Timberwolves’ Not-So-Secret Weapon Is Already on Full Display

The Minnesota Timberwolves' first preseason game went well. The modified starting unit played cohesively, the young players got to showcase their skills, most notably Joan Beringer, and, in general, the performance of each player individually graded out well.

Among the game's standout storylines was the Wolves' willingness to play with a high amount of pace on offense. The Timberwolves pushed the pace at every opportunity presented to them, doing so after both defensive rebounds and forced turnovers.

The result was that Minnesota generated a large amount of easy offense, including a high number of free throws and a series of alley-oop dunks.

At Media Day and training camp, the Timberwolves have talked a lot about pace and pushing the ball in transition

Through one preseason game, their actions met their words as they had 15 first-half fast break points as they looked like Lob City 2.0 pic.twitter.com/pzifoE6c0r
— Ryan Eichten (@REichten) October 6, 2026

Every team at this point of the NBA calendar talks about wanting to increase their number of transition opportunities, but at least through a single preseason game, the Wolves seem committed to making that part of their offensive identity.

Timberwolves are embracing transition game to very promising results

Given the changes to the Timberwolves roster and starting lineup, there are many reasons why it makes sense that pushing the pace on offense would be a point of emphasis for the team.

The first is the addition of LaMelo Ball. Ball was outstanding Monday night against the Bucks. He was in complete control of the offensive side of the floor as he created multiple open shots for teammates while knocking down his own shots within the natural flow of the offense.

Ball has the ability to be the floor general of the team's half-court offense while also orchestrating the team's transition attack. Last season, the Wolves saw how Ayo Dosunmu and Bones Hyland could increase the team's overall pace, and now Ball can have a similar effect this season.

"The more we play, the easier and easier it's going to get." Ball said after the game against the Bucks. "That being the first game and just the little practices we got under out belt, I think it was solid."

The other advantage of Minnesota playing with more pace is that the current standing frontcourt pairing of Jonathan Kuminga and Rudy Gobert present some spacing issue for the Wolves' offense in the halfcourt.

The more the Timberwolves can get out and run on offense, the less they have to worry about one or both of Kuminga or Gobert clogging up the paint for Minnesota's guards and wings. The Wolves have athletes all over the court, so it is in the best interest of largely the entire roster to get out and run.

Kuminga, especially, can be a weapon in transition, as showcased in the Wolves' first game against the Bucks. Across 14 minutes, Kuminga ended up with eight points, half of which were generated on transition possessions. Gobert himself ended up with a pair of lob dunks in the game.

The Timberwolves ended up with five alley-oop dunks in the game. Their highest total in any game last season was only four, as noted by Wolves TV and radio play-by-play man Alan Horton.

"Yeah, we saw a lot of that," Chris Finch said of the amount of hit-ahead passes made by his team. "Saw some long passes, saw some cheap buckets on the other end as a result, and saw some guys getting behind each other in transition."

The idea is that the increase in offensive pace and transition frequency can become the identity of this transformed Timberwolves team. One player who is sold on the concept is the Wolves' superstar, Anthony Edwards.

"I just want us to keep playing fast," Edwards said. "People think we’re playing fast right now, but it’s going to be even faster once we get in our game shape, so it’s gonna get better and better."

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