Following the Minnesota Timberwolves’ ten-point loss against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, Naz Reid compared Rudy Gobert’s first season with the Wolves to this year.
“We just need to get some wins,” Reid told reporters. “It’s similar to two seasons ago when Rudy came. We didn’t have preseason together, you know? There are still some things up in the air. But there are things we can obviously build off of. We have a couple of win streaks we can build off of. We lost two in a row, but there is a lot more basketball to be played.”
Karl-Anthony Towns was ill during training camp in 2022, hampering his fit with Gobert and putting the Wolves significantly behind schedule. Minnesota constantly tried to make up for lost time but remained behind the eight-ball until Tim Connelly traded for Mike Conley at the deadline and shook up Chris Finch’s starting lineup.
“We brought Mike in, and that turned a lot of things around in Rudy’s first year,” Anthony Edwards explained following Minnesota’s fourth-straight loss on Nov. 27 against the Sacramento Kings. “He was just so positive, and we are just so negative right now.”
After flipping Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo four days before training camp, the Wolves are exhibiting many of the same issues this year as they did in Gobert’s first season.
They own a 14-14 record at Christmas and have been disappointing again despite showing glimpses of a playoff-contending team a few weeks ago. The Wolves opened December by winning five out of their first six games. Since then, Minnesota has lost three straight, and the issues that have come to light during that time have the team quickly running out of time before they need to shake up the roster.
“No,” DiVincenzo responded after Saturday’s loss when a reporter asked him if Minnesota’s acclimation process had been slower than he expected.
“Obviously, everybody knows what this team did last year, but this team isn’t last year’s team. I think we have, collectively, let that go. We are building to something great. We feel we have something great here. It’s all about sticking together and building through the bumps.”
Minnesota is navigating troubled waters early this season. A trade that completely shifted the complexity of the roster, rotations, and schemes blindsided the players and coaching staff. However, what is ailing the Wolves in particular is concerning. The starting lineup appears to be trending in the wrong direction and drifting apart after showing promising flashes of success to start the season.
“We don’t have s— on offense,” said Edwards following Minnesota’s 133-107 loss to the New York Knicks on Thursday. “We have no identity. We know I am going to shoot a bunch of shots. We know Julius is going to shoot a bunch of shots. That’s all we know.”
The Wolves are in the middle of their third three-game losing streak of the season, during which they have shot under 47% from the floor in each game. It started with a clunker in KAT’s return to Target Center, which created a justifiable overreaction from the fanbase. The 26-point loss could have been a blip in the radar for a Wolves team that entered the game having won six of its last seven and owning the NBA’s best defense in that time.
However, it’s increasingly looking like the Wolves must make a sizeable move.
Minnesota’s starting lineup had zero juice to start Monday’s game in Atlanta. They only scored nine points through the first ten minutes, creating a 27-9 deficit. Randle opened the game by missing his first five shots and committing three turnovers. Edwards was back in his hometown, hunting his shot, but struggled to put the ball in the hoop. The ball wasn’t moving, and the offensive sets were ugly.
It wasn’t until Naz Reid checked in that the Wolves began to show life.
The Wolves scored ten points in the final 1:53 minutes of the first quarter. Reid was responsible for all of them – seven as the scorer and three as the passer. He was active in screening situations and allowed Minnesota to produce a more efficient offense, giving way to an inspiring comeback push.
16-5 RUN
pic.twitter.com/6VcZMUWyvi
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 24, 2024
After giving up 35 points in the first quarter and trailing by 16, the Wolves flipped Monday’s game on its head in the second quarter. They outscored the Atlanta Hawks 36-17 in the 12 minutes leading up to halftime. Minnesota shot 14 of 27 (51.9%) from the floor while holding Atlanta to 5 of 21 (23.8%) shooting.
The Wolves looked like a connected team again. However, it was a charge led by the bench, not the starters. Reid, DiVincenzo, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker combined for 28 points, eight rebounds, and six assists on 11 of 20 (55%) from the floor and 6 of 11 (54.5%) from three in the first half. Of Minnesota’s 36 second-quarter points, 20 came from the bench.
It was the same story as Saturday night. The Wolves trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half in their 113-103 loss to the Warriors. The starters missed shots and looked disinterested during stretches before their bench stepped up and provided a steady flow of reliable offense to make the game competitive in the fourth quarter.
However, Minnesota crumbled in the fourth against the Warriors, shooting 9 of 21 (42.9%) from the floor. They allowed Golden State to shoot 11 of 18 (61.1%) and Steph Curry to take over down the stretch. Against the Hawks, it was more of the same from a team lacking consistent intensity. The Wolves shot 7 of 18 (38.9%) in the fourth on Monday, and the Hawks outscored them 35-19 in a 117-104 loss.
The Wolves have had three separate three-game losing streaks this season; they didn’t have one three-game losing streak in the regular season last year. Still, the Wolves have moved on from their success of last season. They are trying to form their own identity as a team that can be great in a different way. However, they are trending in the wrong direction, and their identity is starting to take shape as a fringe playoff team.
There are 54 games left in the regular season and 23 until the trade deadline on Feb. 6. Minnesota still has time to right the ship, but its new-look starting lineup hasn’t taken the steps many hoped to see after the season’s quarter mark.
In fact, things look worse than they did in early November.
“Everything’s always on the table, for sure,” responded Finch when asked about switching up the starting lineup after Monday’s loss. “But we also need to keep looking at lineup combinations as the game goes on, too.”
One week ago, I explained why the Wolves should remain patient at the trade deadline. However, they are coasting down a dangerous river right now. Could they build chemistry and calm the waters with more time together? Maybe. But as this season looks more and more like Gobert’s first year in Minnesota, they may need to make a significant change to start winning again.
For now, Minnesota’s bench is a fine bridge over the trouble water created by its starters. It can keep them dry and near or slightly above .500 until the trade deadline. However, if the Wolves continue on their path of opening games with zero juice, the front office or coaching staff must make changes.
That change could be a small mental adjustment, such as the coaches lighting a fire under the starters’ butts. The starters could simply need more time together. Or the Wolves could need a change of greater magnitude, such as blowing up the starting five by trading Randle.