LaMelo Ball
Minnesota Timberwolves guard LaMelo Ball (1) tries to steal the ball from Indiana Pacers guard Quenton Jackson during the second half of a preseason NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
LaMelo Ball was greeted with a message from the coaching staff upon his arrival in Minnesota.
“’Hey man, we play D around here,’” Wolves defensive coordinator Elston Turner recalled. “We let him know.”
Turner and Co. have been quite pleased with the point guard’s efforts on that end of the floor throughout camp. The Wolves see Ball’s length as a major potential asset on that end of the floor.
Elston Turner
Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Elston Turner confers with guard Anthony Edwards in the first half in Game 1 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
But the point was clear: Defense is not optional in this organization.
It has been that way throughout Turner’s tenure.
Minnesota finished 28th – third to last – in defensive rating in the 2020-21 season. The Wolves brought on Turner to run the defense in the ensuing offseason. Since then, their defensive ranks by season are as follows:
2021-22: 13th
2022-23: 10th
2023-24: 1st
2024-25: 6th
2025-26: 8th
“It’s starting to be a little bit of our tradition, our culture,” Turner said. “That’s what we do.”
It hasn’t formed by accident. The Timberwolves are intentional with their commitment to that end of the floor.
Turner credits Wolves head coach Chris Finch for prioritizing and emphasizing defense, noting it gets equal attention to the offense in practice and coaches’ meetings. Which isn’t as common as you’d think.
Turner wouldn’t name names but noted he has been with teams that would only carve out 15 to 20 minutes for defense, with the other 80% of practice dedicated to finding ways to score.
“But here, it’s 50-50,” Turner said. “We pay attention to it, we work at it, and we kind of demand it.”
Wolves star guard Anthony Edwards said Minnesota can be a defensive “super team” this season. That public sees the opposite.
“If you hear the outsiders, even today for this season, it’s, ‘Oh, you guys are going to run people off the court. You’re going to score,’ ” Turner said. “Nobody is talking about, ‘You’re going to be good defensively.’”
Not that he has heard the defense will be bad, but he has caught wind of the concerns regarding Minnesota’s general lack of size after dealing away Naz Reid and Julius Randle. Minnesota doesn’t tout a traditional power forward. Ball’s defensive reputation isn’t sterling.
Turner fully recognizes Minnesota’s abundance of offensive talent. But go ahead and bet against the Wolves’ defense. It makes him smirk. This is the same staff that concocted a scheme to produce a top-13 defense out of a Karl-Anthony Towns-Jarred Vanderbilt frontcourt with D’Angelo Russell at point guard.
“That’s coaching, man. You’ve got to make the pieces work and do what you can,” Turner said. “Every player in this league has a weakness. And it’s up to us to try to hide it and allow them to play toward their strength. We’ve got a good group of coaches that can mostly get that done – try to hide players weaknesses and accentuate what they do well.”
This season, Minnesota figures to compensate for its lack of size with its length and increased activity.
“Multiple efforts and helping each other and flying around,” Turner said. “One of our mottos is every possession is a five-player possession. You have somewhere to be and something to do, every time. And that’s the way we play, man. Five people flying around is what we call it.”
That sounds a lot like what Minnesota deployed during the 2021-22 campaign, only now with an anchor at the back end of the chaos in Rudy Gobert.
“Just like that,” Turner said.
It’s a scheme that requires a lot of effort and buy in. Turner credits the players, calling them “good guys” who take instruction “really well.”
The Wolves’ coaching staff is adept at picking and choosing its spots to dig in and harp on certain issues throughout the season. Criticisms are frequently met with an appropriate response.
“You can coach them easy, you can coach them hard, you can get on them and they’ll look you in the eyes like, ‘I got you, Coach,’ ” Turner said. “Everybody wants to win, and every player has, in their minds, a different version of the pathway in their mind to get it done. It might not be the same as ours. Our job is to bring it in line to what we want.”
Which is a stout defensive identity. The work to create that has gotten easier in recent years, with the foundation already laid.
“It feeds itself,” Turner said. “Some of the guys like a Jaden, Ant, they make (others) buy in. You look over there and they’re doing certain things, you feel left out sitting here doing nothing. So you get in there and stick your nose in there.”
It’s what’s required to be great on that end of the floor.
“Being tough, playing hard, sacrificing your body and all this stuff, a lot of players don’t do that,” Turner said. “Not my guys now, but a lot of players, generally, don’t want to dive on the floor. They don’t want to stick their nose in where they might get a busted lip. There’s a toughness. There’s no pads out here, man. You’ve got to be tough. With defense, you can see who is and who is not ready to be a champion.”
As for this collection?
“I’m excited,” Turner said. “Excited for the season.”