Saturday Slam: Is Tom Thibodeau the right hire for the New York Knicks?

                                              (Credit: Butch Dill/AP)

Earlier today, news broke of the New York Knicks hiring Tom Thibodeau as their new head coach. Fresh off a controversial suspension for berating Republican senator Josh Hawley, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Thibodeau's deal with the Knicks is for five years. Thibodeau is a big name in the NBA, but if you look at his body of work, he looks more like a flash in the pan than a guy who is going places.

Thibodeau got on the head coaching radar during his days as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics from 2007-10. He was known as the architect of the Celtics' championship defense in 2008 and being a hard-nosed tough guy that didn't take crap from anyone. After the success that the Celtics had with him, it made sense for some team to give him a shot as a head coach.

His first year as a head coach was with the Chicago Bulls in the 2010-11 season in which the Bulls had a league best 62-20 record. The Bulls reached the Eastern Conference Finals, losing to the Miami Heat 4-1. Derrick Rose was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player that year and Thibodeau was riding high as the coach who helped bring the Bulls back from the dead. The Bulls followed that season up with a 50-16 season, once again locking up the top seed in the NBA. Rather than going further than the year before and reaching the NBA Finals, the Bulls instead lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Philadelphia 76ers.

After looking like a championship might be coming back to the Windy City, things kinda went south for the Bulls and Thibodeau after two promising seasons. The Bulls went 45-37, 48-34, and 50-32 in Thibodeau's final three seasons with them. They were still a solid team, but not what they once were. A lot of that had to do with Derrick Rose getting worn down, something Thibodeau is known for doing to his star players. The Bulls wisely made the decision to part ways with Thibodeau after the 2014-15 season, realizing that they weren't going in the right direction.

After taking a year off, Thibodeau resurfaced as the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, going 31-51 in the 2016-17 season. It was a rebuilding year for the Wolves and not a lot was expected. The following season, 2017-18 season, was a success as the Wolves made the playoffs as the 8th seed in the West with a 47-35 record. It was their first trip to the playoffs since the 2003-04 season. Even though they lost in the first round to the Houston Rockets, things were looking up for Thibodeau and the Wolves after the season.

The 2018-19 season was a weird one in which the Timberwolves fired Thibodeau midway through the season after a rocky 19-21 start. Thibodeau and Jimmy Butler did not get along and more news was surfacing about how Thibodeau's players, particularly the stars, don't like getting worn down by him.

As for his new chapter with the Knicks, it's hard to see it going well. The best case scenario is that Thibodeau will be a good short-term hire for the Knicks, providing them with some toughness, discipline, and identity. But knowing that this is the Knicks, it can be safely assumed that this won't end well. The bottom line is that Thibodeau is a guy who had a couple good years as a head coach, but preaches an out-of-date, old school philosophy that beats his players to a pulp. It's not a recipe for long-term success, something that the Knicks clearly know very little about.

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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.

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Wednesday Windmill: How much better does Jimmy Butler make the Philadelphia 76ers?

The Philadelphia 76ers ended the Jimmy Butler drama by agreeing to acquire the polarizing shooting guard from the Minnesota Timberwolves. In the deal, the 76ers acquired Butler along with Justin Patton while giving up Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless, and a 2022 second-round pick.  The 76ers made the move with the hopes of improving their chances to reach the NBA Finals while the Timberwolves made the deal with the hopes of returning to a sense of normalcy.

The debut.

📺: @NBCSPhilly
📻: @975TheFanatic
📱: #HereTheyCome pic.twitter.com/RYNJpiiCZx

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 14, 2018

While the 76ers should be excited to add another elite player to the fold, they run the risk of messing with their team chemistry. Butler's time in Minnesota was controversial and there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of his ability to help out a team as a result. Butler will need to prove that he is not a head case and that his beef with Tom Thibodeau and the Timberwolves organization was legit.

Assuming he's able to prove that he can be a good guy in the locker room, Butler should be a nice fit in Philly. He's a 20+ points per game scorer and an excellent defender, averaging 2.4 steals per game this season. Joel Embiid has become one of the most gifted big men of all time while Ben Simmons is blossoming into a B+ version of LeBron James. When you give those guys an elite wing like Jimmy Butler to work with, you're giving them a real shot to reach the NBA Finals and contend for a championship.

Aside from Butler being a problem in the locker room, the biggest concern for the 76ers is their lack of depth. Covington, Saric, and Bayless were solid pieces that gave them a nice bench. With them gone, they're going to have to rely even more on their star players to carry them to victory. It's a calculated risk that they feel is worth taking, but it's still a risk nonetheless. Guys like Wilson Chandler, J.J. Redick, and Markelle Fultz will need to step up and prove that they are capable of handling more of the load as well.

While there's always a risk in making big trades in the middle of a season, I feel like the 76ers are making the right move here. Jimmy Butler is one of the best shooting guards in the NBA and a legitimate All-Star player. If you have the chance to add a guy like him to your team without giving up another All-Star in return, you should do it every time. As far as how the Timberwolves should feel, I think they should feel good about the move. They added some solid role players to their team and can finally focus on building around Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, one of the most promising duos in the league.

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Tomahawk Tuesday: Is Tom Thibodeau the right man to coach the Minnesota Timberwolves

On Tuesday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Tom Thibodeau met with Jimmy Butler in Los Angeles to talk about his future with the Minnesota Timberwolves organization. Despite reaching the playoffs in his first year with the team, Butler is reportedly unhappy about the direction of the franchise, specifically as it pertains to the job that Thibodeau is doing as head coach and president of basketball operations.

While he has a track record of success in Boston, Chicago, and now Minnesota, Thibodeau has been known to be a hard guy to play for. He demands a lot from his players and doesn't seem to be too sympathetic to the pounding NBA players go through during a full 82 game season. Rather than resting his players and playing his bench, Thibodeau tends to go with shorter rotations, resulting in his star players having to exert more energy on a nightly basis.

Thibodeau's coaching philosophy may be a contributing factor to all the injuries that Derrick Rose had during his time in Chicago as well as injuries to Joakim Noah, Zach LaVine, and Jimmy Butler. While it's conceivable that Butler has other issues with Thibodeau as well, the way he treats his players appears to be his main gripe. If you are an NBA player, you want to make as much money as you can and play basketball for as long as you can. Playing for a coach that runs his players into the ground is something a player should want to avoid at all costs. Even it means playing for a less competitive team.

In regards to how the Timberwolves should handle this, it's a tricky call. The name of the game as far as they are concerned is to win basketball games and Thibodeau has done a good job of that during his brief time in Minnesota, guiding the Timberwolves to their first playoff appearance since the 2003-04 season. On the flip side, when you have such a talented young core consisting of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, do you really want to risk long-term damage to them?

What could ultimately decide this is how the other players on the team feel about him. If it's only Jimmy Butler that has a beef, maybe the Timberwolves trade him for some assets before he gets the chance to walk away from them next summer in free agency. If on the other hand, Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, and others also complain to ownership and take things public, it would probably be the wise thing to fire Thibodeau and find a guy who is a little less stringent in his thinking. I guess we'll have to wait and see what final direction this takes, but if I'm making a prediction, I don't see how Thibodeau stays with this team for the long haul. The short-term benefits don't seem to outweigh the potential long-term damage.

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Skyhook Sunday: What does landing Jimmy Butler mean for the Minnesota Timberwolves?

The Minnesota Timberwolves stole the show on draft night by landing Jimmy Butler in a trade with the Chicago Bulls. The Timberwolves traded Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine, and the #7 pick (Lauri Markkanen) for Jimmy Butler and the #16 pick (Justin Patton). Butler has already arrived in Minnesota and appears to be very excited to begin this new chapter of his career, reuniting with Tom Thibodeau.

Can't wait to get to work. #PowerOfThePack pic.twitter.com/nSY902FVnp

— Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) June 25, 2017

Butler joins a talented core in Minnesota that consists of Ricky Rubio, Andrew Wiggins, Gorgui Dieng, and Karl-Anthony Towns. The Timberwolves have been building a talented young group for the past few seasons, but they have lacked an established superstar that can take them to that next level. By trading for Butler, they appear to finally have such a superstar.

A lot of people are scratching their heads about what the Chicago Bulls were thinking to make this trade happen. Butler is coming off his best season in the league, averaging 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. He turns 28 next season and will be entering his seventh season in the NBA. He is just starting to enter his prime. To trade him away for a point guard coming off a torn ACL, a point guard who is looking like a bust, and a rookie looks to be very foolish.

In addition to being a superstar, what makes Jimmy Butler a great fit for the Timberwolves is how easily he slides into their lineup. He can play at the shooting guard position alongside Andrew Wiggins at small forward, creating a deadly one-two punch out on the wing. His presence doesn't affect the minutes of any of their core players, enhancing what they already have.

The Timberwolves have suddenly gone from a team that might make the playoffs in a couple of seasons to a team that could make the playoffs next year. They are no longer a team that you need to worry about in the future, they are a team that you need to worry about right now.

Also, with a team like the Utah Jazz potentially on the cusp of losing one of their biggest pieces to free agency (Gordon Hayward), we could see a significant shake up in the Western Conference. While I don't see the Timberwolves contending for a championship next season, I do see them approaching that territory. They've accelerated their rebuilding process by at least two and maybe even three years.

After an arduous rebuilding process and more than a decade of losing basketball, the Minnesota Timberwolves finally have a roster that the Twin Cities can get excited about. The talent is there, the experience is there, and the motivation is there. They just need to go out and get it done.

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