Paul Pierce believes the Minnesota Timberwolves have to retool their roster.
The Minnesota Timberwolves came so close to reaching the NBA Finals. But in the end, the OKC Thunder were just the better team.
This marks the second year in a row that the Minnesota Timberwolves have been decimated in the Western Conference Finals.
For all the greatness of Anthony Edwards, he still has some way to go in improving as a championship-caliber player.
But Paul Pierce believes there are two players who have proven to be liabilities on the biggest stage, and they need to make some changes.
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Paul Pierce says two stars must leave Minnesota Timberwolves
Paul Pierce talked on ‘Speak’ about the future of the Minnesota Timberwolves. While he believes Anthony Edwards must be better, Pierce added that the rest of the roster needs work.
Specifically, he mentioned that the Minnesota Timberwolves can no longer rely on Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert, who have proven to be liabilities in the Western Conference Finals two years in a row.
“I don’t think this falls on Ant… There are too many liabilities. Conley and Gobert were liabilities for that ball club… As far as Ant getting better, yeah, you want to keep developing.”
“They gotta reconstruct their roster. I think they gotta get a point guard and figure out what they’re going to do with Gobert. In the last two years in the conference finals, Gobert has been a liability on defense.”
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Rudy Gobert comes up short defensively
With Mike Conley, as much as he didn’t perform as well, it can be forgiven slightly, when you consider his age. But his presence is there to bolster morale, as was seen from Anthony Edwards’ recent comments.
Rudy Gobert, however, has proven too many times that he cannot be trusted in difficult moments. Despite being a four-time defensive player of the year, Gobert is a terrible defender in the playoffs.
Gobert was ruthlessly mocked for the way Luka Doncic was able to score on him with incredible ease. And the Thunder made light work of his famed rim protection.
The Gobert experiment for the Timberwolves has failed. It’s time for them to try a new roster around Anthony Edwards.