Sachin Gupta: Timberwolves making trade not worth shaking up chemistry
Josh Okogie #20 of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts after dunking the ball during the second quarter against the Houston Rockets at Target Center on October 20, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ((Photo by Harrison Barden/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Timberwolves are a franchise that’s been plagued by losing and instability for the better part of the last two decades. They’re finally winning, there’s some chemistry in the locker room and Sachin Gupta didn’t want to take the risk of messing with it.
That’s why as the NBA trade deadline came at 2 p.m. Thursday, things were relatively quiet at Mayo Clinic Square. They didn’t make any moves, and the one player they’ve been potentially linked to for several months, Ben Simmons, was moved in a blockbuster to the Brooklyn Nets.
Gupta is the Timberwolves’ executive vice president and took over the front office after Glen Taylor fired Gersson Rosas just before the start of training camp. Gupta said the phone lines were busy leading up to Thursday’s deadline and they had conversations with every team in the NBA. But ultimately, no trade was substantial enough, or worth the risk, to mess with what they’ve built through 55 games.
"With the way this group has been gelling, there’s a lot of good vibes and good things going on. Any change would maybe put some of that at risk," Gupta told reporters Friday morning. "That didn’t mean we weren’t going to look at opportunities, but anything really on the margin we would take into account how things are rolling right now."
The Timberwolves are 29-26, currently in the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference. They’re 1.5 games behind the Denver Nuggets for the No. 6 spot. The top six teams at the end of the regular season advance to the playoffs, while teams in the No. 7-10 spots go through a play-in series to determine the final two playoff spots.
The Timberwolves are 7-3 in their last 10 games, having won five of their last six games. Their 29 current wins already matches or exceeds eight seasons since 2004, when Kevin Garnett led them to the Western Conference Finals.
They have 27 regular season games left, and every single one should be relevant as they chase a playoff spot. That’s happened once since 2004, when they were led by Karl-Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler, but the culture was toxic.
"We’ve exceeded our preseason expectations and we’re right in the thick of it, we’ll be playing competitive games throughout the rest of this year and we’ll have a real chance hopefully to get up to six and guarantee ourselves a playoff spot," Gupta said. "That would be a real success for us."
Towns is at the top of his game, and will represent Minnesota for the third time at the NBA All-Star Game. Anthony Edwards is becoming a star, and living up to his billing as the No. 1 overall pick two years ago. D’Angelo Russell, when healthy and available, gives the Timberwolves a consistent scoring threat in the back-court.
Their bench pieces give the team depth that hasn’t been seen in several years. They’re meshing on the court, and their chemistry away from it was enough that Gupta wasn’t going to shake it up for a player that wasn’t the right fit. The current roster deserves a chance to see where this season can go.
"It’s been a long enough stretch that we feel confident that there’s something really to that. Whenever you make some change, there’s always some risk," Gupta said. "I could imagine the perception that I would want to put my stamp on things and make a move just for the sake of it. But that's just not how I operate. I'm going to operate from a position of what is best for this franchise, not for me."