Minnesota Timberwolves Positional Analysis: Power Forwards

The Minnesota Timberwolves traded away a player who is perhaps the best low post player in the league this offseason in Al Jefferson.

Unfortunately, Jefferson’s defense and low level of agility made him a defensive liability and also not consistently able to play at center, a role which would have made his partnering with Kevin Love much easier to accomplish.  Put simply, Big Al didn’t fit into Kurt Rambis’ system, and on a team rebuilding, David Kahn could afford to make the trade with Utah that sent a couple first-round picks back to the Wolves.

That left the Timberwolves with Love, now entering his third year in the NBA after attending UCLA, as essentially the incumbent.  The acquisition of Michael Beasley, however, put that into a little bit of question.  Kahn sent a pair of second-round draft picks to Miami (the NBA equivalent of whatever change was in the GM’s pockets at the time) for the third year, former second-overall draft choice.

Beasley is approximately 6’9”, and he has been at the power forward spot for the Heat in his first two years in the league.  Heralded as one of the players with the biggest upside coming out of college, his time so far in the NBA has put the “bust” title around his neck.  He averaged 14 points a night for Miami in those two seasons and will look to hopefully fulfill his entire potential with a fresh start in Minnesota.  However, his presence in Minnesota initially put Kevin Love’s status as a starter into question.

That quandary seemed to be cleared up at least somewhat when Beasley was officially introduced in front of the media at Target Center.  He was asked about which position he felt most comfortable playing for the Wolves and responded by saying he is comfortable at either the small forward or the power forward spot, but that he felt he could be better defensively guarding small forwards.

That is also the way that David Kahn and head coach Kurt Rambis have been posturing themselves since the trade that sent Jefferson away this summer.  As noted in my previous article, Beasley appears to be the opening night starting small forward for the moment, allowing Kevin Love to claim the power forward spot that he feels is rightfully his.

Love has earned himself a spot on Team USA for the upcoming international tournament, and that should be a bonus for the Timberwolves.  Having a power forward who is good enough to represent the nation as your starter is certainly a positive sign.  Having him in fairly good form to begin the season is certainly another nice benefit, especially on a team that will be looking for a leader to emerge early on the court.

Beasley will still see minutes at the power forward, but it is more likely that he will get those minutes when Love is on the bench.  An interesting wrinkle here is that, especially considering the way that Rambis has managed his players, there is still the chance that Beasley wins himself the starting power forward spot at some point this season.

Rambis demonstrated frequently in his first year at the Timberwolves’ helm that players would earn their minutes, period.  If Love doesn’t step up and provide the 20 points and 10 rebounds per night on average that is expected of him as a starting power forward who should be nearing his full potential in the league, Beasley may get the chance to win the starter’s spot.  An interesting subplot to the season may be the statistical battle between Love and Beasley.

Backing up those two 2008 lottery picks will be one of the funniest men on YouTube, Anthony Tolliver.  For those who haven’t seen ESPN or any of the local Minnesota media outlets lately, Tolliver had a very difficult choice to make between remaining with the Golden State Warriors and moving to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

He announced his decision by spoofing, what else, The Decision.  Tolliver’s parody of the LeBron James saga’s closing hour has, to date, received over 265,000 views, not including the views picked up when ESPN and the Twin Cities media put the video on air.  Tolliver’s production was complete with an interviewer (off camera), the ESPN “duh nuh nuh, duh nuh NUH” theme music in the background and an awful recording of a wolf howling – all of which brought some much needed humor to the franchise.

Timberwolves fans can expect that Tolliver’s good humor will spread to the rest of the locker room.  The man’s journey to the NBA certainly has been a difficult one, and he is one of the players in the league who just about anybody can see is genuinely grateful to have been given a contract and the chance to just go out there and play at the top level.

Tolliver’s attitude, especially considering that he’ll be one of the elders on the team, ought to do some good in simply lightening up the locker room during a season that will continue to be a rebuilding one.

Overall, the Timberwolves will look to use their power forwards in a slightly different role than many other teams in the league.  Most squads will have their power forwards banging around down low, looking to get open for a pass in from the wings.  This is a slight oversimplification of things, but this is generally why power forwards like Amar’e Stoudemire and Al Jefferson are valued in the league.  They play physically down low and can get open for easy points in the low post. 

The Timberwolves, again oversimplifying, will probably be scoring the majority of their points in the exact opposite manner.  The triangle offense relies heavily on having power forwards who can shoot the ball from the wings and who have the ability to also bang in the low post.  The difference here is that Love, Beasley, and Tolliver will not be expected to work low all game, just enough to keep the opponent’s defense honest.

Love in particular already has quite a big range, especially for a power forward.  He demonstrated the ability while at UCLA to knock down three-pointers as well as utilize a uniquely accurate outlet pass.  Beasley has also demonstrated some range in his jumper, but he may have to work on it a little to extend it in order to become a consistent deep threat.  Tolliver also seems to have the requisite range, but he will also have to work on his consistency.

So, to sum things up, Wolves fans may expect the following:  Kevin Love will probably be the opening night starting power forward, Michael Beasley will probably get 10-15 minutes a night as a power forward while still starting as a small forward, and Anthony Tolliver should see about 15-20 minutes a night as essentially a rotating minute-eater.  Power forward should continue to really be a strength for the Wolves going into the 2010-11 season, as it has been for the last several.