Dunking With Wolves
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The Minnesota Timberwolves can learn a lot from the Warriors

By Tyler Metcalf

BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 02: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves shoots the ball against the Boston Celtics on January 02, 2019 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 02: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves shoots the ball against the Boston Celtics on January 02, 2019 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Timberwolves Andrew Wiggins
Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves (Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Finding Cutters

Last season Towns showed his capabilities of finding teammates out of the post but was much more successful at finding cutters than spot-up shooters (1.378 points per possession vs .922). Part of this was due to Towns forcing passes and not seeing opponents rotate, but a bigger part was who was on the floor.

Some of the most important players going into next season for the Timberwolves are Dario Saric, Robert Covington, Andrew Wiggins, and Josh Okogie. All four of these players were above league average cutters last season as Saric scored 1.333 points per possession (61st percentile), Covington scored 1.571 points per possession (95th percentile), Wiggins scored 1.337 points per possession (63rd percentile), Josh Okogie scored 1.295 points per possession (53rd percentile).

These guys do a great job of finding a lane and making themselves open for an easy basket. As Saric began to see more playing time, we saw how well he worked off of Towns.

Here we see the craftiness of Saric’s cutting ability and the improved passing ability of Towns. Towns receives the ball in the high post and is looking at how Saric will move off-ball. Saric feints a screen and then slips towards the rim. This move freezes Jonathan Isaac just enough to create a lane to the rim and an opening for Towns to deliver a perfect pass.

Again, we see Towns receive an extended post-up. While this isn’t an ideal location, it does create space for cutters by taking opponents farther away from the rim. Even though Towns fights for any space to receive the ball, he gladly gives it up. Wiggins bolts towards the open rim right after he made the pass and Towns delivers a dime using the one-handed over-head pass he showed off last year.

The Timberwolves love to run post-ups with Towns – for good reason – but this can make their offense stagnant. Towns’ lack of lower body strength often leads to him struggling to establish deep post position and receiving the ball closer to the three-point arc. Instead of standing still and watching Towns try to back opponents down for 15 seconds, the Timberwolves need to initiate more off-ball screens and cuts – like the Warriors – to ignite a free-flowing, unpredictable offense.

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