In an era where frontcourt size and versatility are vital, the Minnesota Timberwolves have a massive advantage. The Wolves trio of Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert, and Naz Reid is one of the most talented and versatile frontcourts in the league.
Undoubtedly, this makes the Wolves a matchup nightmare for smaller teams and allows them to handle bigger squads as well. As the Wolves try to get over the championship hump, their frontcourt rotation will be a key advantage.
What makes this trio really cool is that each player offers something different, yet they are all super impactful. Randle is one of the league's best co-stars with a unique blend of shot creation and playmaking. Gobert is an elite rim protector and one of the best defensive anchors of all-time. Reid is one of the best floor spacing bigs who can offer a nice creation and playmaking punch as well.
The Randle-Gobert-Reid trio is perfect
Gobert's elite defense makes him the perfect complement to both Randle and Reid. Plus, if the Wolves want to lean all the way into offense, they can do that. Now with a full year together under their belt, this group is more comfortable with each other and, in turn, more effective.
The Wolves only use two of these big men at once, deploying the full trio for just 22 possessions in the past two seasons. I'm curious to see if Chris Finch experiments with this group playing together a bit more this season. Regardless, any two-man combination of this big man duo is beneficial to the Wolves.
With Gobert and Reid, the Wolves have a 103.8 defensive rating and a 116.5 offensive rating, which translates to a +13.8 efficiency differential per Cleaning the Glass. This DRTG translates to the second-best in the league. Randle and Gobert have an impressive +4.7 efficiency differential.
The duo of Randle and Reid has been criticized for their defense this season. However, they have figured out a solution recently by deploying Jaden McDaniels and Jaylen Clark alongside them. Despite the criticism of this defensive combination, they still have a positive efficiency differential and post a 120.1 offensive rating, which ranks in the 85th percentile. The blend of creation, playmaking, and shooting with these two on the court gives them a ton of offensive juice.
This trio gives them a path to withstand games where Anthony Edwards struggles, as evidenced by their past two games. Randle scored a team-high 32 points on Wednesday, while Reid scored 28. And when Edwards is on his A-game, this group is a genuine matchup nightmare.
The Western Conference features a combination of undersized and supersized frontcourts. Against teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, the Wolves can punish them for their lack of size as they did last playoffs. At the same time, they can match up nicely with the frontcourt size of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and Houston Rockets.
It would be foolish to argue that the Wolves are a better overall team than the Thunder or Nuggets. But dammitt, their frontcourt can help them match up with these two squads, and who knows, the Wolves could accomplish the improbable come playoff time.