Don’t look now, but the Minnesota Timberwolves are good! After a ho-hum start to the season, they’ve climbed into the top 10 in defensive rating and soared from 22nd in offensive rating through the first part of the season to sixth since Jan. 1. They are one of only four teams — along with the title-favorite Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers — to rank in the top 10 on both sides of the ball.
While Minnesota’s record isn’t what it was last season, it’s worth pointing out that no team has played or lost more clutch games this season, and the numbers suggest some bad shooting luck in those moments. Flip a few more of those games, and this is a team that could just as easily be looking at homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Karl-Anthony Towns trade had the potential to define a letdown season, and the late-summer deal definitely shook the foundation of the franchise, but Anthony Edwards and Co. have steadied and are beginning to resemble the team that made a Western Conference finals run last season.
But the Timberwolves are also different. Towns was a lot of things in Minnesota, but he was mostly an identity. It’ll take years to fully understand the ramifications of the trade, but history has shown that the best way to mitigate the effects of the loss of talent is to, well, add more talent.
That was part of the decision-making when the Timberwolves traded up into the top 10 of the draft to take Rob Dillingham. If Dillingham hits, the Timberwolves will have added a slashing point guard who projects as an ideal complement to Edwards. But Minnesota’s rookie class offers more. Dillingham, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Jaylen Clark are different but have all made an impact this season and have a chance to be the best group of their rookie class.
Despite a brief stumble, the future in Minnesota is bright in part because of a rookie class that could end up being the bridge between what was and what is to come.
Rob Dillingham
Dillingham didn’t know until the Charlotte Hornets were on the clock with the sixth pick that Minnesota was even an option. Then he learned that the Timberwolves were trading a 2031 first-round pick and a 2030 pick swap to the San Antonio Spurs for the eighth overall pick.
“I was super surprised,” Dillingham told me. “That wasn't what I had set up.”
It was the biggest surprise of June’s draft and maybe the most interesting pick. Dillingham, listed at 6-foot-1, was billed as the best purer scorer in the draft. He displayed elite feel, a strong handle and promising passing chops in one year at Kentucky. After the pick, the consensus among draft experts was that he could develop into the ideal backcourt partner for Edwards.
Dillingham has played sparingly as a rookie. His numbers are modest but too small a sample from which to draw conclusions. The Timberwolves are most interested in his ability to get into the paint and make plays.
“I think what’s next for him is his ability to get to the paint and manipulate coverages,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said before a March game in Miami. “He’s going to have to get comfortable going a little deeper. Whether that’s finishing or kicking out and playmaking.”
There are smaller things, too. Dillingham relies a bit too much on his floater. He fights on defense, but adding muscle will help on both ends. Mike Conley has taken Dillingham under his wing. You couldn’t ask for a better point guard to apprentice under.
“That's my dog,” Dillingham said.
Conley is a traditional table-setter, while Dillingham is a more modern, score-first guard. That hasn’t stopped Dillingham from trying to learn how to look at the game like a traditional point guard. They watch film and talk often. Conley points out personnel-related decisions and explains how to manage teammates.
“You gotta pick the play based on who you're playing with, who's hot, getting them a shot,” Dillingham said. “Finding the little things to get everyone involved because it's not about you all the time.”
Though he doesn’t see a ton of live minutes, Dillingham’s talent isn’t lost on those who watch him in practice or an organization that targeted him in the draft.
“He got stuff that you can't teach,” Jaylen Clark said. “His feel and scoring ability is unreal. I know it's a little crowded for him right now, but when he gets his opportunity, he'll definitely shine.”
Terrence Shannon Jr.
During the first quarter of a February game in Houston, Terrence Shannon Jr. was defending Rockets guard Aaron Holiday when he turned and, suddenly, couldn’t move anymore.
Rockets center Steven Adams had set a screen. One Shannon ran smack-dab into. His legs moved like he was stuck in quicksand and Holiday got off a clean look. At the next break, Shannon went to Minnesota’s bench and told his teammates about the lesson he had learned.
“Steven Adams is strong as hell,” he said.
The irony? Shannon is usually he one doing the punishing. At 6-foot-6, 215 pounds and 24 years old, Shannon is bigger and older than the average rookie. He has carved out a role for the Timberwolves as a downhill scorer capable of changing the tone of the game. Shannon knows who he is and wastes no time showing you. When he catches the ball, he’s quick to put his head down and get to the basket.
He had 11 points and eight rebounds in 16 crucial minutes in the fourth quarter and overtime of a February win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He helped the Timberwolves get through a rough 2 ½ week spate of injuries with five double-digit scoring games. When he gets downhill, he’s a bowling ball going to the rim and the pins are made of rubber.
“My teammates just tell me to go,” Shannon said. “My two favorite players are Giannis [Antetokounmpo] and [Russell] Westbrook. I just attack downhill. I'll always attack downhill.”
Opponents will sometimes play off and dare him to shoot a 3. He’ll call their bluff and use the extra space to build up ramming speed.
“It's low-key worse because now he just takes up the space, and it's a runway for him,” Clark said.
Shannon and Anthony Edwards joke that if they could trade powers, they’d be unstoppable.
“He always be like, ‘I gotta get what you got.’ But I tell him, ‘I gotta get what he got,’” Shannon said. “We take from each other. I take more from him than [he takes from] me.”
Jaylen Clark
It’s been a long journey for Clark. High school ball near Los Angeles, finding a way to stand out on a star-studded AAU team, getting an offer rescinded from Colorado, tearing his Achilles while at UCLA, a year of rehab and development in the G League.
Clark thought about all of it as he signed his first standard NBA contract earlier this year. The Timberwolves were in Los Angeles for a game against the Lakers when Clark got a phone call from Timberwolves president Tim Connelly.
“I enjoyed the journey, like going from the G League to here to now,” Clark said. “It's all coming to fruition. So that's the dopest part about everything going on right now.”
Because the team was in Los Angeles, Clark could celebrate with his family. They went to dinner near his hometown at an Italian restaurant in Corona. It was a brief celebration before Clark had to get back to work.
“Very rewarding to give him the contract that he deserves,” Finch said. “All credit to the front office. In that draft two years ago, they knew going in that that’s who they wanted.”
Despite Clark’s Achilles injury, the Timberwolves knew they wanted him. The front office liked that he was the former defensive player of the year in college. Through their research, they found that those kinds of players generally stick in the NBA, even if they don’t become stars. Clark checked that box and more, including size and character.
Clark developed a passion for playing defense as a teenager when he had to find a way to play alongside highly-rated prospects like Evan Mobley, Johnny Juzang and Dalen Terry on his AAU team.
“There were no shots for me,” Clark said. “So the only way I could get on the court was to just run around and guard people.”
Clark’s defense jumps off the screen. He’s physical and has a knack for poking the ball away. There’s no secret sauce to his approach on that end, and he uses phrases like “God-given” and “instinct” when describing his defensive chops.
He had a strong training camp but the Timberwolves felt he needed more time with the organization’s G League affiliate in Iowa at the start of the season.
“He just needed to figure out who he was going to be offensively in the NBA,” Finch said.
Clark gained more confidence in his 3-point shot. After making 30 percent of his 3s in college, he shot 44.4 percent from 3-point range in the G League and is now making 40.5 percent at the NBA level.
“It's a lot of things that he just had to go through, and he still fought through adversity and got to where he is today,” Dillingham said. “And now he's knocking down threes, guarding the best player. So it's definitely crazy.”