Deep Dive: Minnesota Are Blooming Through Their Backcourt
D'Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards have become a formidable duo of late.
The Minnesota Timberwolves tossed the modern-day conventions out of the window this summer. Pairing their long-tenured franchise player in Karl-Anthony Towns with a prehistoric rim-running big in Rudy Gobert was the antithesis of what the game demands in 2023. These days, it’s shot-creation, ball-handling, shooting and spacing that sit the hooping throne.
All you have to do is look at the recent champions to get an idea of why having multiple players who can do those things is important. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have hoisted the hardware four times since 2015. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday paced the 2020-21 Milwaukee Bucks. Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry. Champs. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, too.
Now, the Wolves don’t have that sort of top-end talent. They probably aren’t going to be lifting the Larry O’Brien trophy anytime in the immediate future. So, in an effort just to become one of those consistent Western Conference competitors, they zigged while everyone was busy zagging their way to success.
But they also didn’t.
They still have their backcourt. They still have their ball-handlers and shot-creators and floor-spacers. And, after months of wading through the murky waters of roster uncertainty, Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell have rediscovered their synergy. Most importantly, they’ve rediscovered their on-court trust.
For much of the season, the zigging has looked like a disastrous move. Towns remains sidelined with a lingering calf strain, the ransom they paid for Gobert seemed to have warped and twisted into more of an ever-looming gargoyle sent to haunt the franchise by the night, and they have toiled fruitlessly in the bottom half of the Western Conference for the better part of the 52 games they’ve played thus far.
Their backcourt was part of that putrid vibe, as well. Before the calendar flipped into 2023, Russell and Edwards had shared the floor for the most minutes of any two-man lineup on the roster (931) and the team had been outscored by 2.1 points per 100 possessions. For a team looking to genuinely compete for home court advantage come playoff time, it’s a mountain of disappointing minutes. In fact, it’s almost nine points per 100 possessions worse than last season, when they were dropkicking teams to the tune of a +7.1 net rating while sharing the floor.
Blame wasn’t hard to locate. It encircled everyone and everything. Russell crawled out of the gates and was one of the worst guards in the league for the first chunk of the season, and Edwards was more slipshod than superhero while he adjusted to life as a budding superstar in year three. The overbearing presence of Gobert’s funky style and Towns’ spotty shooting and eventual injury only complicated things further.
The duo might not have been the captains of the sinking ship, but they were in the boiler room and their shovels were consistently missing the coal. Without a competent backcourt, there is no way Minnesota’s big gamble was even going to trickle into the stratosphere it needed to. The Wolves still need that aforementioned lead-guard skillset. Preferably from more than one player. And no amount of Rudy Gobert or even Karl-Anthony Towns can scratch that itch.
Then it clicked. The light went off. The bells of success starting tolling. And, unsurprisingly, the sweet scent of winning started waft along with it.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Howls and Growls to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.