Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch is still mulling over how he wants to manage Anthony Edwards' and LaMelo Ball's minutes. Is it better to stagger the stars to always have one on the court? Or is it better to pair them together because of how well they complement each other and to give bench players more opportunities? As of now, it seems like Finch is leaning toward the latter.
"My gut tells me I want them to be out there together. We've got guys off the bench that can bring punch, that can be handling, that could bring different things, those guys are really good together. You see the TJ (Shannon)/Ayo combos are really, really good. So, you know, we might just double down, play those guys together, but we'll be ready to read it as we go along," Finch said earlier this week.
While there's some nuance to this discussion, I lean toward staggering the players. Ant and LaMelo undoubtedly complement each other perfectly, so I understand wanting to keep them together. However, my faith in the bench unit isn't that strong, and having one creator on the floor at all times is ideal.
The Timberwolves have plenty of reasons to stagger Edwards and Ball
If the Wolves wanted to empower Jaden McDaniels on the ball during these lineups, I'd be more intrigued. But empowering Ayo Dosunmu and Terrence Shannon Jr. seems to be the appeal for Finch, and that's not something I can totally get behind.
Don't get me wrong: Ayo and Shannon are talented players who could play big roles this season. Both players offer some creation juice, but neither player should be a primary initiator or playmaker.
In fairness, I feel better about this proposition for Ayo. He showed everyone that he can scale up in the playoffs, but ultimately thrives when playing alongside at least one high-end creator.
The Wolves have talked a lot about empowering Shannon on the ball this summer, and I could never fully get behind this vision. Sure, he is a downhill scorer who has shown real flashes, but he's a shaky decision-maker and a flawed creator. Plus, while his fit with Ant isn't ideal, I think Shannon and LaMelo could have some real synergy.
As such, the Wolves will lose these non-Ant and LaMelo minutes. We've seen these Ayo-Shannon-led units struggle in preseason. While it's just preseason, I think there are plenty of reasons to believe that this won't change.
The bigger picture is that Minnesota has two elite offensive players, and it's ideal to always have this advantage with one of them on the court and avoid operating at a creation disadvantage.
It's great that Ball will elevate Edwards and everyone else. Nevertheless, he's proven that he can be an elite creator and offensive engine. Last season, he ranked 99th for estimated offensive plus-minus per Dunks & Threes.com. Moreover, the Charlotte Hornets' offense was 11.6 points per 100 possessions better with Ball on the court, according to Cleaning the Glass.
Why not take advantage of this part of Ball's skill set? And as noted with Shannon, I think Ball could develop some synergy with a lot of bench players if the lineup is bench plus him.
It became clear that Edwards needs a playmaker alongside him to succeed. That's why they traded for LaMelo. Still, he doesn't need a playmaker alongside him all the time. He is a proven elite scorer and can thrive when LaMelo is off the court.
Even if Finch staggers their minutes, they'll still play a lot together—it would just be ideal to have an elite creator on the floor at all times.
It looks like Finch is going to start off the season by handcuffing or pairing Ant and Ball. I'm fine with this, but at some point I predict it will become clear that staggering them is better.
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