We have questions about the NBA. Luckily, we also have answers. Some of them might be useful. A few might even turn out to be right. This is Five Big Questions and this week we touch on the red hot Timberwolves.
Do the Timberwolves need an upgrade at point guard?
Ben Ladner (@bladner_): Maybe. I’ve been a Teague believer in the past, and he’s been better than Rubio this year, but the numbers are the numbers, and he’s basically been an average starter so far. The greater area of need for the Wolves is their depth, which is largely not good. Tyus Jones has given nice minutes as a backup point guard, and it seems like Minnesota gets a good game from one or the other most of the time.
Paul Centopani (@PCentopani): In the grand scheme of point guards, Jeff Teague skews toward the average in pretty much every facet. They need an upgrade at point guard if they want to be among the Western elite, but I’m not sure anyone better is available right now. Unless they can get Kemba Walker…
Philip Rossman-Reich (@philiprr_omd): For this team? Not yet. I think Jeff Teague will actually prove to be a pretty calming influence for the team down the stretch. He is delightfully average, and that is what the Timberwolves need right now. He will make smart plays and limit his mistakes. That veteran leadership should benefit the team overall. Will that help them advance deep in the Playoffs or score an upset somewhere? No. But this year was about getting there and getting Minnesota’s young players their first taste of the playoffs. I think having a steady, veteran hand at point guard helps them out a lot more. No rush to change. Yet.
Rory Masterson (@rorymasterson): I don’t think so. Despite his acute averageness stats-wise, Jeff Teague is a smart, durable player who provides some veteran leadership in a position that requires it. He shoots and defends well enough, doesn’t need a ton of the ball to be effective, is pretty even-keeled by all accounts and, like Paul said, it’s tough to envision another player they could actually get to fill his role as well as he does.
Do we trust that the Timberwolves can play defense this well for the rest of the season?
Ladner: Well, they have the 20th-ranked defense in the league right now, so… yes? I don’t think this is the year Towns becomes a good defender, though he’s looked better lately, and Wiggins remains disappointing on that end. Jimmy Butler has undoubtedly made them better and increased their defensive upside, and playing Taj Gibson next to Towns inherently makes their defense better, at least in the regular season. They can get to the middle of the pack, but I think it’s going to be another season until they become more than that.
Centopani: Since the calendar turned to 2018, the Wolves are fourth in defensive rating. That’s quite the step up from how they’ve played all season. They should, in theory, be one of the better defensive teams in the league. Maybe it’s starting to click. I don’t think they’ll be a top-5 defense the rest of the way, but top-10 is attainable.
Rossman-Reich: You can see some of those bad habits sneaking in with this team, can’t you? Tom Thibodeau has to be on his team constantly. Otherwise they end up losing to the Orlando Magic. Minnesota is not going to be a great defensive team naturally. It is something they will have to work on. They likely are not going to continue at the torrid defensive pace they have played the last few weeks. But I think they are in a better place than they were at the start of the year. They have figured some things out.
Masterson: This well? No. But if they can get to around league-average, maybe a little higher, they will be fine for the stretch run. Karl-Anthony Towns has shown significant improvement over the past few weeks — the sun is blinding when you’ve been in a basement — and seeing if he can continue that will obviously carry implications going forward, but for now, any kind of consistency on the defensive side of the ball, even allowing for occasional 120-point opponent outbursts, will be encouraging.
How can the Timberwolves get more from the Andrew Wiggins – Jimmy Butler pairing?
Ladner: Andrew Wiggins could make some shots. Butler is just about at peak form right now, but it hasn’t seemed to rub off on Wiggins, who doesn’t defend or make plays for others. He’s touching the ball plenty and running a decent amount of pick-and-roll, but isn’t producing efficiently enough to justify his usage.
Centopani: It’s really simple, just tell Andrew Wiggins to be better at basketball.
Rossman-Reich: Make shots? Is it that simple? I cannot really tell what is wrong with Andrew Wiggins. He looks a bit more uncomfortable without being the center of the attention. I feel like his best games are still when he gets the ball a lot. And his 31.8 percent shooting is not helping. Maybe the best thing to do is to split him and Jimmy Butler up more? Play Wiggins more with the bench lineups.
Masterson: First things first, Andrew Wiggins needs to not receive the ball with space at the top of the arc, pirouette with it for a few seconds, dribble inside the arc (i.e., closer to his nearest defender) and jack up a contested, long two. He literally did this on Thursday night, and I wanted to throw my coffee table out the window. Wiggins’ isos bring everybody down, no matter the people with whom he’s sharing the floor at any given moment. I get that he’s shooting poorly from distance, but he also takes nearly 22 percent of his shots from longer than 16 feet but inside the arc (By comparison, and I know this is an extreme, but James Harden takes a whisper over 4 percent of his from that range).
The ink is barely dry on Wiggins’ five-year, $150 million extension, and he’s treating primetime games against major opponents like Charlie Bucket just waltzed in and asked him to go to the Wonka factory. Separating them more often is one possible solution; having either drive primarily-bench lineups could create opportunities for hot hands to appear. If the Pups are going to be serious about this, though, they do need to figure out how to play Wiggins and Butler simultaneously, at least in crunch time.
Are there any moves looming for the Timberwolves at the trade deadline?
Ladner: There should be. I really think this team needs someone who can make an impact off the bench, preferably in the form of a defensive-minded combo forward. I have no idea who it is or where he’ll come from, but I don’t feel great about the Wolves’ ability to match up with faster teams right now.
Centopani: If Thibs is looking for another grizzled vet to with experience in his system, Joakim Noah is VERY available.
Rossman-Reich: Maybe something small. The Timberwolves could probably use one more solid bench guy to round out their rotation. Then again, Tom Thibodeau probably is not going to play anyone off his bench outside Jamal Crawford after March.
Masterson: I’m not sure how they would make the money work, but if they could somehow get Michael Kidd-Gilchrist from Charlotte, that could be a good fit. Otherwise, they’re probably stuck with what they’ve got personnel-wise, and that’s not a terrible reality.
Can the Timberwolves win a playoff series from any of the teams ahead of them in the standings?
Ladner: I doubt it. They’re tied for third right now, and maybe they could challenge the Spurs, but the disparity between Rockets and Warriors and the rest of the West is pretty significant.
Centopani: Currently, that includes the Warriors, Rockets and Spurs. They’d have a shot to take down San Antonio in a series, especially if Kawhi’s quad injury lingers. Golden State and Houston? Nah. Both of those would be sweeps.
Rossman-Reich: With San Antonio losing Kawhi Leonard indefinitely, I think I like Minnesota’s overall talent over San Antonio. So maybe the Wolves could sneak past them if it came down to it. Then again, the Spurs have the kind of discipline on both ends of the ball that they could frustrate a young, inexperienced group in the Playoffs. I would take Playoff success for Minnesota as a success. This is not a title team yet.
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Masterson: Barring injury or some stupefying trade, San Antonio is the only realistic proposition here, and I’m not even totally convinced of that. Pop always saves some lineup and play calling stuff for the playoffs, and though Thibs is a great defensive coach, he probably doesn’t have the players to defend against wacky Patty Mills-Davis Bertans pick-and-pops or whatever. LaMarcus Aldridge is having a vintage year leading the Spurs absent Kawhi, and he’s been to the playoffs a few times previously. For the team with the longest playoff drought in the NBA, just getting there is a fine start to something that could be beautiful a few years down the line, in a post-Warriors world.