Overlooked Timberwolves' problem is massively hurting the team

Other than Naz Reid, the Minnesota Timberwolves have had issues finding another bench piece that can consistently produce for them. There’s a reason that they currently rank third-to-last in bench scoring. Amid many discussions of the Timberwolves' point guard play hurting the team, the lack of bench production is equally problematic.

It doesn’t happen often, but thus far on the season, when the Wolves have two reserves finish with at least 10 points, they are 3-1.

More bench production on Thursday than they often receive

Minnesota won its most recent outing against the Pelicans on Thursday by the score of 125-116. Reid led the way off the bench with 19 points, but Jaylen Clark also had one of his best offensive performances of the season, finishing with 12. 

Through their first 22 games, Thursday’s game marks just the fourth time in which the Timberwolves had at least two players reach double figures in scoring that came off the bench. They are now 3-1 when that happens.

On November 29, in a win against the Celtics, both Reid and Terrence Shannon Jr. chipped in with 10 points. In their November 9 victory over the Kings, all three of Reid (13), Rob Dillingham (11), and Clark (11) reached double figures.

The one loss came against the Thunder on November 26 (no shame in that, as OKC still has just one loss on the season). In that contest, Shannon Jr. scored 18 with Reid also adding 12.

Will someone other than Naz step up?

The fact that Minnesota has just four games out of 22 in which two bench players scored at least 10 points is further evidence that the non-starters aren’t producing enough. 

The exception, of course, is Reid, the 2023-24 Sixth Man of the Year. After starting the year with six performances of less than 10 points in the first 11 games, he now has reached double-digit point titles in 10 of the last 11 (the one game he didn’t, he scored nine).

Shannon Jr. and Clark both have just two games of at least 10 in their first 20 appearances. Mike Conley has started five contests, but in his 17 games off the bench, Conley hasn’t scored more than eight in any of them. Rob Dillingham scored 11 on November 9, but no more than eight in his other 19 outings. Bones Hyland scored 12 in one game, but he’s been out of the rotation now.

Remarkably, the Timberwolves have just six instances where a reserve player other than Reid has scored at least 10 points. While many have looked to point guard as an area that Minnesota should look to upgrade, perhaps a move to bolster the bench would pay dividends even more so.