Ricky Rubio the Latest Addition to Minnesota Timberwolves Youth-Studded Roster
The Minnesota Timberwolves, for all their faults, were the youngest team in the NBA in 2010 with an average age of under 25 years old. Ricky Rubio, only 20, will bring their average age down even farther.
Kevin Love (22) and Michael Beasley (22) were the Timberwolves' two best players in 2010, and point guard, Luke Ridnour (30) was the oldest member of the starting lineup. 30 may be considered aging by athletic standards, but Ridnour has been playing some of his best basketball and should have at least five years left.
This offseason, the Timberwolves will not only add their 2009 first overall pick, but also numerous picks in this draft. In a league that values experience and rewards age with championships, David Kahn and company are doubling down on youth.
Rubio is just one of many young stars that the Timberwolves hope will pay dividends in the future.
Kevin Love
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Anything written about the Minnesota Timberwolves has to begin, somehow, with a mention and glowing review of the team's All-Star caliber post player, Kevin Love.
Love (22) wowed plenty of scouts coming out of UCLA and has continued to impress—taking home a rebounding title and "Most Improved Player" in 2011 to go along with his (deserved) All-Star recognition.
53-straight double doubles are nothing to sneeze at, and Love has shown no signs of slowing down.
In Rambis' triangle offense, Love splits time as distributing point forward and go-to post scorer—think Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom hybrid—and has earned the role of Timberwolves' first post-Garnett era superstar.
Barring injuries, Love should have 10 years of great basketball. That given, it will be up to the rest of the organization to capitalize.
Michael Beasley
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Once a high-valued draft pick out of Kansas State, Michael Beasley (22) had worn out the Miami Heat with his antics. Although the talent was clearly there, the Heat couldn't afford Beasley on their Big Three-focused roster and he was moved to Minnesota in a salary dump move.
One man's trash...
Beasley increased nearly all of his averages in the 2010 season, most notably scoring, which rose from 14.8 to 19.2 PPG, making him a top-20 scorer in the entire league—joining Kevin Love, who also made the list averaging 20.2 PPG.
Amazingly, only Miami, New York and Oklahoma City join Minnesota in boasting multiple top-20 players—putting Minnesota in pretty decent company.
After a slow NBA start, it is difficult to think of Beasley as a foundational player, and arguments have been made that Arizona's Derrick Williams would be a solid upgrade if Beasley falters in his second year in Minnesota.
Beasley's biggest hurdle is that he's out-of-position playing consistently as a small forward, but the hope is that Beasley can, one day, mature into the Wolves' version of Lamar Odom.
Wesley Johnson
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Although he is the team's latest draftee, Wesley Johnson (23) is older than either of the players preceding him on this list. He was drafted fourth overall in 2010 and has flashed signs of brilliance as a talented wing scorer.
Averaging only nine points per game in his first NBA season, Johnson was able to drop 29 against the Lakers in March.
Johnson is still a work-in-progress but projects as a solid defender in the NBA and a double digit scoring threat. He won't supplant Love as the team's superstar, or Beasley as their go-to scoring option, but he's clearly part of the plans.
Darko Milicic
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Cue laughter.
Growing up a Detroit Pistons fan, it is easy to understand both fascination and apprehension with Darko. It is also extremely comfortable to hear exasperation in the voices of those who speak about everything he could have been and everything he isn't.
Yet, to speak of Darko as a completely finished product or unworthy of an NBA roster spot is more than a little premature.
The former Piston, Magic, Grizzly and Knick is only 25 years old!
To be clear on a few things, Darko was clearly drafted too early and far too high and will never live up to the lofty expectations that led him to be drafted before Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Chris Kaman.
Yet, the Timberwolves didn't draft Darko and only gave up now-34 Brian Cardinal to acquire him via trade. Cardinal is now a Dallas Maverick, playing a whopping 11 minutes per game during the 2010 season.
Meanwhile, Darko played a career high 25 minutes per game in his first half season with the Timberwolves and 24 minutes per game this season, averaging eight points, five rebounds, and two blocks.
Darko has plenty of raw talent left untapped and will alternate bouts of infuriating play with double digit scoring performances—something he did 29 times in 2010
The Miami Heat would kill for that out of Joel Anthony.
Anthony Randolph/Nikola Pekovic/Anthony Tolliver
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Including Anthony Randolph (21), Nikola Pekovic (25) and Anthony Tolliver (26) on the same slide isn't just shorthand, it's representative of their shared role on the Timberwolves—front court depth.
Randolph is the lengthy defender who can guard multiple positions. Pekovic projects as and interior scorer who can shoulder the offense and spend fouls on defense while the stars rest. Tolliver can space the floor with a decent jumper.
Of course, if any of these guys had performed dutifully in those roles in 2010, the Timberwolves would have been much better than their woeful record.
Bench depth, especially in the front court, is a valued commodity in the league. If even one of these young big men matures into a quality backup post player, the Timberwolves will have something other teams covet. If two or more of them grow into decent players, they will have both talent and assets.
This isn't a pie-in-the-sky hope. All three of these players have been projected as future talent at one point or another by multiple teams and professional scouts.
The Timberwolves made a conscious decision to invest in youth, rather than working with a short-term answer. If they hit on any, it will have been a great decision. If all three fail, all three are easy to replace—likely, with another young player.
2011 Additions
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Plenty of virtual ink has been spilled on Ricky Rubio, and not much more deserves to be spilled here.
Rubio is a talented distributor and spent his formative years as a consistent double-double and triple-double threat in international play. His stardom took off after dropping 51 points as part of a quadruple-double as part of the Spanish Under-16 FIBA team.
The most recent scouting reports, however, aren't as glowing. Rubio has struggled in European League play and has not matured as a scorer or a defender.
The biggest question about Rubio is whether he will even play in Minnesota. He's still a valuable asset and has long been rumored to want to play in New York. The Knicks own the 17th pick in this draft and are trending toward higher draft picks in the future. The Timberwolves' asking price would likely be multiple draft picks and a combination of young players like Landry Fields, Toney Douglas and Bill Walker.
Meanwhile in 2010, the Timberwolves own two picks in the first round and have rumored to be picking up an extra lottery pick in a three-way trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons.
In such a trade, the Timberwolves would be passing up on Derrick Williams (who common sense says would be duplicative with Johnson and Beasley already on the roster) and adding the fourth and the eighth pick in the draft.
At four, the Timberwolves could easily add a point guard like Brandon Knight or Kemba Walker to buttress against Rubio's bust potential or a talented international player like Enes Kanter or Jonas Valanciunas.
At eight, the Timberwolves could go international again with Bismack Biyombo or Jan Vesely or grab the shooting guard they covet with Alec Burks or Klay Thompson.
History tells us those assets (including Rubio and Jonny Flynn) may become even more picks as no team has more dedicated international scouting or desire to acquire young talent than Minnesota.
Kurt Rambis
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Kurt Rambis (53) is just a young gun by coaching standards.
On one hand, it is easy to point out that Rambis has only won about a quarter of his games as Timberwolves coach. On the other, it wasn't too long ago that Rambis was a hot name on the coaching trail and had his fingerprints on multiple titles with the Los Angeles Lakers.
With Phil Jackson retired, Rambis becomes—for better or worse—the league's preeminent expert on the Triangle offense.
With two more years left on a four-year contract, Rambis has plenty of chances to improve on his overall record with the club and any improvement in 2011 could earn him an extension in the eyes of the president, David Kahn and the owner, Glen Taylor.
David Kahn
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Could any list about the youth of the Timberwolves be complete without the youth builder himself?
Look, Kahn hasn't exactly done a bang-up in the two years he's been with the team. This isn't attempting to blow smoke up anyone's rear end or become the first stop on the "David Kahn Apology Tour."
David Kahn made mistakes in his first two years as Timberwolves president, but has the backing of owner, Glen Taylor, and is young enough (50) to learn from his mistakes and correct them.
Already, the Timberwolves have tried to atone for their overdrafting of point guards in 2009—attempting to trade struggling combo guard, Jonny Flynn and bringing in Luke Ridnour as a steady (if uninspiring) distributor.
Meanwhile, for all his missteps, Kahn has made some good moves as well. When no one really thought Michael Beasley or Darko Milicic were worth much, Kahn brought them in and both performed above expectations.
Kahn also turned Al Jefferson into three draft picks (two firsts and a second) and cleared plenty of cap space—essentially attempting to be the New England Patriots of the NBA Draft.
The biggest question of course is: will Ricky Rubio and the youth movement pay off before Kahn is looking for other employment?
Eventually, Taylor and the Timberwolves fanbase will stop being comfortable looking only toward the future. Kahn will eventually be forced to pull the trigger on win-now mode. Will if happen in 2012? Likely not, but 2013 and beyond will be the true measure of this man and this team.
