In April 2016, when the Wolves hired Tom Thibodeau, Minnesota had the brightest future of any young team in the NBA. There were two former No. 1 picks who looked like franchise cornerstones, Zach LaVine was an intriguing young combo guard, Ricky Rubio was a holdover as the steadying veteran presence, and there was also a lottery pick that would eventually become No. 5 overall in the 2016 Draft. And there was Thibodeau, the most sought-after coach on the market, headed to Minnesota to take all that potential and turn it into something real.
Given what the future looked like at that point, the intervening two-and-a-half years have been genuinely shocking.