All season long, the Minnesota Timberwolves' lack of a point guard has been discussed. I won't act holier than thou -- I certainly wrote about this problem multiple times. The talk has subsided since trading for Ayo Dosunmu, yet he's a combo guard rather than a natural PG. Detractors will point to this, along with Bones Hyland being an inconsistent microwave scorer, and say that point guard play is still a flaw of this team.
Whether he's a point guard or a combo guard, I think Ayo's arrival has been enough for the Timberwolves to overcome their lack of ball handling and perimeter creation. The results speak for themselves: Minnesota is 8-2 with Dosunmu in the lineup.
At this juncture, I no longer have any concerns about the Wolves' point guard position.
The Wolves don't need a classic point guard
In some ways, it feels like this roster is constructed intentionally to empower several players as playmakers and creators without having a true classic PG.
Listen, I will always have an affinity for traditional point guards (Chris Paul is my favorite player of all time). Nevertheless, there's no denying that these types of players are less common. The league is now trending toward positional size, creation, and playmaking.
When you have a team built around Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle, it's hard to also have a traditional table setter, as both of these stars initiate so much of the offense. Having versatile players who can play on or off the ball, such as Jaden McDaniels, Donte DiVincenzo, Naz Reid, and Ayo, makes this style of play more palatable. Ant and Randle initiate most of the offense around great spacing, but if need be, they have other options.
Outside of Rudy Gobert (with all due respect), everyone in the Wolves rotation is capable of creating shots for themselves and others. So what if they don't have a true point guard? Having nearly everyone in the rotation, being capable shot creators and playmakers, more than makes up for this problem. This arguably makes the Wolves' offense less predictable and harder to game plan against to some extent.
Maybe the Wolves' lack of point guard play will hurt them again in clutch time. I'll acknowledge these late-game collapses were central to my concern about the Wolves' need for a point guard. Nevertheless, the Timberwolves are 4-0 in clutch games since Ayo's arrival.
The Wolves clearly needed another ball-handler and bench creator -- that's what Ayo has provided. In the end, though, the need for a pure point guard was likely overblown in hindsight.
