The calendar has flipped to 2024 and the Minnesota Timberwolves are contenders. You read that sentence correctly. Contenders! Now, I didn’t say contenders for what. Truth be told the No. 1 in the West Wolves are poised to be a top playoff seed and could be a title contender if they make a move or one player internally steps up.
Defense Wins Championships
The Wolves have the best record in the West for one reason. Their defense is legit and has fangs. They are No. 1 in aDRTG and their roster is full of long athletic players that jump passing lanes and get their hands on everything. They also deploy two 7-footers that can protect the paint and rim. It is really difficult to score on the Wolves consistently with efficiency.
On offense they are led by their young superstar Anthony Edwards. The 22-year-old will be headed to Indianapolis for his second All-Star appearance, and if he keeps up this level of play has a shot at making his first All-NBA team.
Mike Conley, at 36, is still a plus player on both ends of the floor and Karl-Anthony Towns is an elite offensive player who is having a very good defensive season as well.
That should suggest a team that goes on a deep run, right?
Wolves Need To Be Better Offensively
Their offense isn’t as good as it needs to be. They’re currently 17th, which is just below middle of the pack. Part of the reason is Edwards is the only real playmaker on the team. Conley is a very good point guard and organizer, but he’s not an elite passer.
As elite as KAT’s offensive game is, we haven’t seen it on full tilt because of the lack of creation for him at a high level. He’s superb in the pick and roll but hasn’t gotten enough opportunities as his skill level would suggest.
Some of it is Edwards balancing when to score versus make plays for others. He’s only 22 years old. But the offense is what’s holding this team back from being a true title contender.
The Wolves are 18th in pace, again just below middle of the pack. A bit more pace would get more possessions and potentially more opportunities to exploit mismatches on KAT. They could run more pick and roll for KAT as well.
The other option is trading KAT and moving Jaden McDaniels down to the four. He’s en elite defender shooting 37% from three and his size would still offer strong paint and secondary rim protection.
Who would they want in return for KAT? Another All-Star at a minimum.
Would the New Orleans Pelicans ever make Brandon Ingram available? What about Lauri Markkanen from the Utah Jazz? Would Julius Randle work on the Wolves?
All interesting questions that might be answered come the trade deadline.
If the Wolves decide to keep what they have then it is incumbent on head coach Chris Finch to work on getting more from KAT offensively, who is averaging 21 points and nine rebounds per game on excellent efficiency.
“There’s a lot of ways to be immature,” Finch said after a recent win against the Oklahoma City Thunder. “And generally, this team has been very mature. But we’ve got to grow up offensively. It’s time.”
Finch is right. Teams can get deluded into thinking they have a big window of time to be contenders, but in this league there is no time like the present. Injuries or disasters are lurking around every corner, if you’ve got the chance to win now you go for it.
The Wolves already went all-in when they acquired Rudy Gobert two summers ago. They made a bet on Edwards’ star power. He’s making good on that bet. Time for the team to do the same.
