The [Minnesota Timberwolves](/) were back in action against the reigning champion [New York Knicks](https://www.postingandtoasting.com/) tonight in Madison Square Garden, where the Wolves tried to show they could keep up with the team that some are even picking to repeat.
Minnesota was without two assumed rotation players for this game. Jonathan Kuminga and TJ Shannon were kept out for rest, while Enrique Freeman and Rocco Zikarsky have no disclosed tag at this point in time.
Shockingly, it was Cody Williams taking Jonathan Kuminga’s spot as a starter, who may have already turned his strong preseason into a first-man-up role right on the fringes of the rotation. Maybe the Wolves will need that more often with how many techs got thrown around in a preseason game of all things today.
While that is a fascinating choice from coach Chris Finch, there’s so much more to get to, including Finch’s own comments before the game.
Let’s get straight into it.
Before the first whistle blew or the tip was tossed, Chris Finch threw a bit of a sub to the piranhas that are Twitter discussions. In regards to the acquisition of LaMelo Ball, Finch had the following to say:
This, understandably, drew some confusion. Moodiness is built on a foundation of instability and inconsistency. Conversely, giddiness is defined by its fleeting nature. You can be consistently irritated for an 8 am lecture, but you can only be giddy for a first day of school.
Additionally, is it not a good thing to be giddy? The Wolves of yesteryear were never excited to do much of anything together; these Wolves are so excited that they get chipped on full-court inbounds passes after celebrating a teammate’s made three-pointer.
Maybe the better way to put it is that the Wolves have replaced moodiness with youth, and that youth needs to turn their exuberance into more than just a sideshow.
As much as his head coach may already be bursting a blood vessel at the techs in a preseason game, LaMelo seems to have a superpower on this team. So often, we discuss the on-court abilities of a player to improve the guys around them. Luka Dončić gets his wings paid as long as they can hit a corner three, vets get the Nikola Jokić stimulus check, and so on and so forth.
While Ball certainly does that, he also injects a joy that is truly unbelievable to experience live. And it translates to everyone on the roster.
J. Kyle Mann, a personal favorite of mine, once called this the “Prevailing Power of the Pass”
Not to spam this section with tweets and embeds, but it can be seen on every second or third pass Ball makes. Everyone loves catching them, and everyone loves trying to one-up LaMelo on the next audacious dish.
Maybe this is what Finch was talking about with giddiness, but this is certainly the good side of it. Some turnovers are worth it if the ball is moving this freely as a result.
Many have opined about Ball and his potential for injuries, but maybe this is something that can stick around even if Ball misses time. This is part of a newly established identity. The best team in Wolves’ history (in my opinion), the 2023-24 iteration truly loved playing with each other, no matter who was in the lineup.
That’s worth its weight in gold when the season hits January and February.
You have to be good before being fun is worth pursuing. The Wolves are trying to thread that needle and early returns are quite good.
When Ayo Dosumnu got his new five year/110 million dollar contract, the entire NBA world burst out with one simple opinion: overpaid.
Now, there are fans who have simply never moved on from 2016’s cap explosion and cannot conceptualize that max contracts are now 60 million and that 22 million is just about 12% of the cap, but there are also those who straight up do not think Ayo is any good.
And while I don’t agree with them, I understand that some of the analytics frame Dosumnu as simply a replacement-level player. However, value does not exist in a vacuum, and luckily for Ayo, the Wolves are in the perfect position to make his deal not only worth it, but a steal.
The great thing about Dosumnu is how he can approximate the roles and responsibilities of both LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards if they miss any time. While he can’t replace Jaden McDaniels, he can certainly soak up some of his minutes at the three.
In that way, Ayo is worth so much more to the Wolves than any other team because he is insurance for the team’s three best players.
And that means you can pay a little more for the guy that will be your backup one, two, and three.
Jaden McDaniels is primed for a breakout on this Timberwolves team, but the questions of how that breakout will look are still many and without answers. He will be peppered with on-ball reps as a creator and scorer, and will also need to hit more shots from distance if he wants to maximize the Wolves’ planned inside-out attack.
We’ve been seeing exactly that. Jaden shot 8/12 from the field and 4/5 from three tonight. Many of those shots were created off the dribble by McDaniels, largely on drive and kicks, proving their potability.
However, there are still worries for what the Wolves are asking of their seventh year forward. Mainly, the handle and the playmaking on ball is still very, very rough.
Jaden had four turnovers to just two assists, and lost his dribble a few times, giving the Knicks easy live-ball turnovers to turn into easy fastbreak chances.
While there are things to blame Jaden for, there are also even more issues with the team’s roster construction that Jaden is being asked to hold together on his own. The team has no real point of attack defender to move Jaden back into the roamer role he should be playing.
Tonight was especially bad. The Wolves put Jaden on Jalen Brunson, only to see OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges start raining in threes and drives all at once.
However, the solution to that could be in preseason’s biggest riser.
Minnesota’s next game will be their only home preseason game. They host the **Detroit Pistons** on **Wednesday, October 14th** at **7:00pm CT**. Catch the game on **DAZN-MIN**.
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