Can the Minneosta Timberwolves defend at high enough level?
Defense is where the Timberwolves really need to improve as a team, as they ranked 28th in the league last season in Defensive Rating and 29th in Opponent’s Points Per Game.
Finding ways to get better defensively was the main goal of this organization in the offseason, hence why they brought in Patrick Beverley and Taurean Prince, two guys are known for their hard-nosed instincts on the defensive end of the floor.
Finding ways to turn over their opponents and to turn stops into points on the other end of the court should not be that hard for the Timberwolves to do, especially if D’Angelo Russell is on the court and healthy. He is a dynamic scorer with the ball in his hands and would lead a Timberwolves team that ranked 18th in the league in scoring last season.
With D’Angelo Russell, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Anthony Edwards all on the court together, the Timberwolves have three guys who can score at will, and in 327 total minutes together last season, these three guys recorded a net rating of +4.9 according to NBA.com advanced stats. Throw in Malik Beasley being healthy and on the court for this team and all of a sudden, the Timberwolves have a team that can be competitive in the Western Conference this year.
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They are still a long way away from being a contending team in the playoffs, but winning 30-plus games this year would be a big step in the right direction for Minnesota as a franchise. Anthony Edwards is only going to get better and with Towns/Russell both healthy, there is no reason why the Timberwolves cannot assert themselves as an offensive-minded team.
Both D’Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns are All-Star-level talents and Anthony Edwards is not far behind. Last year’s No. 1 overall pick is going to be an All-Star one day and as he continues to develop into a well-rounded scorer, teams are going to begin having a hard time keeping up with the scoring numbers Minnesota can churn out on any given night.
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This “Big 3” of Russell, Edwards, and Towns is definitely not viewed highly from those around the league, but in the end, Minnesota invested resources into D’Angelo Russell for a reason. Giving up on him this soon may not be the best thing for this organization to do at this time.
