NBA: Minnesota Timberwolves Rebuilding Correctly, Have Bright Future

One of the feel-good stories of the short NBA year thus far is the resurgence of the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves.

Granted, their 2-3 record isn't remarkable; but considering where they were the last few years, Minnesota fans have a lot to look forward to in the future.

What the Timberwolves are doing to rebuild their team is reminiscent to the formula the Seattle Sonics/Oklahoma City Thunder have been doing. The Thunder have built their team primarily through draft picks, most of them being high picks because of their lack of success throughout the years. 

What those high draft picks got the Thunder were Kevin Durant—who is now considered to be one of the best players in the world—Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Daequan Cook, Nick Collison and many others. 

With that collection of high draft picks, and proper grooming through the years, the Thunder not only have resurrected from their previous losing ways, they are one of the most feared teams in the entire league.

Minnesota is on track to having the same fate that Oklahoma City has made for itself. 

The Timberwolves have been in a downward spiral ever since their trade of multi-time All-Star Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics. 

From there, they went on to draft Kevin Love (who is working his way up to becoming one of the most consistent power forwards in the league, averaging a double-double every game and putting up some ridiculous numbers in the rebounding department) Wesley Johnson, Wayne Ellington, Derrick Williams and Ricky Rubio.

Being from Minnesota, when I first learned of the Wolves drafting Rubio—an unproven point guard who was known only for his passing skills—rather than Stephen Curry, a proven scorer and elite playmaker, I was furious. It didn't help that Rubio didn't want to play for Minnesota right away and would go on to sit out for two years before finally coming over to play in the States. 

Now, after watching Rubio play in his first couple of games, I'm willing to admit that I was wrong in my assumption that he would be a complete flop in the league. Sure, it's only five games into his career at this point; but there's no question about the fact that when he's on the court, the Wolves play at a higher level.

Guys like Williams, Love and Michael Beasley are getting better looks at the basket due to Rubio's amazing ability to see the whole court and fire a pass to his teammates that make some defenders look silly when they attempt to cut them off.

With the exception of trading for Beasley, Darko Milicic and Anthony Randolph (the latter two playing minimal roles in the overall chemistry of the team) Minnesota has been building through the draft or bringing in older, veteran talent—such as Luke Ridnour—rather than looking for young talent to acquire through free agency and trades, the Wolves are on their way to being the next Thunder in the NBA.

Give the Timberwolves another year or two and we could be looking at the next great, young team in the league. By following the formula of drafting properly, Minnesota finally has a sports franchise with a bright future. 

Move over, WNBA Champion Minnesota Lynx, who, by the way, also followed the formula of drafting properly and becoming successful later on. The Timberwolves are the next big thing in Minnesota sports.