Outside of Anthony Edwards' greatness, the Minnesota Timberwolves' two-way balance and numerous scoring options have made me optimistic about their playoff upside throughout the season. However, everything seems to be falling apart as the playoffs are nearly upon us.
Injuries to Ant and Jaden McDaniels are a clear concern, but in general, the offense has been flat-out awful lately. Notably, during the past eight games, the Wolves have had the league's worst offense per Cleaning the Glass. A big part of this struggle has been the poor play of Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo. Likewise, when the Wolves are at their best, a key part of their success is having the extra scoring/3-point shooting threats of Reid and DiVincenzo.
Unfortunately, over the past 15 games, Reid is averaging 11.9 points while shooting 38.6 percent from the field, and 25 percent from 3-point range, and Donte is averaging just 9.5 points while shooting 33.3 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from deep range. For the Wolves to have any chance of righting the ship and putting together a playoff run, they'll need more consistent production from these two key players.
On the season overall, Minnesota ranks seventh in 3-point percentage, and unsurprisingly, during the past eight games, this number has plummeted to 29th. Having two of their most dependable spot-up shooters disappear is undoubtedly a central reason for this free fall.
The Timberwolves need from Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo
Naz's shoulder injury is clearly a driving force of his rapid decline, and resting him a bit down the stretch seems logical. At the same time, given that his injury appears to be tied to his decline, this problem might not be solved.
DiVincenzo doesn't have any notable injury, so this might be a flat-out slump. Another factor, I think, is that Donte thrives playing off of elite players, and thus Ant's injury is affecting him to an extent. Notably, lineups with Ant and Donte have a 120.5 offensive rating while lineups with Donte and no Ant have a 112.3 ORTG.
Still, as noted earlier, DiVincenzo's slump predates Ant's injury, so there are clearly more factors.
In a playoff setting, not having this extra 3-point shooting could lead to a true disaster. With Rudy Gobert's offensive limitations, opposing defenses already have a clear path to make life difficult for Ant. If the shooting struggles of Reid and DiVincenzo persist, defenses will have yet another part of the Wolves' offense to expose. This, coupled with Edwards' injury, could limit the Timberwolves' upside significantly.
All in all, it will be essential for Reid and DiVincenzo to get back on track before the playoffs; otherwise, it's hard to see the Wolves doing much damage.