CRUNCH WEARS NO PANTS — Just Happy to Be Here.
Exactly two months ago, Rudy Gobert became a Timberwolf.
Since then, much has been made about the basketball side of the Wolves (potentially) mortgaging their future in this deal. It’s terrible. It’s great. They overpaid. They didn’t overpay. They overpaid but it’s ok. All of the things have been said and written and discussed.
But as a fan, the word mattering most is this one: relevant.
Save for a cantankerous season of Thibs and Jimmy Butler, it’s been roughly 17 years since the Minnesota masses cared about the Timberwolves. Over that time, we Wolves fans were asked to get hyped for things like Al Jefferson, like Wes Johnson and Derrick Williams and Randy Foye, like a “big three” of Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, and Ricky Rubio, and another “big three” of KAT, Wiggins, and Lavine. We had to find reasons to get excited like dunk contests and 30-30 games and Rubio’s return and…high draft picks? It’s been bleak.
Finally, Wolves fans have something we haven’t had in the Twitter era. We have relevancy. National media is talking about this team. Local fans are back and they have opinions. Hot takes are flying everywhere.
And the team is now looking confidently at a second (or third) round exit. It’s great!
That’s right: I can’t wait for a second (or third) round playoff exit. Some people might feel like this is setting up another MN sports disappointment; a way-too-low ceiling for a team that went all in. I don’t subscribe to the “championship or bust” theory. It’s a bullshit way to fan. It takes all the fun out of a season-long obsession. A consistent second (or third) round exit would immediately be (at worst) the second best season Wolves fans have ever seen. That sounds incredible!
People want to talk about upside or the ceiling. Could this be a championship team??? Maybe, maybe not. So let’s focus on the floor. The floor is HIGH. The floor is a team worth talking about, regardless of what happens in June. The floor for the Wolves is the most interesting NBA basketball this state has had in nearly two decades.
It’s not like we Minnesota fans are finding relevancy anywhere else. The Twins haven’t been a threat to win a single playoff game, let alone a series, in years. The Vikings are saddled with the Magician of Mediocrity at quarterback. The Wild have Kirill, but every year we’re reminded that the most relevant hockey in the “State of Hockey” exists at a high school level.
If relevancy is the ceiling, I’m totally ok with that. It will mean the hot take mafia makes the Wolves a regular topic. It’ll mean a packed Target Center, vibing 41+ nights next winter, full of Wolves merch and Jake’s Graphs swag. It’ll mean an extra 5-6 weeks of emotional investment-worthy basketball each spring. And if it ends without a championship, that’s fine! We had an entire (extended) season of caring!
(A full aside: I will fully embrace the sky high expectations. Gorbert’s Jazz teams were considered title contenders at some point in every one of the last five seasons. I’d take the Wolves current roster over every single one of those lineups. People dwell on the Jazz’s playoff failures, but Gobert led the French National team to a silver medal, nearly upsetting the stacked US team in 2020. If Ant’s offseason floater work and Jaden’s 50+ point ProAm appearances are indicative of their growth, every bit of the sky high expectations is deserved. I want to watch a championship team.)
For some people, relevancy will feel like a cop out. It has an air of cliche MN sports expectations. We’re trained to expect losing and heartbreak. This is not that. It isn’t looking for a looming letdown. (And it’s hard to be let down by a team that hasn’t done anything, ever.) This is about embracing what we have and enjoying the ride. The Wolves haven’t had that for far too long. And now that they do, I’m just happy to be here.
