Bleav's coverage of the NBA offseason continues.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have sputtered their way to a measly 5-8 record through 13 games this season and it is time for them to figure it out, or else big changes will need to be made.

On an all new episode of the Bleav in Timberwolves podcast, hosts Brendan Hedtke and former Timberwolves’ guard Doug West break down the issues surrounding this team and what they can do to address them.

First, the duo takes a look at the defensive side of the ball for this squad. Adding Rudy Gobert should have been a big boost in that department, but it so far has not felt that way. The players seemed confused in their roles on that side of the ball and are often out of position. Is it time to simplify the defense schemes and stick to just one? Which scheme would be best to focus on in that situation?

Flipping the switch to the offensive end, the Wolves have continuously found themselves looking out of sorts. The spacing has been subpar, the shot making has been lacking, and it seems like Gobert has the ball in his hands too often. Brendan suggests that the Wolves run more offense with Gobert in the dunker spot, the ball in Anthony Edwards’ hands, and D’Angelo Russell, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jaden McDaniels spread around the perimeter. Doug and Brendan also discuss if calling more set plays might be a benefit for this team.

Another idea brought up is that of Towns’ role in the offense. After watching Dillon Brooks in the Memphis game, maybe Chris Finch can emulate a lot of those actions for Towns, who is one of the best shooters in the league.

The hosts also discussed the possibility of benching or trading D’Angelo Russell and what that might look like for the Wolves.

Through their first ten games, the Minnesota Timberwolves stumbled into a 5-5 record. There have been stretches of really good play, but those have been widely outnumbered by immense struggles. While effort issues caused many of the woes this team faced early on, those have somewhat subsided and this Wolves squad has still struggled to find consistent success.

The issues run deeper than the two big lineup. That takeaway is lazy and uninformed. There are problems with the guards, the forwards and the bigs. There are problems on both defense and offense.

The Wolves put together a solid win against the Rockets on Saturday with Rudy Gobert out of the lineup. The ball movement was great. The spacing made sense. Which begs the question: Is Rudy Gobert the root of the Timberwolves problems so far this season?

Brendan Hedtke and Doug West, hosts of the Bleav in Timberwolves podcast, dive into that question on their latest episode.

Along with that question, the pair looks into a number of things related to this Wolves’ team, including:

• What has been the biggest surprise for you with this team so far?
• What has been your biggest disappointment?
• What have you noticed that is not working for this team?
• How will teams target the Wolves throughout the year?
• Who has stood out the most?
• What is your confidence level that this team is going to figure it out and win 50 games?

& so more!

With both of their coaching experience, the duo is able to take a look at the Wolves problems under that game manager lens and dive into what Coach Finch may do to figure this thing out.

The Minnesota Timberwolves season is right around the corner and fans are becoming more and more excited. The anticipation has been sky high since the Wolves made a huge trade for 3x Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert in the offseason. Optimism has surrounded the team from within the organization and it’s fanbase, but nationally there has been more skepticism than anything.

Regardless of how the Wolves are viewed from the outside, Brendan Hedtke and Doug West are ready to give your their predictions for the 2022-23 Timberwolves season and put some more positivity and optimism into the airwaves on a brand new episode of the Bleav in Timberwolves Podcast!

On the newest edition, Brendan and Doug look at specific predictions for the Timberwolves, including:

• Who will be the Timberwolves leading scorer in points per game this season?
• How many wins with this team end the season with?
• What seed will the Timberwolves find themselves in after 82 games?
• Will the Wolves win at least one playoff series this season?
• Where will the offense rank in offensive rating at the end of the season compared to the rest of the league?
• Where will the defense rank in defensive rating at the end of the season compared to the rest of the league.

On top of the predictions, the duo talks about things they are looking forward to seeing this season. How will Chris Finch utilize Rudy Gobert in the offense? What will the jumps for Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels look like? Who makes the rotation once the dust settles? Is there room for Naz Reid to get rotation minutes after an impressive season? All of these topics will be interesting to track over the course of the long NBA season and Brendan and Doug will be right here to help break it all down!

The Minnesota Timberwolves opened training camp just last week. Absent from the unofficial start to the season was star Power Forward (formerly Center, see Rudy Gobert Trade) Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns was hospitalized with an infection that caused him to miss the entire first week of training camp, which begs the question, how negatively could that missed time affect his on court chemistry with new teammate Rudy Gobert and will that cause the Wolves some trouble to start the season?

On today’s all new Bleav in Timberwolves Podcast, hosts Brendan Hedtke and Doug West get into that question and many more.

The pairing is finally back after a summer hiatus, and unlike Towns and Gobert, the chemistry was there from the start. Doug and Brendan are more ready than ever to provide entertaining, insightful, and truthful analysis of a Timberwolves team that looks to be better than any of recent memory.

On today’s episode, the duo dives into some thought provoking questions after the first week of camp and the first pre-season game:

• Does an “easy” schedule at the beginning of the season provide Towns and Gobert a good chance to build on-court chemistry or does it lead to potential disaster if they drop some early games?
• Which bench player will get the most minutes and become the steady 6th man for the Wolves?
• Who plays more minutes between Austin Rivers and Jaylen Nowell, who seem to be fighting for a solidified role in the rotation?
• Which of the end of the bench guys make the cut and which find themselves off the opening night roster?
• Which Wolves player is the most likely to be traded?

(*Note: Doug and Brendan are excited to be back for their first full season together and they truly appreciated all of the support as they got the podcast off the ground last spring.)

It is the lull of the NBA offseason as players around the league are participating in local Pro-Ams, playing for their home countries’ national teams, or meeting up with other pros to get some run in at a random gym somewhere and having the highlights uploaded to Twitter. We are anxiously awaiting the release of the 2022-23 NBA regular season schedule so we can all bellyache over the number of back-to-backs the Wolves will play in and the lack of national TV shine the franchise will undoubtedly receive.

Regardless of what exactly the players are up to, it remains true that there is nearly no substantial news to break down on your favorite franchise, the Minnesota Timberwolves. So, with training camp still well over a month away, the hosts of the Bleav in Timberwolves Podcast, Brendan Hedtke and Doug West, decided it was time to turn to the fans and answer their questions.

On the latest episode, Brendan and Doug answer a variety of questions from you, the listeners. The duo goes deep into answering questions like:

• How many All-Star selections will the Wolves have?
• What All-NBA team does Anthony Edwards end up on?
• Will Karl-Anthony Towns be able to keep up with the elite power forwards in today’s NBA?
• What can we reasonably expect from Jaden McDaniels in year 3?
• Does the bench have enough spacing?
• How much time will the team need to gel on the court?

Catch Brendan and Doug’s thoughts, ideas, and opinions on all of those questions and much more on the latest episode of Bleav in Timberwolves!

Thanks to everyone who sent in questions!

The Minnesota Timberwolves made the biggest move of the offseason by trading Patrick Beverley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, Leandro Bolmaro, Walker Kessler, 3 first-round picks, and a pick swap to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Rudy Gobert. The move signified the start of a new wave in Minnesota; Big Ball.

Now the idea of having two bigger front court players isn’t as much of a novel concept in today’s NBA as many claim it is. Cleveland runs out a lineup including Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, Memphis deploys Steven Adams and Jaren Jackson Jr. in their front line together, Indiana had Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis next to one another for years, and the reigning runner-up Boston Celtics had Al Horford playing next to Robert Williams III. Of course, none of those duos are a perfect 1:1 match for the Towns and Gobert pairing, but it does put away the notion that a two-big lineup is unheard of and cannot work.

On today’s episode of Bleav in Timberwolves, hosts Brendan Hedtke and Doug West are back from their busy summer of coaching high school hoops and are ready to dive into some Wolves talk.

The pair breaks down their thoughts on the Gobert trade and how he seems to fit with the Timberwolves on both sides of the ball. Then, Brendan and Doug looks at the additional moves the Wolves have made, including the signing of Bryn Forbes, Austin Rivers, and Eric Paschall.

Finally, they look at the projected win totals for the Timberwolves and discuss if they believe the line is a fair one, taking into consideration all of the factors that will be in play next season.

The day before NBA Free Agency kicked off, the Timberwolves got their summer started by extending forward Taurean Prince for two more seasons. Prince, much to many fans’ delight, will be returning as an impact veteran, both on the court and in the locker room, for a young Timberwolves team that saw great improvement last season. His new deal, worth $16 million over the next two seasons, could prove to be a win for the Wolves if he continues to play well this season.

Once free agency officially started at 5 PM CT, we saw the floodgates open as Shams Charania tweeted out deals left and right. There was not much for surprises in the first wave, at least not major ones. The Timberwolves did not make a move for over two and a half hours until it was reported that they were signing former Memphis Grizzlies forward Kyle Anderson to a two-year deal for $18 million. The Wolves used most of their Mid-Level Exception to get Anderson on the roster.

Then, as soon as it was possible, it was reported that Minnesota and star center Karl-Anthony Towns had agreed to terms on a four-year, supermax contract extension that will have Towns committed to Minnesota through the 2027-28 season. Towns, who arguably just finished his best season, will now be a pillar of the franchise for years to come. If he finishes his extension in Minnesota, he will be the longest tenured Wolf in history, having played for the team for 14 years.

On the latest episode of the Bleav in Timberwolves Podcast, hosts Brendan Hedtke and Doug West talk about the Wolves extending Prince and Towns, signing Anderson, and the potential for a trade involving D’Angelo Russell.

The duo also talks about:

• The Kevin Durant sweepstakes
• Rudy Gobert to Minnesota rumors
• Surprise signings

& more!

The Minnesota Timberwolves entered the 2022 NBA Draft with 4 picks to be used. Those picks were picks 19, 40, 48, and 50. As the night went on, there wasn’t much action in the top 10 of the draft. Then, things started to get moving. Minnesota ended up the night with four players being selected, but the path was not as straightforward as it may sound. The Wolves did not use any of their first three picks, but rather did a slew of trades to eventually end up with selections 22, 26, 45, and 50.

Hosts Brendan Hedtke and Doug West are here to break down the picks and give their quick reactions on the latest episode of Bleav in Timberwolves.

Here is a quick synopsis of the night:

With their first pick, Minnesota took Auburn Center Walker Kessler. Kessler was certainly not a fan favorite, but does fill a number of holes in a Timberwolves team that lacks size, rim protection, and rebounding. Kessler was the 2021-22 National Defensive Player of the Year and averaged over 4 blocks per game at Auburn.

Next, the Wolves found themselves with the 26th pick. They used this slot to select Duke wing Wendell Moore Jr. Moore played three seasons for the Blue Devils and Coach K. He improved each year and looks to be a potential 3-and-D type player in the NBA. He is slightly undersized as a wing, standing 6-foot-5, but he makes up for that with his strength and wingspan, which stretches over 7 feet. He also is a solid playmaker, which might be his best skill.

In the second round, the Wolves traded back from pick 40 to pick 45 to collect some future draft capital. They ended up taking Josh Minott with that selection. Minott is a great athlete and plays with a ton of energy at 6-foot-9, but his offensive game is nearly a blank slate. There will be a lot to do on that side of the ball before he sniffs rotation minutes.

Finally, the Timberwolves took Matteo Spagnolo from Italy at #50. Spagnolo will likely be a draft-and-stash player for a year or two. He’s been dubbed the “Italian Ricky Rubio” due to his finesse playmaking. He has also shown to be a solid shooter, but lacks a lot of athleticism and defensive prowess.

The All-NBA teams were announced by the NBA during the Western Conference Finals. Minnesota Timberwolves Center Karl-Anthony Towns was selected for the second time in his career, again making the All-NBA Third Team, just as he did in the 2017-18 season.

On today’s show, hosts Brendan Hedtke and former Timberwolves’ guard Doug West break down the All-NBA teams and take a look back at their awards voting from a few weeks ago. The pair talks about the players they voted correctly, the players they had making a team but ended up making a different team, and the players that they missed on completely. They feel like they did a pretty solid job, but let them know what you think!

Then, the duo takes a look at the upcoming NBA Finals matchup between the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are coming into the series after defeating the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the Western Conference Finals. The Celtics, on the other hand, had a tough seven game battle with the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Warriors should prove to be more rested when the series starts, but Boston is also in a groove. Hear how Doug and Brendan think that will affect their performances to start the series.

The hosts also talk about their favorite matchups in this series, including Marcus Smart versus Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins versus Jayson Tatum, and Klay Thompson versus Jaylen Brown.

Finally, they give their predictions for this series and talk about which players are most likely to end up winning the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award and which could be dark horses to be selected.

The Minnesota Timberwolves made a massive move on Monday when they announced the hiring of Tim Connelly as their newest President of Basketball Operations. The move had been reported as in the works last week and came together, culminating with Connelly visiting with Glen Taylor. The move puts Connelly as the number one decision-maker in the Timberwolves’ front office.

Many wondered what would happen to Sachin Gupta if the Wolves ownership group brought in a new face. Well, according to the press release, Gupta is not going anywhere either.

“Connelly will work closely with Timberwolves Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Sachin Gupta, as well as Head Coach Chris Finch...”

Connelly previously worked for the Denver Nuggets as their President of Basketball Operations, a role that he assumed in 2017. He was with the Nuggets as their Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for four years prior to that promotion.\

On today’s episode of the Bleav in Timberwolves Podcast, Ryan Blackburn, Site Manager for our sister site Denver Stiffs, joins Brendan Hedtke and Doug West to give insight as to what the hiring means for the Timberwolves.

Ryan graciously brings his wealth of knowledge and insight from his time covering the Nuggets.

The trio breaks down the move from multiple angles, covering a variety of topic, including:

• Connelly’s history in front offices
• His personality and demeanor
• How aggressive he will be
• His strengths and weakness as a decision maker
• His success in the draft
• What type of relationship he may have with Chris Finch
• How he and Gupta can lean on each other
• Denver fans’ reactions to the news
• & more!