3 key takeaways from the Minnesota Timberwolves at NBA Summer League

3. Pablo Prigioni‘s new offense is awesome

Have you ever thought that it was unattainable for the Wolves to ditch taking long, mid-range 2s in exchange for shooting more 3s and driving the ball to the rim at a higher rate? Me too.

I’m ecstatic to tell you that this crippling problem could very soon be in the Wolves’ rearview mirror now that Pablo Prigioni will coordinate the Minnesota offense this upcoming season.

The Argentinian assistant coach has been heralded for his work in player development with the Brooklyn Nets. He played a starring role in developing up-and-coming foundational pieces Joe Harris, Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Spencer Dinwiddie, while most notably helping former Net D’Angelo Russell take his game to an All-Star level.

Given the Minnesota young core is chock-full of potential ready to be developed, Prigioni is the perfect guy to have build an offense that will maximize this core’s offensive skillsets.

As the summer squad put on display, the new-look offense will feature a breakneck pace, a plethora of high ball screens that can get KAT mismatches in space, frequent off-ball screening and cutting for open looks from deep and at the rim, respectively, and perhaps most importantly, a focus on getting more looks from downtown and at the rim, and less long 2s.

Wolves Radio play-by-play man Alan Horton provided a snapshot of the Minnesota shot selection at Summer League.

Given the Wolves have plenty of capable 3-point shooters (Karl-Anthony Towns, Robert Covington, Jeff Teague, Jake Layman, Shabazz Napier, and possibly Culver should all be at or above league-average) and some freakish athletes that can get to the rim (Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Layman, Jordan Bell, Okogie, Culver), the Wolves should be able to adapt and thrive in executing Prigioni’s offensive philosophy of more 3s and drives to the rack.

The Timberwolves’ offense featured outstanding spacing and ball movement, which led to a plethora of open looks like this one:

If Ryan Saunders can put five guys on the floor that can put the ball on the deck out on the perimeter and move the ball this unselfishly when they run into traffic, I would expect a much higher offensive output from this year’s team.

While it is tough to bank on certified ball-stoppers Andrew Wiggins and Jeff Teague developing higher awareness to swing the ball and make the extra pass when necessary at a high percentage, the hope is that this offense will encourage them to make conscious efforts to pass more effectively.

Without complete offensive buy-in from Wig and Teague, this new offense will have a capped ceiling while these two share the floor together. Albeit this ceiling is a much higher one than Minnesota had last year in a mostly 3-around-2 offense, until Dario Saric broke the starting lineup in February.

One of my favorite features of Prigioni’s offensive philosophy is the focus on high ball-screens and handoffs. This style of offense will unlock another dimension of KAT’s perimeter abilities because he’ll have plenty of 1-on-1 opportunities against slower 5s, while also being able to shoot over smaller defenders that switch onto him.

In terms of his activity on the perimeter Naz Reid played a similar role, though on a much smaller scale, that KAT will play this upcoming season. Reid found himself slipping and popping off of screens, and also relocating after dribble hand-offs for easy looks from behind the arc.

Once establishing his ability to stretch the floor and make 3s, the big man from LSU aggressively attacked closeouts and got looks at the rim, after which he often found himself at the free-throw line.

Naz was a safe bet from the free-throw line during his time in Vegas, shooting 15-17 (88.2 percent) from the stripe, which was a significant improvement from the 72.7 percent clip he shot during his days at LSU.

The former McDonald’s All-American poured in a terrific final five games of Summer League because he found to his role in the offense and took full advantage, parlaying his performance into a guaranteed contract.

If KAT can get the ball in similar actions that Reid did, the superstar center could find himself in the conversation for First Team All-NBA, especially if the Wolves can make the playoffs.

Surprisingly, KAT isn’t the one who stands to gain the most from the modern, dynamic Minnesota offense.