The biggest problem hampering the Minnesota Timberwolves this season is clearly their offensive inefficiency. On the other side of the ball, they are still elite, routinely making life hard for opponents on defense and clamping down on even high-scoring teams. But putting the ball in the basket has been a challenge for Chris Finch's squad to say the least.
There are a few factors that go into this being the case, not the least of which is spacing issues. The starting five in particular utilizes multiple players that opposing defenses do not have to respect from beyond the three-point arc. This has clearly limited the Wolves' ability to score to start out games, as they have fallen into first quarter holes routinely.
Sure, having non-shooters on the floor is going to allow the opposition to crowd the paint and force misses and turnovers that way. But not all of Minnesota's offensive struggles stem from spacing. Another issue they are going to have to address is the lack of ball movement, particularly from their star players.
I asked Finch a couple weeks ago about solving the spacing issues, and he said he sees them to be ball-holding issues rather than spacing issues.
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) January 1, 2025
So I’ve been trying to look for the solve to the offense more through that lens. And I I think this possession below is a good… https://t.co/XKESdhzBzO pic.twitter.com/ntwIqbnB3z
Minnesota isn't moving the ball enough on offense
Finch spoke on this before Christmas. "Obviously the more you can move a defense around, the more they may not be in the spot that they're talking about being in when they go through things at shootaround," he said. "If Ant has the ball and there's going to be four guys in the paint waiting for him, it's his responsibility to go sooner or quicker before they get there ... To me, a lot of the spacing issues are not necessarily spacing issues, they're ball holding issues."
We see that Finch's words are true when we watch Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle with the ball. As is the case in Dane Moore's above clip, there are moments where Minnesota's star players are catching the ball but just taking a while to get into their actions. This is ultimately a big factor limiting the Timberwolves' offense.
The last thing you want to do as a team is be predictable. When you give high-level defenders time to adjust and analyze what you're setting up to do before you do it, you are setting yourself up for failure. Even the greatest players like Edwards can be slowed down by way of not having enough urgency or holding the ball for an entire possession.
Much of the Wolves' offensive shortcomings right now really are that simple. Yes, driving lanes are less open now than they were last season. But holding the ball for extended amounts of time is only going to accentuate those problems.