Four months ago, former Timberwolves head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau threw a drowning Luol Deng a withered, old rope and pulled him onto the Minneapolis shore. There was little chance he was ever going to positively contribute again, let alone see any meaningful minutes.
Even Thibs, who was the biggest proponent of his former Chicago Bulls heydays and was hellbent on putting the band back together, knew that the 33-year-old castaway was joining the Timberwolves purely for moral support and to help guide the youngsters. In the 40 games that Thibodeau was in charge of the Wolves this season, his former wing and defensive go-to guy managed a hair under 33 total minutes, all of those coming late in blowout wins and losses.