The Minnesota Timberwolves enjoyed one of the finest seasons in franchise history last year, winning 56 games and advancing to the Western Conference Finals. The Wolves were seen as a young and ascendant team behind 23-year-old superstar Anthony Edwards, but with a big luxury tax bill mounting, Minnesota decided to trade franchise pillar Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks just days before training camp.
The Wolves were always going to be different this year without Towns. So far, this new version of Minnesota remains a major work in progress.
The lowly Toronto Raptors beat the Wolves, 110-105, on Thursday night. The loss drops Minnesota to 8-7 overall. If the season ended today, the Wolves were get the final spot in the play-in tournament as the No. 10 seed in the West.
The Wolves were No. 1 in defensive efficiency last year as they tore through the West in the regular season. This year, they’re outside the top-10 (No. 11, per basketball-reference). The offense is improved over last year at the moment, but it’s still struggling with turnovers. In general, Minnesota is lacking a bit of cohesion and chemistry with Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo coming over in the trade for Towns, and it played out in two viral moments in the loss to Toronto.
With five minutes left in the fourth quarter of a tie game, Rudy Gobert established a deep seal against Toronto’s Scottie Barnes in the paint. This was a perfect opportunity for an entry pass, but Randle chose not to deliver it. Gobert slowly walked out of the paint and got called for a three-seconds, resulting in a Wolves turnover. Edwards was upset at how slowly Gobert was moving. You can see the frustration on everyone’s faces during this sequence.
Tied 95-95.
Julius Randle refuses to pass the ball to Rudy Gobert.
Gobert barely walks out of the lane when he doesn’t get the ball. Defensive 3 seconds call and Anthony Edwards gets pissed.pic.twitter.com/PJzw7DPnSc
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod (@big_business_) November 22, 2024
As Toronto went down on the other end of the court, Gobert hit Barnes with a foul, resulting in two made free throws for the Raptors.
With Toronto’s win pretty much in hand in the final seconds, Randle came down for Minnesota’s final possession and fired a hard and low pass to Gobert out of frustration. It sure felt like Randle was trying to show up Gobert for complaining about not getting the pass earlier.
There was always going to be spacing concerns with the Randle-Gobert front court. The pairing has actually been really good for the Wolves statistically so far: with Randle and Gobert both on the court, Minnesota has a +6.22 net-rating, per PBP stats. That’s much better than the number with either or both off the floor.
Still, finding chemistry in the NBA takes time, especially when you remove a star player like Towns from a great team last year. This year’s Wolves are still finding their footing, and slipping a bit on the defensive end gives them far room for error. Gobert has rubbed both teammates and opponents the wrong way for a long time, and it sure seems like him and Randle are still ironing out the details of their partnership.
Wolves fans were upset after the game:
We’ll see how this plays out, but that’s a textbook performance that should trigger a players only meeting.
Criticize the coaches all you want, but grown adults making $30 million acting like children on the court is beyond embarrassing.
Kyle Anderson rolling over in his grave.
— Kyle Theige (@KyleTheige) November 22, 2024
Gobert lost them this game. Plenty of things went wrong and this Wolves team is not a good one but you throw your toys out of the cot in an important moment of a game and this is the shit that happens. Shouldn’t have seen the floor after it.
— Jake Paynting (@HowlsAndGrowls_) November 22, 2024
The Wolves aren’t the only team struggling to live up to high expectations this year. The team that beat them in the Western Conference Finals, the Dallas Mavericks, are also only 8-7 and now facing a wrist injury to Luka Doncic. In the Eat, the Philadelphia 76ers are somehow the worst team in the league, and the Milwaukee Bucks haven’t been much better.
It’s only Nov., and there’s still a lot of time for the Wolves to find their groove. There’s obviously going to be some growing pains along the way.