Should the Minnesota Timberwolves make a critical resolution for the new year?
Fresh off a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Minnesota Timberwolves are 17-15 on the season. While their record is above .500, their results this season have been subpar when considering they made the Western Conference Finals a season ago.
The idea to trade Karl-Anthony Towns — who had been with the club for nine years — to the New York Knicks was baffling. Not only was he an integral part of building a winning squad, but he provided much-needed floor spacing.
The Timberwolves landed Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo in the trade, two incredibly impactful players in their own regard. They haven’t been able to replicate the impact Towns had on the team, though. This leads to quite an interesting conversation…
Many have called on Randle as being the problem for Minnesota. That’s not entirely the case alone. Evidently, his play style doesn’t mesh with the starting lineup. Towns was tailor-made for that role. The difference has been staggering.
Many fans have blamed Randle alone and on “Run it Back,” Chandler Parsons’ resolution for the Timberwolves was to bench the star forward. He made quite a pitch, claiming that Minnesota can still play him the same load of minutes, just shift it in a way to maximize Edwards.
“I’m not saying this should happen or will happen, but it could happen… You have an offense that is struggling, you have an offense that is in dire need of shooting. You have Julius Randle and you have Rudy Gobert clogging the paint on the offensive end,” Parsons explained.
“It seems they have taken a step back, meanwhile Naz Reid is on the bench. He can stretch the floor. He can open the floor for Anthony Edwards to kind of operate.
“…Still treat [Randle] like the star he is. But just simply implement Naz Reid to open up that offensive end of the floor more for Anthony Edwards and you’ll see him not settle for more threes as much, you’ll see him get downhill.
“I think he numbers will go up, I think Julius Randle’s numbers will go up. And I think the Minnesota Timberwolves would win more games doing this.”
There’s no certainty that this will fix all the Timberwolves’ issues if any, but it may be worth a try for the organization. Randle would have to be willing, though. As a star player, that could be hard to accept. There could even be locker room issues. But, maybe it’s an experiment that the Timberwolves try, given Randle would still be playing nearly 35 minutes per game.
Benching Randle would potentially solve an issue of starting games slowly and getting in a rhythm early. However, Randle, Edwards and Rudy Gobert will be on the floor by the time the game is coming to a close. One key player can help unlock that unit offensively to an extent. DiVincenzo, who arrived in Minneapolis with Randle, has quite a bit of potential.
Last season, DiVincenzo was shooting above 40% on 3-pointers. A trade has shaken things up, but it appears the Villanova product is finding his footing in the Twin Cities. He is carving out a home and is looking more comfortable on the hardwood.
If DiVincenzo can improve his 3-point shooting, Randle and Edwards can take more space on the floor to create their own shots and spend less time settling for attempts from deep that don’t necessarily suit their play style.
Of course, this would rely upon a level of shot-making from the two stars as well as veteran guard Mike Conley, but much more is unlocked if DiVincenzo can improve his efficiency from deep and get on the floor in the closing lineup.
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