One Offensive Adjustment the Timberwolves Must Make Before Opening Night

Last season, the Minnesota Timberwolves' offense was not nearly good enough. They ranked 13th in the NBA in offensive efficiency during the regular season before struggling mightily to score against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in the second round of the Playoffs.

The Timberwolves front office addressed this issue by adding LaMelo Ball, one of the best distributing point guards in the NBA, and subtracting Julius Randle who, along with Rudy Gobert, was causing spacing issues for the entire offense.

Now that the Wolves have handled their roster issues, it is now time for Timberwolves Head Coach and his changing coaching staff to make the necessary changes to the team's style of play. One adjustment the Timberwolves need to make is to lean more into the pick-and-roll.

Wolves' have clear pick-and-roll potential to explore

The Wolves' offensive style under Finch can be described as free-flowing. While they do run many play sets that are common across the NBA, the main way Minnesota tries to score is to have as much ball movement as possible, with players who can read the floor, react to what the defense is doing, and attack the weak spots on the court.

Last season, pick-and-roll was not a major part of the Timberwolves' offense. They were below average in both pick-and-roll volume and efficiency, ranking 21st in both stats according to Synergy Sports.

While it may seem as though Finch's read-and-react style would prevent the team from being an above-average screen-and-roll offense, it was not that long ago that the Wolves were one of the top pick-and-roll teams in the NBA.

Two seasons ago, when Minnesota won 56 games, their offense scored 1.006 points per pick-and-roll, the sixth-best mark in the NBA. They were also 13th in total number of screen-and-rolls run, making them above average in both efficiency and volume. The main driver of the Timberwolves' success in this area was Mike Conley.

During the 2023-24 season, Conley finished ninth in the entire NBA in pick-and-roll efficiency among players who ran three or more per game. Conley's favorite partner in that action was Gobert, as the two scored an outstanding 1.05 points per possession in the pick-and-roll that season.

With Conley moved out of his starting role last season, his chemistry with Gobert began to fizzle, as did Minnesota's pick-and-roll quality. Gobert's effectiveness saw the biggest decline as the Wolves were a below-average offense last season with Gobert as the screener.

It's no surprise that without a traditional point guard on the floor, the Wolves' offense cratered in this area. With Ball now on the roster, though, the Wolves have the ability to once again make the pick-and-roll one of their best offensive actions.

Ball was one of the better high-usage pick-and-roll ball handlers in the league last year. Ball ran a total of 11.8 screen-and-rolls per game last year for the Charlotte Hornets, good for the fourth most in the NBA. He scored .994 points per possession on those plays, which, by a wide margin, was better than anyone on the Wolves last season.

Ball and Gobert have the opportunity to rekindle the pick-and-roll chemistry that the Wolves' center had with Conley. Doing so would keep Gobert more engaged on the offensive end of the court, prevent defenses from ignoring him as an offensive option, and overall better unlock Gobert's offensive skills.

The other big man on the roster that would benefit from increased screen-and-roll volume would be Joan Beringer. With the 19-year-old Frenchman set to enter the rotation, the Timberwolves do not have a lot of frontcourt depth if Beringer struggles, which should make utilizing Beringer properly a high priority.

Beringer's defensive skills are obvious, but his offensive game can still be described as very raw. The simplest way to maximize Beringer offensively will be to use him as a screener to get him rolling downhill toward the rim, where he can utilize his combination of size, speed, and athleticism to finish lobs or draw the defense into the paint.

Ball shouldn't be the only player running pick-and-rolls as the ball handler. Anthony Edwards and, somewhat surprisingly, Terrence Shannon Jr. both had above-average numbers in screen-roll actions last year and should see more opportunities to do so again next season.

Jaden McDaniels could also be a player who can be a useful pick-and-roll player as both a ball handler and a screener. With Randle no longer in Minnesota, McDaniels is set to receive a larger share of offensive responsibilities, and the screen-and-roll game could be a way for the Wolves to turn up McDaniels' usage.

If the Timberwolves can find the right balance between pick-and-roll volume and free-flowing offense, they will continue to close the gap between them and the teams at the top of the Western Conference. If not, Minnesota will be looking at another season with a second-round-and-out ceiling.

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