Dunking With Wolves
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The Minnesota Timberwolves don’t need a point guard to succeed

By Andrew Ites

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - NOVEMBER 08: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves dribbles the ball against the Golden State Warriors during the game at Target Center on November 8, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 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 (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - NOVEMBER 08: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves dribbles the ball against the Golden State Warriors during the game at Target Center on November 8, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 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 (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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The Minnesota Timberwolves’ point guard injuries have shown that they don’t need a true point guard to succeed in today’s NBA.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were pretty excited about their potential point guard rotation of Jeff Teague and Shabazz Napier heading into the season, but Napier has missed five games due to injury while Teague was out four games with an illness.

Despite having Jordan McLaughlin as the only healthy true point guard for a stretch, the Wolves have continued to play well during their 7-4 start.

Minnesota went 2-2 during their four-game stint without Jeff Teague, but their losses to Memphis and Denver were mainly due to three-point variance as the Grizzlies couldn’t miss in that matchup and the Wolves couldn’t get anything to fall from outside in an overtime loss to the Nuggets.

During this stretch without a true point guard in the rotation, Andrew Wiggins has stepped up as a playmaker.

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In the four games without Teague, Wiggins averaged 5.8 assists per game and he kept that up with 7 assists in a win over the Spurs even after Teague returned to the lineup.

The Wolves also let Jarrett Culver handle the ball a bit more as he dropped 4 dimes per game while Teague was sidelined, and we already know that Karl-Anthony Towns is able to distribute the ball well from the post along with his unreal ball-handling skills for a seven-footer.

Jeff Teague and Shabazz Napier are both set to be free agents this upcoming offseason which leaves plenty of uncertainty at the point guard position moving forward.

While a D’Angelo Russell trade still may be in the works, Minnesota has shown that they can thrive without a true point guard by distributing the ball-handling duties amongst their many playmakers throughout the roster.

Next. Checking in on the Timberwolves’ top 3 offseason additions. dark

As the Wolves move toward a more position-less style of basketball in Ryan Saunders’ new scheme, the need for a new point guard might not be as dire as we thought heading into the season.

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