Try not to let the dunk distract you, as hard as that may be.
When Anthony Edwards took flight in the second quarter in Chicago, glided through the same air that you know who once did and threw down a vicious right-handed hammer, it was a thing of beauty. Even watching on television, the gasp in the Bulls crowd was palpable. As cool as it was, you’ve seen that before from Edwards. You knew he had it in him.
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What you didn’t know, what nobody knew, happened just a few possessions earlier in the quarter during the Minnesota Timberwolves’ preseason finale against the Bulls. Guarded by Alex Caruso, who is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, Edwards came off of a screen set by Rudy Gobert, who slipped to the rim. With Bulls big Nikola Vučević staying up on the pick-and-roll, Edwards drifted to his right rather than turning the corner. And then it happened.
Edwards lofted an over-the-shoulder lob that found Gobert right at the rim for a dunk. Gobert went up and over a helpless Coby White for the score and the foul, then flexed after completing the play.
C'MON NOW pic.twitter.com/7PgjddAl3D
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) October 20, 2023
The celebration was worth it. One of the fastest ways for the Timberwolves to graduate from scrappy Play-In champs to real threat in the Western Conference is for Edwards and Gobert to form some kind of synergy on the pick-and-roll. It was never there last season, and Edwards readily admitted that he shared the blame for it.
“I’ve got to get a connection with pick-and-rolls and just throwing lobs to him,” Edwards said at media day last month. “But I think after that we’re going to take off.”
Never in his basketball life had Edwards played with a lob threat like Gobert. As much skill and athleticism as he had put on display in his first three seasons, throwing that particular pass was not on that list. He had no feel for the touch to put on it, no sense for the timing that is so critical to that play’s success. As a result, he rarely did it.
The absence of that weapon made it very difficult for the Timberwolves to come close to getting the offensive effectiveness from Gobert that he had shown with the Utah Jazz. They paid a premium to land Gobert primarily for his defense and rebounding. But Gobert posted elite efficiency numbers on offense in Utah, and the rest of the Jazz benefited from his gravity.
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Opponents did not have to worry about that threat when guarding the Timberwolves last season, and it made them so much easier to attack. When the ball was in Edwards’ hands last season, which was a lot, the lob to their big man was essentially off the table.
One of the biggest priorities of the preseason and training camp has been getting Edwards more comfortable with throwing that pass. Even the simplest version of it looked hard for him last season. The one he connected with Gobert on in Thursday night’s game was not only a high degree of difficulty, but it didn’t look like a fluke. Edwards knew he wanted to throw the pass and knew exactly where he wanted to put it, then executed it.
At the outset of training camp, Gobert expressed confidence that the pairing would synchronize with more time together. Reps in practice, playing together in games to hone their communication, Gobert expects it all to be better in Year 2.
“I think we figured out some things last year, especially in the playoffs,” Gobert said. “We still have a lot of things to figure out, but those things are going to take care of themselves. Hopefully, we can stay healthy, and every day’s going to be a cool opportunity to win and also to get better together.”
This was just a preseason game. It was just one pass. If Edwards and Gobert can replicate it, the Wolves suddenly become a lot more dangerous. But they are going to have to do it a lot more than just one time in a meaningless preseason game before opponents start to respect it.
Edwards played 20 minutes in the first half in the 114-105 victory that pushed the Timberwolves to 5-0 in the preseason. He scored 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting with five rebounds and four turnovers. Gobert had 10 points, six rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes.
The only other time the Wolves went undefeated in the preseason was 2011 when they went 2-0. They looked through these five games like a deeper, more focused team than they were last season. But it’s still just the preseason. The Wolves will have to do it when the lights come on.
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Here are some other thoughts as the preseason wraps-up, and we turn our attention to the opener in Toronto on Oct. 25.
Health report
Karl-Anthony Towns, Mike Conley and Jaden McDaniels all sat out on Thursday night against the Bulls. Conley was out with an illness, so there is no reason for concern about him heading into next week.
Coach Chris Finch told radio play-by-play man Alan Horton before the game that Towns was out because of his right knee. For a player who missed 52 games last season because of a calf injury, anytime KAT comes up with a malady, it is cause for inquiry. At this point, all indications behind the scenes are that Towns was just having a little soreness and the team decided to sit him out purely as a precaution. The team now has five days before the opener, and there is no reason to believe right now that Towns is in jeopardy of missing it.
McDaniels is a little harder to gauge. He only played in the first preseason game in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and missed the final four with a calf injury. We reported last week that McDaniels and the team see the injury as relatively minor, and he would be re-evaluated in the run-up to the opener next week. He has been working out but has yet to practice with the team since he was injured.
McDaniels’ absence has led to some speculation that it could be related to his contract situation. His agents are negotiating with the Timberwolves right now on a potential contract extension but have yet to reach an agreement. Minnesota sports fans watched Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson sit out training camp until he got a new deal. But McDaniels’ injury appears to be legitimate, and given the Wolves’ recent history with calf strains, erring on the side of caution would be understandable.
Bolstered bench
Towns looked sharp in his preseason action. Edwards looks as ready for a breakout season as anyone could have hoped. Naz Reid looks very comfortable in shifting from center to power forward. Those were all very promising signs for this Timberwolves season that is about to begin. But one of the most glaring differences between this roster and last season’s is the look of the second unit.
Last season, the Wolves struggled to find scoring punch off the bench in the backcourt. Jaylen Nowell was supposed to be the offensive spark plug, but he never panned out. Jordan McLaughlin missed time with a calf injury and never was the same when he came back. Bryn Forbes couldn’t hit a shot. Austin Rivers played hard but had limitations. Taurean Prince played well but left in free agency for the Los Angeles Lakers.
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“We did miss it last year,” Finch said. “We had it here and there, but not consistently.”
President of basketball operations Tim Connelly added Shake Milton and Troy Brown Jr., and both have fit in very well in the early going. Milton started at point guard on Thursday night for Conley, and it was the most ordinary he has looked all preseason. His 6-foot-6 size, reliable shooting and unexpected playmaking have been impressive.
Brown was 4 of 5 from 3-point range with three rebounds and solid defense against the Bulls. He looks like a reasonable Prince facsimile, but where Prince was one of the most important bench players on the team, Brown might be the 10th or 11th man in the rotation right now depending on the night.
With Towns back, Kyle Anderson is now a full-time bench player, which will keep that second unit humming. Reid changes the energy in the arena when he comes into the game, Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s shot looks to be locked in and McLaughlin, who had 11 points, four assists and went 3 of 4 from deep against the Bulls, appears to be back to his jitterbug self.
One of the most interesting aspects of Minnesota’s win over Israel’s Maccabi Ra’anana on Tuesday night was that McLaughlin did not play at all. Finch used the game to play all of the players out of the rotation. With Conley, Edwards, Milton, Alexander-Walker and Anderson, Finch has plenty of options to initiate the offense, making it hard to see how McLaughlin would get playing time. But at his best, he is a disruptive and heady player, and he is finding a way to make an impact, giving Finch another option that he may not have initially thought he had.
“He’s playing at a super high level,” Finch said last week. “He’s lost some weight, his body fat is down, he’s come into camp in great shape. He’s always been a catalyst for that second unit when he’s healthy, playing at a high level.”
The difference was evident on Thursday night. The Wolves led 52-51 at halftime with starters for both teams playing big minutes. Finch began the third quarter with Milton, Alexander-Walker, Anderson, Brown and Reid, an all-bench lineup against a Bulls team that was still using prominent starters DeMar DeRozan and Vučević. The Wolves extended the lead to 66-56 and never looked back.
(Photo of Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert: David Berding / Getty Images)
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