The Minnesota Timberwolves have a clear void at the power forward position after trading away Julius Randle and Naz Reid. A month later, they haven't filled this void, and frankly, it's possible they won't find a palatable solution to this problem until the trade deadline.
Look, entering the season with a glaring flaw isn't ideal, but thankfully, not all hope is lost. Obviously, landing LaMelo Ball and pairing him with Anthony Edwards is enough to make up for this flaw. Beyond that, though, we can't forget that the Timberwolves have an elite point-of-attack defender in Jaden McDaniels and an elite rim protector in Rudy Gobert.
Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels are a dynamic defensive duo
Excluding the San Antonio Spurs (and possibly the Oklahoma City Thunder), Minnesota has the best POA-rim protector duo in the NBA. So yes, defending against some of the more physical forwards will be challenging, and the Timberwolves should absolutely be searching for a way to address this flaw, but they should have a good defense thanks to these two.
I'm not going to sit here and argue that having a makeshift defense against physical power forwards is easy or ideal. It's not. What I will argue, though, is that it's a heck of a lot better than trying to manufacture perimeter defense or rim protection. These two elements remain the most important of a modern defense.
Gobert's rim protection deters the mindset of opposing players, making them less likely to attack the rim when he's on the court. He's essentially been a walking top-10 defense regardless of the talent around him for that reason. The Wolves' defense being 11.8 points per 100 possessions better with Gobert on the court last season is evidence of that.
Plus, Gobert is a stellar one-on-one defender, as he showed in the first-round of this year's playoffs, shutting down Nikola Jokic.
McDaniels is arguably the best perimeter stopper in the league, and currently the Wolves seem determined to keep him in this role. With unmatched positional size and length, he can put opposing guards in jail. Per Basketball Index, McDaniels ranks in the 99th percentile for matchup difficulty and the 98th percentile for perimeter isolation defense. His lockdown defense was on full display in the first-round against Jamal Murray.
In a league filled with great perimeter creators, McDaniels' defense is a massive advantage for the Timberwolves.
It could be argued that the defensive duo of Gobert and McDaniels was the main reason why Minnesota toppled Denver in the first-round. So yeah, it's safe to say that this duo can help the Timberwolves maintain a solid defense at the very least.
Who will the Timberwolves have guarding fours?
Now, it's fair to wonder who will guard fours with McDaniels seemingly staying out on the perimeter. Tim Connelly has said they have some left-field-ish options to defend fours.
Edwards has been mentioned as a possible candidate to defend fours, given his strength at 225 pounds and elite athleticism; this could work. Ayo Dosunmu could also be another candidate, but he would likely struggle against more physical fours.
Bench wings Josh Green, Terrence Shannon Jr., and Jaylen Clark could all have an opportunity to guard fours. Of the bunch, I'm most intrigued by Green, who is a really disciplined defender. Still, Shannon and Clark have ample strength to guard fours at times.
Furthermore, even if they don't make a game-changing addition before the season starts, the Wolves need to add at least one more player. Given their roster needs, it's fair to assume this addition will be another forward. Someone like Georges Niang could earn some real minutes and spend time defending fours, but there's a chance this forward merely rounds out the roster.
My point is that I think we'll see the Wolves' solution to a lack of power forwards be a collective effort more than anything else. And while the Wolves seem to prefer McDaniels against guards, I'm sure we'll see him defend forwards a bit more than last season.
When it's all said and done, the Timberwolves will have to land a serious forward upgrade at some point to compete for a championship. For now, though, Gobert and McDaniels are more than enough to give them a respectable regular season defense.
Add us as a preferred source on Google