Matthew Coller: Timberwolves' success is a Vikings blueprint
What a time to be alive in Minnesota sports, aye?
With their Game 7 victory over the Denver Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves are heading to the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, standing on the doorstep of something that all the professional men’s teams in town have been chasing after for more than 30 years and the Minnesota Vikings have never achieved: A championship.
It wasn’t too long ago that the Wolves were struggling to find their way out of mediocrity, much like the Vikings are trying to do by drafting a new quarterback and getting their salary cap in order. So what can the Vikings take away from the Wolves’ success? Let’s have a look…
It usually takes time
When the Wolves drafted Anthony Edwards, they envisioned him someday becoming a superstar that could be the centerpiece of a championship-caliber team. That did not happen right away. He wasn’t the most efficient player over his first two seasons, shooting 41.7% and 44.1% from the field but over the last two seasons he has taken a remarkable jump as a shooter and a complete player. His six assists per game don’t even being to capture how his decision making and ball movement have impacted the offense. That didn’t happen overnight.
Rookie QB JJ McCarthy similarly will need time to develop. Edwards entered the league at age-19, which isn’t much different from McCarthy joining the NFL at 21 years old. We can expect to see signs of his talent but it will take several seasons before he is the peak form. There may be some bumps along the way and patience may be required in order to reach the place he can ultimately go with his talent.
The team coming together as a complete unit didn’t happen right away either. They needed to make moves in order to acquire key starting pieces like Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert and develop role players around their stars. That took years to bring together. It will likely take the Vikings at least another offseason to fill out the depth of this team and find out which young players can have an impact. They shouldn’t deviate from the course even if there are moves that don’t work out.
May 19, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) shoots at Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun (0) in the first half in game seven of the second round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Ball Arena.
Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
That guy has to be THAT guy
Even in a 6-for-24 performance, Anthony Edwards was at the center of the Wolves’ win over the Nuggets with key buckets down the stretch, passes that set up open shots and defensive stops against Denver’s top scoring guard. Nobody in the NBA can win with so-so performances from good players. It requires great showings from great players.
In the Vikings’ case, THAT guy could be construed as a few different people. Of course, the quarterback. Whether you think the QB is an elite player over the long run doesn’t matter as much as whether he’s elite at the right time. Jalen Hurts and Brock Purdy, for example, had MVP-caliber seasons in 2022 and 2023, respectively, and took their teams to the Super Bowl. The Vikings will very likely need one of those types of years from McCarthy at some point if they are going to get there.
And sometimes that goes along with finding a way to win when things aren’t perfect, as Edwards did. We saw that from Purdy in the NFC Championship Game, where he didn’t play particularly well but converted a few key third downs late in the game to come back.
If McCarthy is going to have one of those big years and find ways to win in big moments, that means Justin Jefferson will have to be THAT guy. If anyone on the Vikings is reminiscent of Edwards, it’s Jefferson. He has that unstoppable-force gene that few basketball players or wide receivers in either sport’s history has ever had. When the time comes, Jefferson has to remain unstoppable, even if that doesn’t mean perfect.
When the moment arrives, take the swing
When Kwesi Adofo-Mensah appeared on the Purple Insider podcast a few weeks ago, he talked about getting to know Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and said that the two executives talked about throwing caution to the wind and making a big play to try to win a championship at the right moment.
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“It’s going to take some bet, some risk, something outside the lines that people are going to be a little nervous about but in a sport designed for everybody to go .500 you kind of have to do something to swing [for a championship],” Adofo-Mensah said on the show.
It’s possible he considers the Dallas Turner trade in that realm or simply sees down the road that there will be an opportunity at some point to make the move that gets them over the hump. Adofo-Mensah was quoted when he first arrived in Minnesota as saying that it’s very risky to take the Rams’ approach in 2021 but that mentality may have shifted a bit since getting comfortable with the job. Like the Wolves trading a bevy of draft picks for Rudy Gobert as the “final piece,” the Rams acquired Matthew Stafford, Odell Beckham Jr., Jalen Ramsey and Von Miller, using a ton of draft capital in order to get them. Had the Rams failed to reach the Super Bowl, it may have been viewed as a major overstep but instead the GM of the Rams got to celebrate with a “F— them picks” T-shirt. Maybe Connelly will too.
Chemistry matters, role players matter
The impact of the Wolves’ trade for Mike Conley cannot be overstated. After Game 7, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic said that Conley is the most underrated player in the game. He always seems to show up with key shots in big moments and consistently makes high IQ plays. But that’s only the beginning of it. His professionalism and relationship building with players like Edwards has helped create a culture of selflessness within the team. Sometimes we hear so much about culture and leadership from veterans that it becomes cliche but when you see the way Conley has altered the franchise’s trajectory since arriving in Minnesota, you have to buy into its effect.
It’s harder for one player to change a football team in the same way but it has to happen in different areas of the club. We see it from Harrison Smith in the defensive back room or in the past with Eric Kendricks. That has to exist within every part of an NFL roster in order to get the most out of everyone.
One area we saw the Vikings thrive under Brian Flores last year was maximizing the talents of players even if they aren’t going to take on every part of the game. He finds specific roles that work. The Wolves have done this brilliantly with players like Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid. Both players understand exactly where they fit and execute in the roles they are given. McDaniels shuts down opposing ball handlers and Reid provides depth outside shooting and an energy spark. In football, you need third receivers, rotational running backs, swing tackles, dime backs and special teamers in order to have a complete team. This, in particular, is an area the Vikings are still working on.
Being different is good
Two big men playing together in today’s NBA? It can’t be done! Is this 1993? Well, once Gobert and Towns figured out how to co-exist, they were a nightmare for opposing teams because so much of the NBA is built on small ball. The Nuggets couldn’t figure out how to match them for most of the series and Towns guarding Jokic allowed Gobert to protect the rim from the easy baskets that Jokic usually creates with his passes.
When teams spend their entire seasons guarding one type of team — i.e. undersized, high-paced — it’s not easy to adapt to facing two towers. We have seen that in recent Vikings history. When Kevin Stefanski and Gary Kubiak created a true run-first offense with a fullback in the game or two tight ends, defenses struggled to deal with it amidst the shift to smaller linebackers and more defensive backs.
Being bigger isn’t the only way to do it. Some teams have put more emphasis on motions. Sean McVay’s Rams and Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers offenses have particularly benefitted from this.
Whether it’s bigger personnel, more motion or deep X and O schematics that aren’t easily spotted, most offenses that thrive find ways to stand out from the crowd.
We already know that the Vikings do this on the defensive side with Flores blitzing more than any other DC in the league last year and using many players in multiple roles.
History means nothing
The Wolves have been a pretty bad franchise with a lot of really low moments. The Vikings have been a pretty good franchise with some unfortunate moments during the most important games. None of that matters. What happened before doesn’t dictate what happens next. The Wolves are shaking off all the demons like defenders trying to stay in front of Edwards. The Vikings can do the same if they build a complete team and their best players shine. Whatever kicks went wide left before don’t matter toward the next kick. Whatever interceptions in the NFC Championship game were thrown mean nothing toward the next pass in the title game. Fans will certainly be nervous until they see those things go the other way but the Wolves are living proof that the future isn’t dictated by the past.
Additional note
— ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Justin Jefferson isn’t in attendance at OTAs. The Twin Cities media, including Purple Insider as always, will be at TCO Performance Center for open practice on Tuesday. There is no reason for this to raise concerns because OTAs are voluntary and it’s normal for a player to skip OTAs when negotiating a new deal. The pressure will ramp up if he misses minicamp and gets fined.
