Kevin Love is arguably more important to his team’s offensive success than any other player in the league. Which is why the Minnesota Timberwolves are screwed.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Love suffered a broken right hand and will be out 4-6 weeks:
Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love has suffered a broken right hand and will be out 4-to-6 weeks, league sources tell Y! Sports.
As if that weren’t enough of an issue, though, the timetable for Love’s return was later increased to six-to-eight weeks.
Talk about a massive blow.
Though such a recovery period will put Love back in the thick of the action by early December, the Timberwolves’ season is already lost. Without their star forward to carry them on the offensive end and on the glass, they stand no chance of being a playoff caliber team, and will likely find themselves well out of contention by December.
But why? This team was supposed to be a bona fide playoff squad with Love, why can’t they survive without him for 15 or 20 games?
Well, for starters, as prolific as Love is, he and Minnesota are hardly a postseason worthy team without Ricky Rubio. Like Love, Rubio is due back sometime in December, which means plenty of relief will be on the way in time for Christmas for the Timberwolves.
But do we really think, do we really believe this team—sans Love and Rubio—can even be relatively competitive without either of their two budding stars?
Absolutely not. It was different when Minnesota had Love but not Rubio. He allowed the team to at least remain relevant in the point guard’s absence, to at least remain in a position where they would make a playoff push upon the point man’s return. And it would have worked both ways. Should Love have found himself on the sidelines, but Rubio was there to lead the troops, the Timberwolves’ playoff hopes would still be alive.
Now, though? They’re not.
We can point to veterans like Andrei Kirilenko and Brandon as fixtures capable of leading the charge in the interim, but while both athletes may be prepared for such a task mentally, neither of them has played in the NBA in over year. And at this point, the Timberwolves need more than just emotional leadership, they need it statistically as well.
Who’s going to carry the team in both Love and Rubio’s absence? Who’s going to ensure they don’t hit rock bottom for the better part of the next two months? Who’s going to emerge as the temporary star they so desperately need.
No one. Because without Love and Rubio, Minnesota is a team laden with role players, and not the necessary pillar it takes to make a playoff push.
Which is why two months is far too long for the Timberwolves to operate without either Love or Rubio; which is why they’ll find themselves out of the playoff hunt and headed back to the draft lottery before December is even out.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
