Timberwolves

The Wolves May Need To Reel Nowell In A Bit

Photo Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

One of my strongest beliefs over the off-season was that Jaylen Nowell would play a huge role in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ season. He even looked like a sneaky Sixth Man of the Year candidate. Nearly halfway through the season, it’s become clear that Nowell isn’t a 6MOTY player. But he still has value for the Wolves.

Cold streaks happen to every player, but they’re especially prominent when Nowell is on one. Nowell is as much a “pure scorer” as you can find in the league. Since Nowell doesn’t do much outside of scoring, his lack of supplementary skills highlight all of Nowell’s misses.

Over his last five games, Nowell has shot just 36% from the field while shooting 28.6% from three. The counting stats tell us that Nowell is on a cold streak. Still, his volume of shots provides context on how detrimental Nowell’s inefficiency can be at times like these. While the Wolves remain desperate for offensive production, especially from beyond the arc, Nowell has been disappointing recently. For example, Nowell attempted 17 shots and only made six against the Boston Celtics on December 23rd.

As a coach, it’s important to stick with your guys through cold streaks, especially when they’re one of your best bench scorers. But Chris Finch may need to reel Nowell in a bit. If Finch makes Nowell earn his minutes, he may become more impactful after his slump.

Like D’Angelo Russell, Nowell can win games with his shot-making ability. But similarly, both players can lose games, too. That quality kept Nowell out of the rotation for a long time. However, when Finch eventually gave Jaylen opportunities two years ago, he showed flashes but was ultimately inefficient.

The Wolves drafted Nowell in the second round of the 2019 draft, and it took two years for him to break into the Wolves rotation. He didn’t play meaningful minutes until his third year. It wasn’t until he improved his shot selection that Nowell broke through. Although Nowell’s talent is clear, he’s fallen back into some of the habits that kept him out of the rotation. Nowell often takes errant shots that can kill momentum in a game. For a Wolves team that has already struggled to close out games, they cannot afford any errant momentum swings.

Shots like this one from Wednesday’s night loss versus the New Orleans Pelicans go a long way in a two-point game.

Finch must decide when playing time turns from shooting out of a slump to reinforcing bad habits. He can’t just pull Nowell from the rotation, especially considering Minnesota’s injury woes. But Finch has to reduce Nowell’s minutes when he is playing poorly.

Although I don’t always agree with Charles Barkley’s analysis on Inside the NBA, last year, he mentioned how “anybody on that team (the Wolves) got the green light.” The rest of his rant isn’t logical, but he has a point considering Minnesota’s offensive scheme. Finch often allows plays to develop by themselves and lets his players play. While that method is usually effective, there’s a time and a place for hands-on coaching. Letting a slumping shooter shoot 16% from three and leaving him in the game to close it out in the fourth is not the time or place for player freedom.

Finch let Malik Beasley shoot out of his slump for what felt like the entire first half of the season last year. Although it worked out in the end, it cost the Timberwolves games early on. Minnesota is out of a play-in spot and is about to face the toughest stretch of the season. Now is not the time to let shooters shoot out of a slump.

Like anything this year, Finch must consider how Nowell’s play affects Rudy Gobert. Gobert has been scapegoated for a lot of problems this year. But fans knew coming in that if the Wolves surrounded Gobert with poor perimeter defenders, he would struggle. This was the story in his final years in a Utah Jazz uniform and is the case now.

Nowell is one of the worst perimeter defenders on the team. So the more minutes he plays, the more it will affect Gobert. Nowell has been averaging around 23 minutes in his last ten games. In those games, Nowell has been a minus-13. If Nowell can’t score efficiently, his minutes should be dispersed to other players. Finch should look to keep Nowell around 15-18 minutes a game.

Wendell Moore Jr. would be a perfect candidate for those minutes. The rookie out of Duke has gotten a little bit more playing time than probably expected, but he’s shined in his limited role. He did a fine job guarding Ja Morant in his first career start. Anyone that can do even an average job defending Ja is an above-average perimeter defender.

Austin Rivers has also played well enough to deserve a bump in minutes. Rivers and Wendell are good enough perimeter defenders to take the stress off Gobert.

Nowell has been a great flamethrower for the Wolves. But when he runs out of gas, it can bring the offense to a standstill. If Finch can handle the situation well, Nowell can be back up to 20 minutes a night player scoring efficiently. Minnesota desperately needs Nowell to be efficient down the stretch to the All-Star break. Until he does, though, Finch needs to adapt his coaching style to reel Nowell in.

Timberwolves
Jordan McLaughlin’s Adaptability Remains Invaluable For the Wolves
By Jonah Maves - Mar 28, 2024
Timberwolves
Draymond Green’s Antics Are Beneath the Wolves
By Andrew Dukowitz - Mar 27, 2024
Timberwolves

The Wolves Unlocked Something By Starting Naz Reid

Photo Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

Naz Reid. Those two words were the only thing you could see or hear inside Target Center on Friday after in-arena host Jon Berry instructed the sold-out […]

Continue Reading