The course for the Timberwolves‘ season was set by a strategic decision coach Chris Finch made shortly before opening night, Chris Hine of The Minnesota Star Tribune writes in a subscriber-only piece. Finch replaced veteran point guard Mike Conley in the starting lineup with Donte DiVincenzo, making Anthony Edwards the team’s primary ball-handler. Although he believed in the move at the time, Finch referred to it at Saturday’s end-of-season press conference as an “original sin” that the team could never overcome.
“Flipping Ant to the point guard spot just on the eve of the season, it certainly helped with Donte,” Finch said. “But it probably didn’t put everybody in the best position there, Ant included.”
Hine states that the adjustment wound up affecting the team on and off the court. Conley posted the worst season of his career before being traded in February and ultimately re-signed; Edwards’ pairing with Julius Randle never became as smooth as the organization had hoped; and Edwards’ increased play-making responsibilities seemed to impact his defense.
The lack of an experienced point guard to make sure everyone felt like they were contributing to the offense created a “moodiness” that several players referenced during their exit interviews. Hine cites a “detrimental impact” if certain players weren’t getting the shots they expected, even when the team was winning.
Sources told Hine that it didn’t take much for players to get into a “funk” and affect the team’s overall performance. Finch points to better “connectivity” as one of the themes for the offseason, and Naz Reid notes that the West’s top two teams, the Thunder and Spurs, seem to be on the same page more than the Wolves are.
“Being consistent, not moody, and having that competitive edge we had last year and the year before,” Reid told reporters. “… You can’t get anywhere if you’re fighting yourself, so I think that’ll help for sure.”
There’s more from Minnesota:
- The Wolves are expected to explore major changes this offseason, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. He notes that president of basketball operations Tim Connelly opted to keep the core of the team together after losing in the conference finals last year but is expected to aggressively seek trades this summer. Minnesota was among the teams that contacted the Bucks about Giannis Antetokounmpo before the deadline, and that pursuit will likely resume over the next few weeks. Krawczynski reports that talks with Milwaukee seemed to affect the locker room, particularly Randle, who was rumored to be headed out in a potential deal.
- Krawczynski expects changes to focus on the frontline, where Rudy Gobert ($36.5MM), Randle ($33MM) and Reid ($23.3MM) will combine to make nearly $95MM next season. Center Joan Beringer showed promise as a rookie, and the Wolves will want to give him more playing time in his second year.
- Reid was playing with a lingering shoulder injury he experienced around the All-Star break, Hine tweets. “There were times I couldn’t even shoot the ball, for real,” he said.
- Re-signing Ayo Dosunmu, who was acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline, should be an offseason priority, states Bobby Marks of ESPN. The Wolves hold Bird rights on Dosunmu, who will be eligible for to sign a three-year, $52.4MM extension until June 30. Marks points out that the team would have to unload at least $58.5MM in salary to be able to re-sign Dosunmu to a deal in that range without triggering a second apron hard cap.
- Edwards is also extension-eligible this summer, Marks adds, but only at $121.6MM over two seasons. He’s likely to wait a year and could be in line for $300MM over four seasons in 2027 if he earns a spot on the All-NBA team.
Ant needs to go ahead & force his way back home this summer. Minnesota not gonna climb the mountain that is OKC/SAS anytime soon.
Nickeil A-W, Zacch Risacher, Kispert & 3 1sts would set the Timberwolves up nicely to continue to compete now, they save a lot of $ & they get a bunch of picks to reload with in the future
Not a chance, Sank. You reload to get a guy like Ant in his prime. That package with 8 1sts isn’t enough for me.
It seems like ant likes it here. At least he says the right things, and he’s a real dude so I trust him. Already on the average local hockey fan’s MN Mt. Rushmore. Please stay forever ant
He might like Minnesota but he definitely loves Atlanta & I think it’s just a matter of time before he pushes to be here. You should trust what he told Jalen Johnson at the all-star break, “I can’t wait to come home”. I understand from the Wolves fan’s pov you want him to stay forever but you have to admit there’s def a real chance of him asking out. We’ve seen Marbury, KLove & JButler do this already. It’s hard to think of any current or former NBA player that identifies as closely to the city they were raised in than Ant. He takes extreme pride in being from Atl & hasn’t been shy about his desire to eventually play here.
“Trust what he told Jalen Johnson”. Why? There was no context to the quote at all.
Fans are too much sometimes.
That deal ain’t anywhere close to landing Ant. Only way ATL could land Ant is to complete gut their roster to the point that he’d be in a worse position to compete than he is currently in MN.
I feel like Skylander & Midrange are definitely the same person
Skylander is more of a three point shooter
I see it too I mean it’s not too hard , he speaks it out loud and he wears his Atl hat to the presser where Minny was just eliminated
It won’t be for another year tho , at that point AE will have 2 years left and can say trade me now or I just wait it out and walk into Atls cap room and you get nothing – With an aging Rudy and Randle on there last year at that point Minny will be over a barrell and probably have to comply
Atl should only prioritize 1-2 year deals in the meantime
Anthony Edwards thinks he’s that guy but he’s not.
No Randle has ALWAYS thought he’s that guy and he’s DEFINITELY NOT. One of the biggest slugs in the league, Always has been.
Randle is the guy in 2k online who does dribble moves for 10 seconds then shoots his 7th missed three in a row.
Darren, tell me you don’t watch Ant play without telling me you don’t watch him play…
The original sin may have been making Ant the point guard but Finch just compounded by saying Edwards couldn’t handle the job. I’m usually a fan of Finch but you shouldn’t put Ant under the bus. Out the options Finch had he was the best choice. He’s the most talented player on the team. It’s not Ant’s fault that Tim Connelly didn’t provide a better option.
If Celtics are considering breaking up the Brown Tatum duo
Naz Reid and Randle match Browns salary
Feel like this trade helps both teams though picks will be involved
Brown gives Anthony a better partner
Randle and Reid fill the front court for Boston at PF C
I could be wrong, but Randle doesn’t feel like a Brad Stevens type player.
So reroute him to a 3rd team or trade him after acquiring him
You don’t have to keep him
Iam amazed at how everyone has Jaylen Brown traded. The Celtics are not going to trade Brown after the season he had. If Tatum played Game 7 the Celtics win. Hauser is the Trade. White maybe. Celt7cs will have salary to sign a good ring chaser and a big.
Randle has got to go.
Wolves pretty much have to get it right this summer or it looks like the “window” will be gone with this batch and Ant will ask to leave. Please don’t get any of the old aged stars as they aren’t the answer. Trade anyone who doesn’t play defense and trade Rudy and get what you can get and go young with Ant as the leader. Get guys who love to play and compete. San Antonio has a bunch of young guys to support Wemby. Don’t need guys with experience in playoffs if most of that experience is losing.
Don’t totally just blame the players. Take a look at the team’s performance as compared to the performance of their opponents in Quarter #1 and Especially in Quarter #3. The flat performance of the team, may fall to the players lack of shooting and defense BUT the many instances in which the team is outscored in Quarter #3 points to the inability of the Coaching Staff to make adjustments or the failure to make the right kind of adjustments based upon the team’s performance in the first half. Acquiring another “big” name would not seem to be the solution as they were previously unsuccessful in their attempts to build around KAT; so much so that after many misfires they finally realized the problem was KAT. Selling the farm to bring on Gobert has been a failure as well and is only getting to be more of a bad move as Gobert ages while depriving the team the financial flexibility that is brought about by having draft capital. Time to clear some of the old baggage on the roster that has failed miserably to “Git Her Done” in the regular and post season (3 years with an embarrassment of a team performance in the final playoff game) and get younger, but with the RIGHT younger players.