Minnesota Timberwolves Mount Rushmore
In the NBA, there are a handful of storied franchises. The Minnesota Timberwolves are not one of them.
The Timberwolves organization has only been around since 1989, and has had just one Hall-of-Fame caliber player and a single coach who has led the team to the postseason. That’s it.
So, putting together a theoretical “Mt. Rushmore” for the Timberwolves isn’t as difficult as it might be for the Lakers or Celtics. It also means the four most important figures in franchise history are fairly indisputable.
That is the case here, as we cycle through each team’s “Mt. Rushmore” this offseason. We’ll go 1–4 in a countdown of the top four most important figures in franchise history.
4. Karl-Anthony Towns (2015 — present)
The 21-year-old has played just two seasons in a Timberwolves uniform, but has already cemented himself as the brightest hope the franchise has had since drafting Kevin Garnett more than two decades ago.
Last season, he joined Shaquille O’Neal as the only two players over the last 40 years to average 25 points and 12 rebounds for a season before turning 22 years old. KAT’s defense is still a work in progress, but he already has the overall game to be the best player in franchise history, if his development continues and he sticks around for a while.
3. Flip Saunders (1995 — 2005, 2014 — 15)
Here’s a fact for you: The Timberwolves have had 11 head coaches, yet Saunders is the only one to take the team to the playoffs. He did it for eight consecutive years, and reached the Western Conference Finals in 2004.
He’s the only coach to lead the Timberwolves to more than 40 wins in a season, and he did it six times. His teams won 50 games four different times. It’s safe to argue that not one coach has been as dominant within a single franchise in NBA history.
2. Kevin McHale (1995 — 2008)
McHale was a Hall-of-Fame player for the Boston Celtics and will always be synonymous with Celtic green. But, his crafty maneuvering as an executive in Minnesota may be the biggest reason the Timberwolves weren’t eventually relegated to the G League.
It’s true. What he did in Minnesota may have been more influential than anything he did on the court in Boston.
Snicker if you will, but think about it for a second: The Celtics would have won titles with Larry Bird even without McHale. Would the Timberwolves have reached the postseason eight consecutive seasons in the late 1990s and early 2000s? Not a chance.
Here are a few transactions McHale made while he was Vice President of Basketball Operations, from 1995 to 2008:
1995: Drafted Kevin Garnett №5 overall, turning conventional wisdom on its head by selecting a kid straight out of high school before it was in vogue. Best decision in franchise history.
1995: Hired Flip Saunders as head coach.
**In fairness, he drafted Ray Allen and traded him for Stephon Marbury in ’96, but somewhat atoned for it later by swapping Marbury for Terrell Brandon and Wally Szczerbiak.
2000: Signed Chauncey Billups as a free agent.
2003: Turned Marc Jackson and a retiring Terrell Brandon into a rejuvenated Latrell Sprewell (then had the guts to balk when Sprewell asked for more than $21 for over three years at the age of 34).
2008: Traded a package centered around O.J. Mayo for one including Kevin Love, who became a three-time All-Star in six seasons for the team.
*McHale also drafted Rashad McCants and Ndudi Ebi, orchestrated an under-the-table deal with Joe Smith that cost the team three first-rounders and traded Brandon Roy for Randy Foye — but come on, let bygones be bygones.
1. Kevin Garnett (1995–2007)
The easiest choice of them all. Garnett won a title with the Celtics, but he’s the Timberwolves’ all-time leader in every major statistical category, including points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. He’s also the lone player to win a Most Valuable Player Award in a Timberwolves uniform.
I have to wonder, has any one player been so far ahead of everyone else in an NBA franchise’s history? Even Cleveland and Chicago have had other Hall-of-Fame players outside of LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Minnesota might be the only team that can say it has one truly transcendent player, and a bunch of other guys, some of whom may or may not have been pretty decent, too.
