Opportunity is one of the most significant factors in player development. Players often haven’t reached their full potential because they just could not find the optimal minutes within their team’s roster to succeed. How many minutes a player needs to be successful depends on whether they’re a rookie or a veteran. Teams will mold and develop players as they continue their journey. But they can still fall short if they don’t have opportunities to see the court for enough time.
The NBA season is chaotic, filled with back-to-backs, injuries, and tight seeding. The next man up motto has never been more prevalent. On the surface, it’s about trying to replace others within the rotation. But it’s also about figuring out how to stay afloat as a team.
When Karl-Anthony Towns tore his meniscus, the team lost a star and one of the most vital players in its offensive schematics and rotations.
KAT’s shooting sets up much of Minnesota’s offense. The Wolves often use him as a screener in traditional PnR possessions, and their horns flair looks that they love. Towns forces the defense to adjust to his shooting gravity from three through different actions. However, he can also sometimes operate as a post-up option and elbow touch hub to keep the offense flowing. Towns can affect defenses no matter where he is on the floor.
The Minnesota Timberwolves will miss Towns’ 22.1 points per game and 32.8 minutes, though. Therefore, other players must adjust in his absence.
It starts with Anthony Edwards. Opponents’ defenses will do their best to load up on his drives and make him as uncomfortable as possible, which means the Wolves must adjust. In the second game after KAT’s injury, you could see Chris Finch call for different actions to give Ant more opportunity, like using him as a screener against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
While Edwards wasn’t at his best against Cleveland, we saw Ant step into multiple play types within a role he doesn’t often see. Using Edwards this way could unlock further usage and more scheme versatility because adversity can catalyze change. We start to see more creativity within the offense as they find what works.
Ant faced a lot of ball pressure before KAT’s injury, and he’ll face even more now. Players like Jaden McDaniels, usually assigned to a corner shooter role, must put the ball on the deck more often and attempt to create. McDaniels has been inconsistent as a creator throughout his career, showing flashes but little consistency. But KAT’s injury will force him to drive offense because the Timberwolves collectively must match the scoring Towns left behind.
McDaniels has been looking to get to the rim off the dribble all season, but he hasn’t been a consistent scorer. His strength remains an issue, which forces him into a lot of dribble pull-up close range jump shots instead of shots at the rim. It also limits how far McDaniels can penetrate the defense with his live dribble. His matchup will often push him aside, or a help-side defender pokes the ball away. It makes it much more difficult to find open shots or even get them up if a player cannot get to his spots off the dribble, limiting any rhythm.
With only 25 games remaining in the season, Jaden still has the opportunity to harness his on-ball skills despite his cold streak. KAT’s injury has already forced him into uncomfortable spots, and he’s turned into a decision-maker on offense more frequently than usual. But this could all be the push needed to get back on track for the final stretch.
The Wolves have also given Nickeil Alexander-Walker more offensive duties. NAW already has many secondary ball-handler possessions. He’s gotten plenty of spot-up looks from three or distributing to other teammates throughout the year, but his role only increases with Towns out.
Alexander-Walker has delivered, showcasing it in one of his best games with the Wolves. On Tuesday, he scored 28 points on a true shooting of 110.8% against the Los Angeles Clippers. It was his highest single-game scoring output in Minnesota and an argument for more minutes as the regular season comes to a close.
Naz Reid has a similar role to NAW. However, Reid has inherent value as a three-point shooter, so filling the void that KAT left wasn’t difficult. He was already involved with much of it systematically, helping ease the transition, like the added pressure to match or exceed the three-point volume numbers and drives KAT left behind.
Naz’s role hasn’t changed much; he just has more freedom to touch and take his own shots. The added push to become more of a creator on offense will only benefit Minnesota’s lineups.
All of these players could sway a playoff series. In past years, we have seen that teams’ role players can play some of their best ball at the perfect time and propel them through the chaos of the playoffs.
That’s even more vital to the Timberwolves because they still have to clear KAT for play and try to get him back as soon as possible. KAT’s earliest return will be in four weeks. Therefore, he won’t have much time to prepare for the playoffs.
Suppose McDaniels, Alexander-Walker, and Reid’s core role players can make a significant impact during the time Edwards, Towns, and Rudy Gobert spend on the bench. Then, the Wolves will be able to stay in games where the stars may be struggling. It never hurts to have depth as insurance during the games that matter most.
