Post by Minnesota on Jun 22, 2016 18:30:41 GMT
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The Timberwolves have been tinkering with their line-up since trading All-star Point Guard Zoran Slavic to the Seattle Supersonics. The intent at the time was to move Zoran for cap purposes but also to free up a spot in the starting line-up for second-year player Billy Cunningham.
The original plan was to slide Andrew Wiggins over to Shooting Guard and have Marcus Smart take over the primary ball handling responsibilities. That plan was delayed a little after signing Louis Dampier, Spud Webb, and others in Free Agency. Some on the staff thought that Smart and Wiggins were thriving in their current roles so why switch things up.
Two weeks ago the Timberwolves staff finally decided to make the move and worked Billy into the starting lineup and since then he has responded with three triple-doubles. Minnesota has also been opening up a lead in the division since Cunningham started getting more minutes.
"We were getting a lot of calls on Billy (Cunningham) since we drafted him," said Wolves General Manager John Scott. "We were pretty impressed with him right away and thought he had a real gem."
Moving Cunningham into the starting line-up hurts the bench a little but playing Garnett, Wiggins and Cunningham together creates match-up difficulties for other squads.
Cunningham has never involved in trade discussions outside of for Karl-Anthony Towns (before the 9th pick was selected). He slid in the draft because people wondered what he excelled at but the real question to ask was "what can't he do?"
In only 28 minutes per game this season he is averaging roughly 15 points, 7 boards, and 4 assists per game. There is plenty of reason to believe that he can continue this production with an increased roll on the team.
Wolves have also been surprised by the play of Cunningham's draft-mate Willie Cauley-Stein who just took Greg Ostertag's starting job before the season ever started. He is averaging 14 points, 9 boards, and 1.7 blocks while shooting almost 64% from the field. What those stats don't indicate is how important he is to the teams perimeter defense.
Adding Willie to the Karl-Anthony Towns talks was the rumored hold up in a deal that would have had a dramatic impact for both squads. Seems to be that both Minnesota and Mexico would probably do the exact same thing again.
Currently Mexico City sits as the 2nd seed and Minnesota as the 3rd in the ultra competetive American Conference. Mexico leads Minnesota by 2 games but both trail New York by 8 and 10 games respectively.
The original plan was to slide Andrew Wiggins over to Shooting Guard and have Marcus Smart take over the primary ball handling responsibilities. That plan was delayed a little after signing Louis Dampier, Spud Webb, and others in Free Agency. Some on the staff thought that Smart and Wiggins were thriving in their current roles so why switch things up.
Two weeks ago the Timberwolves staff finally decided to make the move and worked Billy into the starting lineup and since then he has responded with three triple-doubles. Minnesota has also been opening up a lead in the division since Cunningham started getting more minutes.
"We were getting a lot of calls on Billy (Cunningham) since we drafted him," said Wolves General Manager John Scott. "We were pretty impressed with him right away and thought he had a real gem."
Moving Cunningham into the starting line-up hurts the bench a little but playing Garnett, Wiggins and Cunningham together creates match-up difficulties for other squads.
Cunningham has never involved in trade discussions outside of for Karl-Anthony Towns (before the 9th pick was selected). He slid in the draft because people wondered what he excelled at but the real question to ask was "what can't he do?"
In only 28 minutes per game this season he is averaging roughly 15 points, 7 boards, and 4 assists per game. There is plenty of reason to believe that he can continue this production with an increased roll on the team.
Wolves have also been surprised by the play of Cunningham's draft-mate Willie Cauley-Stein who just took Greg Ostertag's starting job before the season ever started. He is averaging 14 points, 9 boards, and 1.7 blocks while shooting almost 64% from the field. What those stats don't indicate is how important he is to the teams perimeter defense.
Adding Willie to the Karl-Anthony Towns talks was the rumored hold up in a deal that would have had a dramatic impact for both squads. Seems to be that both Minnesota and Mexico would probably do the exact same thing again.
Currently Mexico City sits as the 2nd seed and Minnesota as the 3rd in the ultra competetive American Conference. Mexico leads Minnesota by 2 games but both trail New York by 8 and 10 games respectively.
