Kyle Anderson pump-faked a corner triple with 9:42 left in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ February 6 game against the Chicago Bulls. DeMar DeRozan poked the ball away from him, but Anderson recovered and euro-stepped around Torrey Craig to give himself some daylight for a quick runner. However, Andre Drummond stepped up and turned an easy shot into a contested one.
Anderson missed and fell to the ground, which opened up a 5-on-3 transition play for the Bulls, resulting in a Coby White three to pull Chicago within four after trailing by as many as 23 points. The Bulls upset Minnesota in overtime, 129-123.
That play was a microcosm of Anderson’s 2023-24 season until that point. He tallied two points on 1-of-2 from the floor with one turnover and one foul in 16 minutes. Chris Finch would have loved to get more than two points out of him, but that stat line isn’t necessarily horrible. One could look at it and conclude that Kyle didn’t get many opportunities to score. However, that eventual loss against an inferior opponent was the final game before the trade deadline and happened to be one of Anderson’s worst games in a Wolves uniform. Naturally, recency bias influenced many fans who wanted the Timberwolves to trade him.
During a season where little has gone awry, bench scoring is the overarching flaw that the one-seeded Timberwolves have aimed to correct.
Minnesota’s bench had a 52.6 offensive rating in the 51 games before the trade deadline, the fifth-worst in the NBA. It seemed likely that Tim Connelly and his staff would attempt to acquire a scorer off the bench to mask some of those issues via a trade. Online discourse grew because of Anderson’s poor offensive start to the season that came to a head against Chicago, coupled with his $9.2 expiring salary. Fans suggested that the Timberwolves should move Anderson for a scorer. However, the Wolves decided to keep him around. That turned out to be prudent. Anderson has become an offensive weapon again in the first four games following the deadline.
After surviving the deadline, Chris Hine of the Star Tribune asked Kyle about his mindset and if the looming possibility of being traded for the first time in his career impacted him.
It was said to me by my father and my agent, like, okay, you made it, now don’t think about it. I’m like, ya’ll just said the same thing, and I don’t really think about it. But I had to give it some thought, and I’m like, all right, just let all that stuff go. Maybe subconsciously, I was thinking about [being traded], but it wasn’t on the front of my mind. Wherever I go to play, I’m going to do well. It wasn’t, but maybe it was.
It’s usual for a player to be nervous leading up to the trade deadline. Star players who know their teams aren’t going to trade them are wondering if any of their teammates will be on the way out. Will the player replacing them be a fit? But it’s a much more tumultuous time for the role players. Even if they started the season playing well, they know it’s ultimately a business. Teams must part ways with talent to receive it, which occasionally means trading a good player for a better one.
For someone in Anderson’s situation, nerves are likely even higher.
He had a 106.9 offensive rating, 88th worst in the NBA, through 51 games before the trade deadline. Anderson averaged six points on 46.6% from the floor and 19.4% from deep. His inability and unwillingness to make or even attempt three-pointers had made him a poor fit as he transitioned to a new bench role.
At last year’s trade deadline, the thought of being traded probably wasn’t even floating in Kyle’s mind. He had started in 27 consecutive games leading up to the deadline – filling in for Karl-Anthony Towns after a calf injury sidelined him on November 28. During this time, Anderson blossomed into a player Finch said “saved the season.”
Looking at his play from strictly an offensive lens, it’s easy to see why Finch gave him such high praise. Kyle was shooting 43.5% from three on 1.4 attempts, 8.2 points, and four assists. He also got the most out of newcomer Rudy Gobert, which most of his teammates struggled to do nightly.
But Anderson has fallen back into a bench role this season with Towns healthy and back in the fold. SlowMo’s recipe offensive for success consists of the following: He needs the ball in his hands, floor spacers spotted up around him, and an isolation-heavy player or two sharing the floor with him. Anderson had all of those ingredients with the starting lineup last year. But he’s had trouble finding consistent success in his new role because he doesn’t have most of those ingredients.
However, something has changed for Kyle since the trade deadline passed. He’s still operating in the same bench role but has found a successful recipe.
The Wolves didn’t sign Anderson to fill up the stat sheet on offense, and looking at the postgame box scores doesn’t depict his play positively or negatively. In the four games following the trade deadline, the Timberwolves have had the NBA’s best offensive rating (128.6), 13.4 points above their season average. All four games were wins, three by 24 points or more, and all four by at least 12 points. In a surprising turn of events, SlowMo has driven much of Minnesota’s offensive success. He has recorded the second-best offensive rating (139) in the NBA over those four games.
Anderson’s shot-making is not driving offense. He shot and made only one triple and is shooting 7 of 16 from the floor in that span. Instead, it has been his decision-making of when to pass, shoot, or drive. Minnesota’s offensive coaching staff has also made effective play calls, which have unlocked confidence and more success for Anderson.
All of the things that went into SlowMo’s success last season.
Instead of pointlessly spacing in the play above, Anderson correctly fills the lane the second he realizes Amir Coffee has to step up and play help defense on Towns. From there, KAT makes the easy play and dishes inside to Kyle, who then pumps it out for a wide-open corner triple for Nickeil Alexander-Walker because the play forces James Harden to play weakside help.
The play above exemplifies what makes Anderson a plus player on offense. Good things happen when the ball flows through him and doesn’t stall out because of a poor decision to initiate a scoring opportunity that was never there.
Above is a terrific play call from Finch and his staff. The Milwaukee Bucks slipped into a 2-3 zone, which has given the Wolves issues this season. However, Minnesota uses Anderson in a rare pick-and-roll with Mike Conley. Nickeil Alexander-Walker zipped the ball to Kyle, who, as he has done all season, put a quick floater over Brook Lopez – breaking Milwaukee’s zone defense.
That was a straightforward yet incredibly beneficial play. Minnesota doesn’t often prioritize Anderson in off-ball sets. But when they do, he should always be middle-of-the-floor PnRs, especially when the opponent throws a zone coverage look at them.
Minnesota is 15-1 when Anderson tallies eight or more points and 18-4 when he dishes out five or more assists. Finding productive offense consistently has been an issue for Kyle. However, the results are evident, and the numbers show his importance to team-wide success. His defense has never wavered since signing with the Wolves, but his offense has. Since the trade deadline, he has found the recipe for success that he created last season. Anderson will prove to be invaluable in cooking up a successful postseason run.
