The Whiteboard: The Minnesota Timberwolves really, really want to shoot more 3s

Passing judgment on a team after two games is impossible. We don't know what identity this Minnesota Timberwolves team will develop throughout the season, especially with two offseason additions — Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo — set to play huge roles in everything the Wolves do. Still, it's hard to ignore the stark difference in play style emerging between this year's Timberwolves and the Timberwolves of last year: these Wolves are going out of their way to shoot way, way more threes.

The 2023-24 Minnesota Timberwolves were a good 3-point shooting team, just not a high-volume one. They were third in 3-point percentage but just 23rd in attempts at 32.7 per game. Through two games this year, the Wolves have shot 91 3s — 41 in their season-opener against the Lakers, and 50 (!) on Thursday night against the Kings.

Minnesota hasn't shot 91 3s because it has just happened to get 91 open looks, either. This increase is by design. The team is hunting out 3s, especially Anthony Edwards who has shot a rather hilarious 28 3-pointers in two games. He's made 10 of them (about 35 percent) so they're going in enough to justify the attempts but... that's a lot of 3s. Especially for Anthony Edwards, who is one of the best drivers and finishers in the NBA. And multiple times in the first two games it looked like Edwards passed up a potential driving lane to settle for a difficult 3-pointer. There's a balance between shooting more 3s and still leaning on the things he excels at, and whether he strikes that balance will be a storyline to follow.

This isn't an "old man yells about 3-pointers" article, either. The NBA is becoming more dependent on the 3 every season and while that's not great for the TV product (that's a discussion for another day) it's mathematically the most efficient way to play basketball. But was the problem for Minnesota's offense last year really that it didn't shoot enough 3s? Will the Timberwolves, who ranked 17th in offensive rating last season, climb into the elite tier of NBA offenses by chucking an extra 15 3s a game? Maybe — if they go 20 for 50 every night like they did on Thursday, probably.

But if Minnesota's offensive strategy is now to shoot a ton of 3s while neglecting other things that players on this team excel at — like Anthony Edwards driving to the hoop — then a huge increase in deep shots feels like a change but not necessarily an improvement. What happens when the team has an off shooting night? Will it abandon the 3-pointer? This roster has so many diverse skill sets that it doesn't need to rely this much on 3s. More 3s are fine! But trying to become the 2023-24 Boston Celtics is a risky game to play.

Granted, the Timberwolves won on Thursday in a thriller against the Kings in large part because of Edwards' aggression toward the hoop in the fourth quarter. He scored two marvelous and-ones and won the game by getting fouled and knocking down two free throws in the waning seconds. So Minnesota isn't totally cutting out variability in its offense.

If that continues, and Minnesota becomes both a high-percentage and high-volume three-point team while still maintaining an offense that doesn't insist on hoisting 50 3-pointers a game ... then Chris Finch and the Wolves could be cooking something. Through two games, though, it sort of looks like Finch wants to launch 3s as often as anyone. Whether that benefits this specific Timberwolves team is to be determined.

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NBA news roundup

• Be scared of Oklahoma City. The Thunder dominated the Nuggets 102-87 in Denver. The big difference? OKC dominated the bench minutes. Mark Daigneault was making up rotations on the fly and they all seemed to work.

• The Clippers are being sued by a former team employee for how the team acquired — and then treated — Kawhi Leonard.

• The first game of the Wemby and CP3 era in San Antonio was slightly underwhelming. Wemby shot 5-18 and Chris Paul scored just three points. Growing pains!

Klay Thompson on Dallas might be a perfect fit

Frankly, that should have been obvious all along. In his first game as a Dallas Maverick, his first game not as a Golden State Warrior, and his first game playing with a distributor like Luka Doncic ... Thompson was sensational. He set the Mavericks franchise record for 3s made in a debut, and it's just so wild how easy his life will be in the next few years; just run around the perimeter and wait for the ball to find your hands, then shoot said ball.

Steph Curry and Draymond Green deserve credit for their facilitation skills, and the attention that Steph required from a defense gave Klay so many open shots in Golden State. And still, Klay has never played with a passer like Luka. Because there aren't many passers like Luka. On the flip side, Luka has never been flanked by a shooter like Klay. Everyone's going to get along swimmingly if they play like this every night. Dallas was dang impressive in its season opener and still has many chambers to unlock.