Saturday Slam: The Minnesota Timberwolves need to do some soul searching

As you've probably heard by now, the Minnesota Timberwolves fired Tom Thibodeau, who was serving both as head coach and president of basketball operations. Ryan Saunders, son of the late Flip Saunders, has taken over head coaching duties with the interim tag. Under Thibodeau, the Timberwolves had some success, reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Unfortunately, his management style clashed with the rest of the organization, both on the court and in the front office. Star players felt overworked and disrespected while the front office felt he wasn't willing to adapt.

Increased fan apathy in Minnesota -- with critical season tickets renewal period approaching, sources say -- was undeniable factor in Tom Thibodeau's inevitable firing. On Thibodeau and the business of basketball: pic.twitter.com/Qm2Tx5wjWM

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 7, 2019  

While the reasons for firing Thibodeau are clear, it shouldn't be forgotten that the Timberwolves did find some success under him. Reaching the playoffs is a big deal for this franchise and not something that they should take lightly. If you want to have more buzz around your franchise, isn't making the playoffs the best remedy to that problem? Ultimately, if they want to justify moving on from Thibodeau, they're going to have to find a coach who is able to get more out of their players and get them back to playing playoff level basketball.

What's a bit puzzling is how quickly things have spun out of control in Minnesota. A year ago, they were on the verge of making the playoffs with Thibodeau at the helm and Jimmy Butler as their veteran superstar. Now, they've shown both Thibodeau and Butler the door, ending an experiment that resulted in a playoff appearance. It feels weird.

With Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins as their key building blocks, the Timberwolves still have a chance to do a lot of damage in the future. The problem is they don't seem to know who they are as a team. At least with Thibodeau and Butler they had an identity, even if it was flawed. Over the next few months, the Timberwolves have to do some soul searching and figure out who they are and what vision they have for the future. If they can't figure that out soon, they could be heading for some dark times.

To connect with NBA Lord on Twitter, click here.  

To connect with NBA Lord on Facebook, click here. 

To connect with NBA Lord on Google Plus, click here. 

To connect with Ben Parker, click here.