they have a 16-25 record since hiring a new coach.

Yes, there were some bright spots during the season, but much of it was a disaster with a 23-49 record that’s sixth-worst in the NBA. A lot of things that could go wrong went wrong for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who will now try to pick up the pieces and hope that the 2021-22 season will be better.

Here are five things that went so wrong for the Minnesota Timberwolves this past season.

#5 Minnesota Timberwolves’ draft lottery misfortunes

A deal is a deal but it still doesn’t feel good to give up a lottery pick. The Minnesota Timberwolves had a chance to nab the first pick of the 2021 draft to continue their rebuild. Because of their losing record, the Timberwolves were in line to possibly select first in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Instead, the Minnesota Timberwolves landed seventh and, as part of the Andrew Wiggins-D’Angelo Russell trade, had to send their pick to the Golden State Warriors. The pick was top-three protected, but the Warriors had a 72.4 percent chance of getting the pick from the Timberwolves.

The book now closes on that swap of players, but it would have been nice for the Minnesota Timberwolves to end the season by selecting one of the top three players in the upcoming NBA Draft.

#4 Among the league’s worst offensively and defensively

Desmond Bane #22 and Brandon Clarke #15 defend against Anthony Edwards #1.
Desmond Bane #22 and Brandon Clarke #15 defend against Anthony Edwards #1.

A huge problem for the Minnesota Timberwolves was finding their identity both offensively and defensively. The team fired coach Ryan Saunders as the Timberwolves were in the midst of a losing streak. They hired Chris Finch in late February but didn’t start winning games until much later.

They had a 7-24 record at the time of Saunders’ firing. They were 28th in offensive rating and 23rd in defense, putting the Minnesota Timberwolves in a hole that was too deep for them to climb out of.

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