The Minnesota Timberwolves have a Rudy Gobert problem. In the past two games, Gobert is 0-for-13 from the field. This season, the 7-foot-1 big man is averaging just 6.6 points, while shooting 37 percent from the field. His poor hands, lack of touch around the rim, apathy toward physicality on offense, and hesitancy to dunk are all massive problems. Watching the games, you can tell that Gobert's teammates are starting to lose trust in him, and it's causing them to essentially play four-on-five on offense when he's on the court.
One of the more consequential (yet under-discussed) parts of Gobert's struggles is the tough spot it puts Chris Finch in when choosing closing lineups. During Monday's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Finch closed with Rudy despite him being 0-for-9 from the field.
However, Finch pulled the plug on Gobert down the stretch of the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday's loss. Trey Lyles was part of the closing lineup before Terrence Shannon Jr. took his spot with 2:16 left for the Wolves to go to a small lineup.
While Gobert's offensive struggles aren't an entirely new revelation, they've never been more pronounced, and the elite playmaking of LaMelo Ball isn't solving these problems. At 34, these concerns are especially alarming. In any case, it puts Chris Finch in a pickle when selecting the Wolves' closing lineups.
There's no clear closing option if Rudy Gobert's problems persist
Ideally, Gobert bounces back, and he can be a regular closer, but that's anything but a certainty.
If Gobert's offensive struggles persist, the Wolves can't regularly close games with him. It makes it far too easy for opposing defenses to sell out on the Wolves' lead creators. Yet the question remains: Who can Finch turn to?
Gobert's offensive struggles are nothing new. The Wolves have regularly closed games without him in past years. As such, if things continue to be this bad, I'm not worried that Finch will ride Gobert until the wheels fall off. However, Monday's game is a counter to that argument.
In past years, they always had Naz Reid to lean on, though. Now, with a thinner frontcourt, this becomes more challenging.
The easy answer would be Joan Beringer. Admittedly, that's where I'd lean. Beringer has been coming into his own in the past few games. Beringer crashes the offensive glass at an elite rate, has sturdy hands, and more athletic pop.
Still, he's a 19-year-old who is prone to making some basketball-IQ mistakes. Therefore, despite his solid play as of late, it's unclear whether he can be trusted in high-leverage situations. And Finch doesn't typically trust young players.
Lyles is a solid role player with a high basketball IQ, but he doesn't provide enough rim protection or defense to be a closer. Going small, whether that be with Lyles at center or going without a clear center, as they did on Wednesday, isn't prudent against most teams. It was a solid lever to pull against the Warriors, but it's not something the Wolves can lean on regularly.
It's hard enough that the Wolves have to operate in clutch games without Anthony Edwards for the next two or so months, and this Gobert development only makes things harder.
There's simply no clean-cut answer to the Wolves' closing lineups if Gobert can't right the ship. Again, Beringer is my preference, especially if he keeps it up, but it's not a certainty that Finch will trust him. Even if he does, there's some clear risk with playing him in high-leverage spots.
One way or another, let's hope a solution to this problem emerges soon. Unfortunately, though, the Timberwolves might be at a disadvantage one way or another during late games, given how poorly Gobert is playing.
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