Timberwolves' Julius Randle-Naz Reid problem is showing no signs of improvement

All season long, the non-Rudy Gobert minutes have hurt the Minnesota Timberwolves. For the vast majority of these minutes, the Wolves turn to a lineup combination of Julius Randle and Naz Reid -- a duo that has success on offense but significant shortcomings on defense.

With Rudy on the court, the Wolves have a 108.4 defensive rating per Cleaning the Glass. Without him, however, this number drops to a 123.6 DRTG. This swing equates to the second and 30th defense.

Breaking this down a bit further, lineups without Rudy but with Reid and Randle post a 121.5 DRTG (14th percentile). Notably, this duo accounts for 85.2 percent of the non-Rudy minutes and just under 30 percent of the Wolves' overall minutes. Solo lineups with Randle (122.8 DRTG) and Reid (122.2 DRTG) don't fare much better.

Despite these lineups performing well on offense, the defense has been truly awful, and it's massively hurting the team.

The Wolves' struggles in the Randle-Reid minutes are immense

The fit of two non-rim protectors next to Rudy has always been a bit odd. Again, the offensive upside with Randle and Reid is undeniable, but that doesn't matter when they can't get a stop on the other end of the floor.

Without Rudy, opposing offenses have a runway to the basket. These struggles aren't new, as the Wolves had 118.1 DRTG with Randle and Reid last year. Without Nickeil-Alexander Walker, though, these problems have been worse.

Randle and Reid don't provide any rim protection and are best suited to guard forwards. Notably, Randle ranks in the 1st percentile for blocks per 100 possessions. Furthermore, Joan Beringer, who has only played garbage time minutes, has the same number of blocks as Randle, while Big Ju has fewer blocks than Mike Conley and Bones Hyland. Meanwhile, Reid struggles on switches and is often out of position, in addition to not being a presence at the rim.

The Wolves are 1-3 in their past four games, and they continue to struggle with offensive centers.

Over the past two weeks, the Wolves have given up 28 points to Jaren Jackson Jr., 56 to Nikola Jokic, and 40 to Karl-Anthony Towns. And while he's not a big man, Jalen Johnson's 34 points (most of which came at the rim) must be mentioned. It's also worth noting that these players shot between 55.6 percent and 71.4 percent from the field.

After a brief stretch where it looked like this duo was improving, things have gotten worse than ever.

What changes could be made?

Minnesota can't continue to afford to have such an awful defense when Gobert is off the court. I have advocated for Jaden McDaniels and Jaylen Clark to soak up all of these Randle-Reid minutes. Frankly, the results speak for themselves, with McDaniels, Clark, Randle, and Reid, the Wolves have a 105.5 DRTG. Yet this combination makes up just 10.8 percent of the Wolves' lineups with Randle and Reid.

In essence, having a high-level point-of-attack defender in Clark paired with McDaniels' ability to roam and protect the rim is a logical solution. Impressively, McDaniels ranks in the 94th percentile for blocks per 100 possessions. McDaniels' impact in the non-Rudy minutes is offset if he doesn't have a quality POA defender, though -- making Clark's inclusion vital.

Outside of changing the lineup combinations next to Randle and Reid, which is frankly long overdue, a trade could be on the horizon. The Wolves' need for a point guard has been well-discussed, and the clearest path to get there is by trading one of Randle or Reid. Now this won't magically solve the non-Rudy minutes, as the Wolves would likely have to throw rookie Joan Beringer into the fire.

Nevertheless, trading one of Randle or Reid is starting to feel like a possible outcome, and it would certainly balance out the roster to some degree.