Scoggins: Timberwolves learn just how far behind they are in drive to win a championship

They looked like they didn’t care. That’s the most disturbing part of a loss that ended the Timberwolves’ season.

There is zero shame in losing to a superior team. But to get outhustled and show so little fight and pushback with the season on the line was embarrassment to an organization that thought it had progressed beyond being a punch line.

Move over, 41-donut. You have company.

The good vibes produced by being one of four teams still alive vanished out of sight Wednesday night. The pathetic display put forth leaves little doubt that the Wolves really aren’t all that close to being championship-ready as currently constructed.

Another Tim Connelly shakeup very well might be on the drawing board.

A 124-94 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 meant the Wolves got wiped off the court in three of the five games. That’s not being on the cusp of something grand.

The Wolves ran out of the gas by the time they reached the conference finals last season, losing to Dallas in five games. This was something entirely different.

The Thunder have become the NBA’s belle of the ball. Winners of 68 regular-season games, they finished 19 games ahead of the Wolves in the standings, 16 clear of the next-closest team in the Western Conference.

The Thunder set the bar with the league MVP, No. 1 defense, No. 3 offense and second-youngest roster in the NBA. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is 26. Jalen Williams is 24, Chet Holmgren 23. Defensive stopper Lu Dort is 26.

Thunder GM Sam Presti has accumulated a war chest of draft capital, which means he can either replenish roster holes with young talent or package picks to obtain proven veterans.

The Thunder are sitting in a dream spot, now and for the foreseeable future.

The Wolves saw and felt the gap that exists. As president of basketball operations, Connelly’s mission is to figure out how to close that gap. It won’t be easy.

Two of the organization’s three trips to the conference finals have come in back-to-back seasons. That serves as the barometer now with expectations and roster management. Just getting to the playoffs isn’t the goal. The internal motivation should be to aim higher.

Connelly has hard decisions to make, perhaps complicated by what unfolded in this series.

The starting point is Julius Randle’s status. Randle holds a player option, meaning he can opt in or opt out. The degree to which he flopped on the season’s biggest stage gives serious pause to the idea of committing to him long term as a cornerstone piece alongside Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels.

Randle was mostly fantastic in the first two series. This series, he reverted to the bad habits and bad body language that earned him a negative reputation before arriving in Minnesota.

Randle got benched in the fourth quarter of Game 2, played even worse in Game 4 and fumbled his way through the first half of Game 5.

Randle became a liability on the court, which sets off alarm bells given the magnitude of the moment and looming decision on his contract.

The point guard situation is item No. 2 on the agenda. Mike Conley’s professionalism has been a godsend for the organization, but he turns 38 in October and can no longer be entrusted with the lead role.

Connelly traded up in last year’s draft to select Rob Dillingham to be Conley’s successor. Dillingham’s rookie season was sporadic. The notion that he’s ready to slide into the No. 1 role on a contending team remains just a theory more than definitive assertion.

The Wolves desperately need a point guard who controls the game and organizes the offense when it becomes frazzled. The Thunder’s ultra-aggressive and physical defense exposed that deficiency.

Connelly’s list doesn’t stop there. Naz Reid also holds a player option and can become an unrestricted free agent. His shooting regressed this season after he was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year a year ago, and he had a disappointing finish to the postseason. He spent far too much time and energy complaining to the officials.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker becomes an unrestricted free agent and likely will command more than the Wolves can or will pay to bring him back.

Rudy Gobert is untradeable because of his contract and offensive shortcomings. The offense turned clunky when he was on the floor, making him a rather expensive piece relegated to the bench.

Connelly and Finch have a lot to digest as they reflect on the positives and negatives of the season in totality. The concerning takeaway is not that they lost in the conference finals again but rather how they lost.

The Thunder proved that they reside in a different class right now. The Wolves made the gap look even wider with a half-hearted effort.