Despite all the buzz about their new-look offense (which, for the record, looks awesome), the Minnesota Timberwolves' defense has remained at the heart of their success. Through 12 games, the Timberwolves have the league's best defensive rating. Furthermore, according to data from the Dunker's Spot podcast and Cleaning the Glass, Minnesota's half-court defensive rating is 11.2 points per 100 possessions better than the league average, which is the most significant difference in the tracking data era.
In simpler words: the Wolves' defense has been historically elite. Since trading for Rudy Gobert, the Wolves' defense has been one of the best units in the league. They even ranked first in the 2023-24 season. Minnesota's success primarily stemmed from having a fantastic rim protector in Gobert and a fantastic point-of-attack defender in Jaden McDaniels. Having a superb forward stopper in Jonathan Kuminga has helped the Wolves' defense reach another level.
They are now equipped to contain stars of all styles. In a playoff setting, this will help the Timberwolves match up against a variety of teams and stars, making their defense more dangerous than ever.
The Timberwolves' defense can succeed against any type of star
Despite the Wolves' long having a great defense, past versions of this team lacked a forward stopper. This wasn't Karl-Anthony Towns' or Julius Randle's game due to their lack of speed. Thankfully, Kuminga has the quickness, length, and strength to stop forwards. He's excelled in this role, holding opponents to 38.8 percent shooting from the field as the primary defender.
McDaniels can limit star guards. We saw him last year take Jamal Murray out of the series. In past years, he contained Luka Doncic and Devin Booker. His rare blend of length and quickness makes him a matchup nightmare for guards. There are few players who can shut the water off of star guards as well as McDaniels can. In a perimeter-centric league, that's a major advantage.
Say what you will about his offensive game, but Gobert is a defensive cheat code. As we saw last season, he can contain the very best centers, as he held Nikola Jokic to 44.4 shooting from the field. Gobert's presence also limits opposing teams' shot attempts at the rim. According to Cleaning the Glass, opponents are shooting 14.2 percent fewer shots at the rim with Gobert on the court.
In a way, this allows him to shut down opposing guards and forwards even if he's not directly guarding such players.
A look into how the Wolves' defense would match up against top teams
The Wolves' primary competition in the West are the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, and Portland Trail Blazers. In each of these matchups, the Wolves' defense will give them a slightly different type of advantage. We saw how they took away the Jokic-Murray two-man game.
Against the Rockets, the three-man pairing of Gobert, McDaniels, and Kuminga is the perfect recipe for stopping Alperen Sengun, Kevin Durant, and Amen Thompson.
The Wolves showed they can shut down Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves in the 2025 playoffs. This matchup would ask a lot of Anthony Edwards, as he'd be tasked with guarding Reaves. That's something he can handle, though. Gobert would have more responsibilities than in 2025, as he'd have to stop Walker Kessler and the Luka-Kessler two-man game.
Kuminga's ability to guard physical forwards would be vital against Deni Avdija and the Blazers. McDaniels would be asked to hold the fort against Damian Lillard.
Of course, the true class of the West is the Spurs and Thunder. Kuminga's versatility would be vital against the Spurs. He'd likely spend time defending one of the three guards, wreaking havoc off the ball, and even getting some reps against Victor Wembanyama. While you can never shut down Wemby, Gobert's chances are as good as anyone else's in the league. And his rim protection is a massive advantage against a Spurs squad that loves to attack the rim. McDaniels would, of course, also play a key role against the Spurs' three-headed guard monster.
The Thunder may be the matchup where Kuminga's defense would be the most important. He'd likely be tasked with guarding Chet Holmgren. Yes, Chet isn't super physically imposing, but without him, the double-big lineup of Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein would cause problems for Minnesota. Plus, his presence will allow McDaniels to stay at the point of attack defending Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Needless to say, SGA is a brutal matchup, but few players could give him headaches like Jaden can.
With the possible expectation of the Spurs (though I'd argue they don't have the same defense against forwards), no team is better equipped to guard every position than the Timberwolves. While this is a powerful weapon in the regular season, this elite defense will be a bigger advantage in the postseason. In the end, this could spark a championship run.
At the very least, it gives them a chance against any offense.
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