The Golden State Warriors failed to reach the playoffs after being eliminated by the Phoenix Suns on Friday, but a host of former players remain in the mix with their respective teams.
Kyle Anderson is one of those former Warrior players, but the veteran forward was quickly given a wake-up call with the urgency of the postseason and the subsequent shortening of rotations.
Kyle Anderson saw his minutes cut in Game 1 for the Timberwolves
After being waived by the Memphis Grizzlies and rejoining another of his former teams in the Minnesota Timberwolves, Anderson averaged over 19 minutes in his 19 appearances with the franchise to close the regular season.
That included 24 and 33 minutes in his final two regular season games, the latter of which saw him produce an impressive 17-point, six-rebound, nine-assist and two-steal performance against the Houston Rockets.
Yet with the core Timberwolves rotation back in action for Game 1 of their first-round series against the Denver Nuggets, Anderson's minutes were slashed to only seven as his team suffered a 116-105 defeat at Ball Arena.
Five of those seven minutes came in the first-half, with Anderson failing to truly make his case for more minutes going forward, finishing without a single point, rebound or assist, while recording only one steal in his limited playing time.
Perhaps the only good news for the 32-year-old and his desire for more minutes is the fact the Timberwolves did lose, and that subsequent adjustment may need to be made by head coach Chris Finch going forward.
Anderson was ahead of younger options in Terrence Shannon Jr. and Jaylen Clark who both received DNPs, with Finch essentially using a seven-man main rotation as fellow veteran Mike Conley was limited to less than 11 minutes off the bench.
Kyle Anderson has still landed in a good spot with Minnesota
Despite the drastic decrease in minutes on Saturday, Anderson has still landed in a good spot after his career was seemingly at the crossroads in the past 18 months having spent time at no less than four different teams.
Anderson had joined the Warriors on a three-year, $27 million contract with the Warriors in the 2024 offseason, departing the Timberwolves where he'd been a core part of their team for a prominent role in Steve Kerr's rotation.
Instead, the former first-round pick averaged only 15 minutes and recorded multiple DNPs, before eventually being moved to the Miami Heat in last year's blockbuster Jimmy Butler trade. Anderson was dealt again to the Utah Jazz last offseason, and was sparingly used before landing at the Grizzlies in the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade before February's deadline.
With the Warriors, Heat, Grizzlies and Jazz all missing the playoffs, Anderson is in a fortunate situation and may actually hold regret on leaving the Timberwolves in the first place.
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