Paul Pierce recently chimed in his thoughts on the current roster construct of the Minnesota Timberwolves – or should we say “TimberBulls” – since Wolves head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau can’t seem to move on from his 2012 Chicago Bulls that finished atop the Eastern Conference in the regular season.

“I understand what Thibs is trying to do because he's had players that he’s won with and comfortable with.” Pierce said on The Jump. “But those players are past their prime. This was a team in Chicago that was a top defensive team. They won’t be that in Minnesota because this team is built around your young stars. You gotta try to get them to buy in.”

Listen in to his whole take in the video below:

The current “TimberBulls” on the roster are former NBA MVP Derrick Rose, All-Star Jimmy Butler, and dependable defensive big Taj Gibson.

The latest addition to the “TimberBulls” is 33-year old forward Luol Deng, who was finally waived by the Los Angeles Lakers following a dismal season where he sat all but 13 minutes on the bench last season. Following this latest transaction, it is pretty clear that Tom Thibodeau is bringing the old Chicago Bulls band back together on his current squad.

It definitely seems Thibs is going with familiarity and comfort in bringing his old guns to play with his young stars. But Pierce may be right, getting too comfortable may not really work out in the end. Rose and Deng are no longer the All-Stars they used to be, and they don’t seem to be good fits around the young cornerstones in Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.

Moreover, Butler’s arrival last season seemed to have stunted Wiggins’ growth as the Toronto-native saw his production dip across the board. Though Butler did help the franchise get to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years, this may have implications in the long run as Wiggins is in the future plans of the team.

Veteran presence is always good for a young, up and coming squad like the Timberwolves, but they have to be able to mesh well with them. Perhaps Thibs may just want the old guys to help Towns and Wiggins get better and tougher on the defensive end, since his Bulls teams did have one of the best defenses back in the day.

If this is Thibs' way of instilling defense into his young stars, then so be it. Pierce did say it though: he has to get them to buy in first.