Basketball is a game of attacking weak links. Who do you hunt on defense? Who can you hide your worst defender on? These two questions are what coaches are constantly thinking about when crafting their game plan.
Fortunately, the Minnesota Timberwolves' new-look roster leaves opposing defenses nowhere to hide their weak defenders.
Obviously, nobody would hide a bad defender on Anthony Edwards or LaMelo Ball. This leaves teams deciding between three players: Jaden McDaniels, Jonathan Kuminga, and Rudy Gobert. Frankly, you can't consistently get away with hiding a bad defender on any of these players, especially with Ball's ability to recognize advantages.
There's nobody in the Timberwolves' starting five for teams to hide their weak link on
Of the bunch, Gobert is unquestionably the most limited offensive player.
Nevertheless, more often than not, the weak link that opposing teams are trying to cover up is a smaller player. If you're hiding a guard on Gobert, that gives him easy opportunities around the rim. Furthermore, another simple counter would be spamming pick-and-roll actions with Ball. Can someone like Trae Young guard in drop coverage or switch onto LaMelo? I doubt it.
Kuminga is an elite athlete who can consistently punish mismatches. Look, Kuminga's shot selection can be frustrating, but if you put a small and weak defender on him, he'll eat that up.
You may have been able to get away with hiding a bad defender on McDaniels earlier in his career. But with his growing offensive game, this strategy will surely backfire. McDaniels doesn't have the same physical strength as Kuminga, but he's arguably better than him at punishing mismatches. Whether it's getting to his mid-range jumper and shooting over a smaller player or attacking the rim, McDaniels will destroy bad defenders. Just ask Denver.
These are the tough decisions that the Wolves' offense forces you to make. And Ball's playmaking might be the key to making this work. While the Wolves didn't have this same advantage with Donte DiVincenzo starting last season, he's no offensive slouch, and far too often Minnesota failed to take advantage of McDaniels having a mismatch or Gobert being disrespected. That'll be vastly different with Ball in the mix.
Now, I must confess this won't be a major advantage against the Wolves' biggest Western Conference foes, the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. These two teams simply don't play bad defenders.
However, against teams such as the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, and, to a lesser extent, the Houston Rockets, this will be a major advantage. The vast majority of Eastern Conference teams (even the defending champion New York Knicks) have at least one huntable defender.
Whether it's their pace, 3-point shooting, or improved creation, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the Wolves' offense. Amid this, the Timberwolves' ability to naturally create mismatches can't be overlooked.
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