Is the right PG answer on the Minnesota Timberwolves roster?

Minnesota Timberwolves point guard D’Angelo Russell’s struggles have been well-documented to kick off this finally hopeful season for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The missed shots, turnovers, and lethargic defense has piled up; maybe it’s time for a change. It’s unfair to place this slow start entirely on Russell. Many factors are at play.

The Wolves have the 27th defensive rebounding percentage currently. Honestly, a shameful reality when you consider the Wolves have the league-leading rebounder in Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert. There hasn’t been a consistent effort from the roster as a whole when it’s time to end a defensive possession.

Consistent on-ball defense has been problematic for just about everyone besides Timberwolves’ small forward Jaden McDaniels. Russell competed on the non-glamorous end of the court a season ago. He didn’t let his physical limitations stop him as he communicated and acted as a quarterback of the defense calling things out. That hasn’t been the case this year. The effort fighting through screens has been minimal and the off-ball lapses have been inexplicable.

Everyone needs to lock in and play more physical defense on the perimeter. The Wolves don’t want to turn Jazz-lite and expect Gobert to clean up all of their mistakes.

Minnesota Timberwolves need better PG play

Admittedly, Russell has a hand in this as much as anybody, but the Wolves are shooting 32.6% on 34.2 three-point attempts per game. Russell is shooting poorly (29.9 percent/5.9 3PA) and his “sticky” playing style can stifle the offense.

Russell isn’t the quickest decision-maker in the world. He likes to hold the ball and scope things out before dribbling, passing, or shooting. That gives defenses time to recover; causing advantages created to evaporate while the Wolves now attack a set defense. Russell plays a role in their overall poor shooting but Karl-Anthony Towns is also shooting worse than expected.

KAT is shooting 36  percent on almost seven three-point attempts per game. Anthony Edwards has been streaky from downtown. Doris Burke wouldn’t let us forget how Jaden McDaniels has to find his shooting on Friday’s first-round playoff rematch.

The struggles from deep have clogged the paint as much as any off-season additions. The shooting luck has to eventually turn in their favor right? Benching Russell won’t turn this team into the 2017 Golden State Warriors in terms of shooting, but the offense could look better.

Replacements at point guard

One obvious way to improve the team’s three-point percentage is ball movement. Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch has preached about the benefits of flow. Moving the ball gets the defense scrambling (when it’s done with purpose). Extra passes, closeout attacks, and movement are all pivotal to keeping the necessary flow. Jordan Mclaughlin might have a picture next to flow in Webster’s. He doesn’t force anything, film and statistics show this.

He’s routinely making extra passes to shooters and the star scorers. He doesn’t mind shooting the ball less than 10 times a game. He’s looking to find the best shot each possession down. According to Cleaning The Glass, the Wolves are +18 in 165 possessions with Jmac on the floor. That’s a superstar number. Many casual fans would question how a role player is making a Nikola Jokic-like impact with +/- data. It’s the movement and freeness Jmac plays with.

Jmac is like a NASCAR driver in transition compared to D’lo. He doesn’t have that slow, crafty, methodical style that slows down the break. The Wolves are +12.2 on the break with Mclaughlin on the floor.

McLaughlin keeps his head up looking to move the ball with passes instead of dribbling. If he is so valuable to the flow of the offense, what’s stopping him from entering the starting lineup?

Timberwolves roster PG options have challenges

Like Russell and the rest of the Timberwolves, McLaughlin has struggled from deep. He’s shooting 11.6 percent(!) on low volume to kick off the season. He and Russell differ in the fact that this is typically who McLaughlin is — not eleven percent bad but McLaughlin has shot under league average from three every year since his rookie campaign.

Teams are tagging and stunting off of D’Angelo Russell but they aren’t completely ignoring him ruining the spacing that way. I’d like to imagine that Russell will eventually shoot the ball better this year. If nothing other than sheer shooting luck, the beginning of this year hasn’t been him throughout his roller-coaster 8-year career.

Teams will completely ignore McLaughlin if he’s bumped up to 30 minutes a night of playing time (teams already do it now). They help hard off Jmac and are willing to give him any perimeter shot, even the corner three which says a lot. McLaughlin can subtract from the Wolves’ spacing in this sense, but you have to give something to get something. Does the trade-off of McLaughlin’s ball movement outweigh the fact that teams will leave him and clog the lane even more?

McLaughlin has even more physical limitations than Russell defensively standing at 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds. The effort is there but teams will simply hunt him if he is routinely out there with starters for the long haul.

Is Kyle Anderson the answer?

Minnesota Timberwolves addition, 6-foot-9 230-pound veteran Kyle Anderson, hasn’t been a full-time point guard since his college days inside Pauley Pavilion. He hasn’t played any minutes at PG this season according to basketball-reference, but we can see him operating as the primary decision-maker at times on the floor.

He’s another role player that couldn’t care less about his points-per-game average. That’s what the Minnesota Timberwolves need at the helm at the moment. A “move it” first guard willing to do all the little things that won’t show up on ESPN’s top 10 in the morning.

Anderson has played as advertised since joining the Minnesota Timberwolves, it’s been refreshing to see him ready to go whenever he’s called. You can see the passing chops whenever he steps on the floor. Anderson has an assist rate of 18 percent according to Cleaning The Glass (87th percentile for forwards).

Is Slo-Mo better than D’Angelo Russell?

The ball doesn’t stick with him at all, if he can’t make something happen immediately, he usually comes off the ball. His nickname is “Slo-Mo” for a reason and that’s very apparent on fast breaks. He’s moving at a Gary-the-snail-like pace but he’s not slowing the breakdown by bringing the ball back out or walking the ball up the court. Minnesota is +12 in transition with Anderson on the floor. He’s next level when getting the rebound and pushing.

Anderson is a much stronger defender than Russell or McLaughlin. At 6-foot-9 holding claim to a 7-foot-3 wingspan, Slo-Mo has more physical advantages than the small guards (even though he’s not the most gifted laterally). Slo Mo is strong on the ball and uses his absurd wingspan to pluck the ball away from some of the craftiest guards in the league.

A willing passer, solid defender, and low-volume scorer is what the Minnesota Timberwolves need right now so why isn’t Anderson the full-time starter? Anderson may ruin the spacing more than Mclaughlin does as a career 33.5 percent three-point shooter.

Add the fact that he’s 6-foot-9 to the equation, and now you have a big clogging the lane instead of a small player that helps off of Russell or McLaughlin. Slo Mo isn’t as willing of a shooter as those two either, he’s only attempted more the 2* threes a game once in his nine-year career. The spacing is already funky but that’s a much-needed conversation for another day.

Is the answer on the roster?

Ideally, a guard like Mike Conley, prime Kyle Lowry, or 2004 Chauncey Billups would fit on this team the best. The Timberwolves would best benefit from a veteran who is both a bulldog perimeter defender and one whose basketball IQ lets the team set up the complex offensive sets that this high-powered roster has created.

They are pass-first guards finding more joy in executing hit-ahead-passes than dropping off 30-foot three-point bombs. That type of player with few weaknesses isn’t on the roster. With Russell — one that’s not in a slump — you get a combo guard willing to take and make big shots. You don’t get the strongest one-on-one defender but he was a solid team defender last year.

Alternatives yes. Improvement? Not so fast

With McLaughlin, you get a guard who will push the pace and make an extra pass after an extra pass. You’ll never watch Jmac and think “Hey, why did he force that shot?” You get a competitor with limitations on defense but I’d argue his fight can be infectious on teammates.

Kyle Anderson gives you more sturdy defense than either and he’s arguably the best decision-maker with the ball in his hands amongst the three. He’s the worst shooter and disrupts the spacing more than those two but is the trade-off worth it?

We’ll see where Minnesota Timberwolves HC Chris Finch goes but this starting lineup is undoubtedly not working. The five-man lineup of D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Rudy Gobert are a net +/- of (-4.1) in 344 possessions. Changes are on the horizon, one can feel it. But what will they be and will it turn this season around?