The Minnesota Timberwolves had a shaky holiday slate of games where they racked up three straight ugly losses, followed by three shaky wins. They capped it off with two hard-fought losses and a loss to the Detroit Pistons that could be considered tampering if the first-round pick from the Karl-Anthony Towns trade conveys this year.
However, the Wolves are back in the good books with three more less-than-pristine wins. They’re three games over .500, back up to seventh in the congested West, and 1.5 games away from hosting a first-round playoff series. Anthony Edwards is back to dunking on fools and playing All-NBA level basketball. Donte DiVincenzo is heating up after a slow start. Rudy Gobert has the defense back at a championship level.
Still, one thing keeps the Wolves from leveling back up into contention.
No matter what Chris Finch does, the offense still sucks.
Last year’s squad that went to the Western Conference Finals with the 17th-best offense in the NBA looked like the 73-win Golden State Warriors compared to this year’s unit. The Wolves are 21st in offensive efficiency this season and only up to 17th since Christmas despite a 6-3 record. Minnesota averages 3.6 fewer points per 100 possessions than they did last season. They make 2.5 more three-pointers per game on a similar shooting percentage than last season.
The Wolves average nearly the same amount of possessions this season as last year. Their two-point attempts and field goal percentage have dropped considerably since losing one of the best offensive seven-footers the game has ever produced in Towns.
However, there’s one sneaky reason the offense is perpetually stuck in the mud.
The Timberwolves don’t shoot free throws.
Last season, the Timberwolves attempted 22.9 free throws per game, the eighth-most in the NBA. However, they’re down to 20.1 attempts this year, 25th in the NBA, and the 19th-best free-throw rate in the league.
Edwards’ free throw rate is the worst of his five-year career, and he’s attempting the fewest foul shots since his rookie season. Julius Randle’s rate is up slightly, but his gross attempts have been down since his New York days. For all the hate he receives, opposing players aren’t trying to rip Rudy Gobert’s arms off every time he goes up for a dunk. Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, Mike Conley, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker all attempt so few free throws that it’s hardly noticed game to game.
Edwards is 42nd in the NBA in free throw attempts per game this year after he shot 6.4 freebies a game last year, 17th most in the league. Whether it’s a clogged lane, more emphasis on shooting threes at volume, or lack of a superstar whistle, Edwards’ lack of free throws has always been a weird quirk as he has the build, force, athleticism, and mentality to be a free throw merchant. Other superstar guards like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Ja Morant, James Harden, and Damian Lillard have figured out how to get to the hoop and get rewarded for their troubles. Edwards regaining his swagger around the rim could add a few extra points to Minnesota’s box score each game.
The one thing worse than not scoring literal free points by making your opponent foul you is missing your free throws when you get to the line.
The 2025 Timberwolves are every middle school coach’s worst nightmare. The few times the Timberwolves earn a trip to the free-throw line, they rarely come away with the maximum points. The Wolves are 12th in free throw percentage throughout the season but have dropped to 19th since Christmas. They started 2-8 from the line in Thursday’s victory over the short-handed Magic and finished 24-31.
The Timberwolves were 13-19 from the line on Tuesday against the New Orleans Pelicans and 10-17 in a tightly-contested win over the LA Clippers. Without KAT’s career 83.8 free throw percentage, the Timberwolves are shaky at best in big moments that come down to cool heads and solid free throw shooting. The Wolves make 15.8 free throws a game, which is 22nd in the NBA and two fewer than last year’s team.
The offense will be hard to fix. Finch relies on a freelance-heavy system, and the Wolves haven’t shown the ability to score out of structure for more than two years since Rudy Gobert arrived in 2022. The points in the paint are few and far between.
Minnesota’s turnovers are always going to be an issue. And the hole that the greatest shooting big man of all time left in the franchise is nearly impossible to fill. But if the Wolves want to figure out one way to manufacture easy, some might call them free points, they’ll attack the paint and figure out how to get to the free throw line, and hopefully make a few more of them every game.
