The Minnesota Timberwolves are failing pre-season expectations. While it's still early in the season, the team has appeared very vulnerable.
The T-Wolves have two prime young talents. Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins were both first overall picks and projected to be franchise players in the future. Having two of them in one team has raised expectations for the club.
Minnesota nailed the top coach in the carousel with Tom Thibodeau, the former Bulls coach that has always led his team to the playoffs. This is why a playoffs appearance is a must-otherwise they would be labeled as disappointments.
With a 4-8 start, cue the trade rumors. Two players that were involved in trade rumors during the offseason were Andrew Wiggins and Ricky Rubio. Wiggins, despite being a clear franchise cornerstone, was included in scenarios that involved Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls and also a Thibodeau protégé.
The rumor mill has revisited the Wiggins for Jimmy Butler trade. Wiggins was a requirement, as NESN reported, for any deal for Butler. That has not changed.
For the Bulls, Dwyane Wade has emerged as the leader of the team and it can give them a chance to explore what they can get for Butler-someone younger with more upside like Wiggins.
For the Wolves, it's simply because they have stumbled off the gate and the assumption is that Butler would be better suited to lead the team than Wiggins.
However, Wiggins is actually not to blame for the T-Wolves woes. As Minnesota Timberwolves blog A Wolf Among Wolves pointed out, Wiggins is "ascending." He scored 47 points in a blowout win against the LA Lakers, who also boasted of a young core group (and currently, a winning record).
What's more, Wiggins may have made Ricky Rubio dispensable. In the analysis by Andy Grimsrud in AWAW, he noted that Rubio has been the team's most reliable playmaker (by far) during his career, but Wiggins has been tasked with playmaking duties by Coach Thibs.
While Thibs continues to praise Rubio and emphasize his role on the team, "actions speak louder than words, and it's pretty clear for anyone to see that Thibs wants Wiggins to be this team's go-to guy. So far, the results have been shockingly good and seem to be rapidly improving," Grimsrud noted.
Forget the Andrew Wiggins trade rumors. If the Minnesota Timberwolves plan on shipping someone, it would be Ricky Rubio. While he's not a bad player, trading him would fill out other needs for the team.