Breaking Down the Bench

Photo by Noah Graham

All right. Seven wins and six losses. Should be 11–2, or 10–3 at worst. Coach Rick Adelman’s been adamant that these T-Wolves can’t have even a single guy having an off night if this team expects to win. And the T-Wolves don’t have time to screw around losing games to the woeful Cavs or Wizards, or to the Clippers at home, if they want to make a serious playoff run this season.

There are 12 men per team that don uniforms for each NBA game, which means that more guys are sitting on the bench during live action than are playing on the court. The 58% of the active roster is the main reason the Wolves are faltering. The best teams can overcome a star’s off game (like Kevin Martin had in D.C. and like 2-for-14-shooting Kevin Love had vs the Clippers last night). With a productive bench.

But Adelman clearly doesn’t trust a number of the guys on the Minny bench. Dante Cunningham and JJ Barea aside, the bench is the Wolves’ early season Achilles heel.

So let’s break it down in descending order of player value…  

Ronny Turiaf and Chase Budinger are injured.

JJ Barea has been streaky as hell, but he’s a nice changeup from Rubio, and he doesn’t back down—an important quality on this team. I wish Adelman had a better feel with how to use him—his extended PT in the fourth quarter vs the Wiz might’ve been the reason the Wolves lost. Rubio’s got to have those minutes because he’s a gamer.

Dante Cunningham has been streaky, too, shooting-wise, but he routinely crashes the boards and plays D—and made my heart sing with a choice leather eater on Pouty Face Blake Griffin last night.

Robbie Hummel seems to be Coach A’s only bench pet this season, but we’ll see what happens to him when Neon Chase returns. Here’s hoping Hummel makes the most of his opportunities. The threeball needs to start going in at about a 50% clip.

Alexey Shved has seemed to get worse with less court time. While that makes sense, his shortened leash is a little puzzling considering Adelman gave Shved more minutes last season than he deserved. Of course injuries played a factor, but there were other guys Adelman could’ve played, too. My theory on Shved is that he’s lonely for his Russian buddy and American cultural guide Andrei Kirilenko, who’s spasmed off to the Nets.

Gorgui Dieng is very green and foul prone at this point, but the season is young, and I expect him to adapt to the point where it wouldn’t surprise me to see him contributing eventually. He’s old for a rookie these days (24 in Jan.), and seems like one of those quick adapters.

AJ Price is one of those guys you need on the end of a bench—good towel-waiver (an important bench quality—I’m not kidding), hustler, underdog. Shabazz Muhammad is one of those guys you’d like to get off your bench—there’s a D-League, you know.

And that brings us to Derrick Williams, the LVP of the Wolves’ bench. Oh he’s got value as a trade chip. But he’s doing the Wolves no good in a Minnesota uniform. So let’s give his spot to somebody who can help Rick Adelman stop giving 40 minutes a game to the starters. Thus a proposal…

Five Derrick Williams Trade Scenarios That Make Sense for the Timberwolves

1. Omer Asik for Derrick Williams

Seven-foot center Omer Asik wants out of Houston after the Rockets signed Dwight Howard for funny money this summer and decided that they can’t play Asik and Howard together. D-Will gets no playing time in Minny behind Kevin Love. The Wolves are looking for veteran big men who can fill the role that the broken elbowed Ronny Turiaf was slated for. The Rockets don’t give a crap about playing defense anyway, so D-Will could fit right in. Both players’ contracts run through next year and are similar, dollar-wise. Maybe Wolves GM Flip Saunders and Rockets coach Kevin McHale (how’s that for a flip-flop of roles?) could re-connect over the trade. No one likes them not being buds. Franc Garcia and Omri Casspi constitute attractive flotsam for Shabazz jetsam.

2. Jason Thompson and Jimmer Fredette for Derrick Williams and Shabazz Muhammad

Seems like the Sacramento Kings might be getting the better end of the bargain here until you realize that D-Will and Bazz-Mo are doing zilch for the Wolves this year. Thompson is a bit herky-jerky (in a bad way) and something of a foulmaster, but he’d bring the Wolves serviceable back-up value to Big Pek. Jimmer is buried on the bench in Sacto, but that don’t mean he bad. He seems to have a little JJ Reddick in him to me. Or Luke Ridnour—whom the Wolves started for like the last three years round these parts. Two other Kings small forwards are also attractive, including K-Love’s college teammate at UCLA Luc Mbah a Moute (who plays D) and Travis Outlaw (who plays O).

3. Evan Turner for Derrick Williams

I have no idea why the upstart Sixers would trade their leading scorer this season for Derrick Williams, but I would like it. And it wouldn’t have seemed so silly last year about this time when these guys were averaging similar stats and seemed redundant to their respective teams, position-wise. One reason the Sixers might consider it is that Turner is in the last year of his contract while D-Will’s papers are for two more.

4. Gerald Wallace and Brandon Bass for Derrick Williams and Shabazz Muhammad

Wallace is getting ornery in Boston and seems to want the hell out of there after being traded to rebuilding Boston right after signing a big deal for supposedly competitive Brooklyn. He’s always played D, and he’d fit right in with the Wolves—even played for Rick Adelman his first three years in the L in Sacramento. His contract is for $10 mill per year, but some trade sweeteners could easily be thrown in to make this work. Would love it if the Wolves could somehow pry Brandon Bass from the ’Tics, too, and jettison Bazz. Maybe Flip Saunders could remind Danny Ainge how we traded him a championship by handing him Garnett back in 06 and Ainge would feel sorry and karmic for us and just make it happen.

5. Kevin Love for… You Name It

I know Kevin Love is having a nice season, statistically. But Derrick Williams isn’t a dog (and he’s still so young!), and he’d look good in the starting lineup at PF next to Pek and K-Mart and Brewer and Rubio. And what Love could bring in the way of riches right now is pretty tantalizing, if you think about it. Bradley Beal and Marcin Gortat from D.C.? LaMarcus Aldridge and Nic Batum (you think Portland go wild to have native son Love back?) Al Horford and Kyle Korver from Atlanta? Andre Drummond and Rodney Stuckey from Detroit? With a draft pick or two going the right way, I’d do any of these.