Minnesota Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverley is trolling Los Angeles basketball fans. The Lakers, of course, didn’t make the playoffs or the play-in and the Clippers were defeated in Game 1 of the play-in tournament by the Timberwolves. Beverley tweeted, “T’wolves ended basketball in LA.”
T’wolves ended basketball in LA😂😂 (Clippers,Lakers) We littt🔥🔥🔥 #cancuntweet #angrywelost #pettytweet
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) May 6, 2022
Ended is a strong word, and technically not accurate. Yes, the Wolves beat the Clippers, but the Clippers had a chance to make the playoffs if they defeated the New Orleans Pelicans. That obviously didn’t happen.
The Wolves played the Lakers four times this season and won three of the four games. The final game was a 124-104 Wolves win where Beverley and Karl-Anthony Towns mocked the Lakers players in the closing seconds.
Beverley used the hashtags #cancuntweet, #angrywelost, and #pettytweet in his post.
There is truth there.
The Wolves lost in the first round of the playoffs in six tough games to the Memphis Grizzlies. They had a chance to win three of the games they lost in that series, blowing huge double-digit and fourth-quarter leads.
Beverley should be angry they lost. The team made dumb plays down the stretch in that series and collectively played with poor basketball IQ.
Of course he’s being petty and trolling Lakers and Clippers fans because he can’t troll any of the teams currently in the playoffs. Those teams are all better.
All is not lost for Beverley and the Wolves. They have a lot to be proud of this season, and a good nucleus to build for the future.
The Wolves finished 46-36 and finished ninth in aNET rating. They were seventh in aORTG and 13th in aDRTG.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards are the two best players on the roster, and they are under contract for the next few years. Jarred Vanderbilt is a 23-year-old 6-foot-9 switchy, athletic defender, and Jaden McDaniels is a 21-year-old with shooting range. The future is bright in Minnesota.
Beverley and D’Angelo Russell will be on expiring deals, and the team can decide what they want to do with them. Maybe a trade package centered around Russell for more wings and defense? There are lots of possibilities.
This season should be a springboard for the new ownership group led by Alex Rodriguez. After years of horrendous mismanagement and ineptitude on the court, they finally have something in Minnesota.
First things first. They need to solidify the front office. After firing Gersson Rosas, they named Sachin Gupta interim president of basketball operations. Do they want to split the duties and have a basketball guy as the general manager to work in tandem with the analytical Gupta?
On the court it only gets harder from here.
Next season teams will take the Wolves seriously. They won’t have the luxury of sneaking up on anyone and overwhelming opponents with their athleticism. There will be an expectation that they make the playoffs and avoid the play-in entirely.
Head coach Chris Finch talked about the team’s expectations this year following the playoff series loss to the Grizzlies.
“We always expected to be in the playoffs all season long. We talked about it a lot in film and in practice and what it would take to be there,” Finch said. “Those were internal expectations. The external ones are ones that can oftentimes be more of an anchor. But, then again, you have to define yourself by what you expect from yourself rather than what others do.”
You do have to define yourself by your own expectations. But in professional sports, outside expectations matter too. The Wolves won’t be able to hide next year. The first sign of fracture or a losing streak and people will wonder if the run to the playoffs was a fluke, etc.
The good news is how they handle everything is entirely up to them.
