A cautionary tale for the OKC Thunder and developing teams

Rosters aren’t like Legos you can’t just plug and play

On the surface, perhaps Connelly thought adding a defensive leader would fix all the issues on that side of the hardwood. It was no secret KAT hated playing at center because of the physicality, never mind having to defend the opposing centers.

But the new exec gave away most of the Wolves’ defensive players in the trade and not to be redundant – – but one solid defender doesn’t equate to a great defense. To that end, Gobert has been a shadow of this former DPoY self.

That fact was punctuated this week in Miami on Monday when Chris Finch was forced to sit Gobert to close out the match because the Heat’s rookie Orlando Robinson was outplaying him. Sure KAT is out injured — but so were Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo (YIKES).

While that was ‘just one game’ it’s just a microcosm of the issues in Minny. Opponents score 115.7 points per game (the ninth most allowed) and they allow foes to shoot 36.9 percent from the perimeter which ranks 26th overall.

Even before KAT’s injury, this was an issue and it seems clear now that Connelly didn’t think it through before pulling the plug to make the big trade. Neither KAT nor Gobert have ever been adept at defending the perimeter.

Presumably, it could work if the two bigs were interchangeable but that would require Gobert to do something he’s never shown prowess in (scoring, passing, ball handling) and for KAT to get the equivalent of an epinephrine shot to stop being allergic to defense.

Last season the Wolves finished the season ranked 13th on defense, this year with the addition of Gobert they rank 16th, and in the last 14 games while Towns (and one of their worst defenders) has been sidelined they rank 15th. Not exactly something to hang your hat on.