Rudy Gobert may end up being the biggest variable in what the Timberwolves can become on offense.
That sounds strange on its face, considering Gobert’s reputation has been built on the other end. He’s an all-time great defender.
But the offense tells a different story. Minnesota has routinely been worse with him on the floor, and last season that gap was 8.4 points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass.
His shaky hands and narrow offensive skill set have made it easy for defenses to ignore him and load up on Anthony Edwards.
Now LaMelo Ball enters the picture, and that changes the conversation. The Timberwolves have enough talent to score at a high level either way - Ball, Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and Jonathan Kuminga give them plenty to work with - but Gobert is the piece that could decide whether this group merely functions or really takes off.
The key isn’t whether Gobert suddenly becomes a shooter or starts creating his own offense. That’s not the point. The real question is simpler: can he become a lob threat defenses have to respect, and teammates actually trust?
That trust piece matters. When a player is constantly available but rarely used, it usually says something about both the player and the way defenses see him. If that dynamic sticks, opponents will keep finding the same route to slowing Minnesota down: crowd the perimeter guys and live with Gobert being ignored.
Ball, though, is built for this kind of job. He’s one of the league’s best playmakers, and he’s already had experience with bigs in a similar mold. A younger Mike Conley helped Gobert a few years ago, and Ball could push that relationship even further.
Of course, chemistry won’t appear overnight. If Gobert coughs up catchable passes from Ball, does Ball keep going back to him or start looking elsewhere? That early trust could determine how involved Gobert really is.
The Timberwolves’ dilemma is obvious: they need Gobert on the court to keep the defense at a high level, but they still have to find out whether they can be truly great offensively with him out there. That’s the paradox.
There are reasons for optimism. Databallr says Moussa Diabate shot 8.1 percent higher with Ball on the court, a sign that Ball can elevate the efficiency of bigs who live off his passing.
And Gobert’s finishing is already elite - he led the league in field goal percentage last season. The concern is getting him the ball cleanly.
Once he has it near the rim, the results are usually there.
If Ball can make that connection work, Minnesota could roll out five legitimate offensive threats in the starting lineup. Gobert would be a different kind of threat than the others, but a threat all the same as a rim runner and finisher.
That’s where the upside gets scary for opposing defenses. Ant and LaMelo would already be a problem as a dynamic backcourt. Add McDaniels and Kuminga as creators or finishers, and Ayo Dosunmu as another dependable option on some nights, and the Wolves could force defenses into impossible choices.
But the whole thing still comes back to Gobert. If he becomes a heavily involved, efficient rim runner, Minnesota’s offense could be nearly impossible to solve. If the fit with Ball never clicks, or if Gobert simply slips at 34, the Wolves will have the same weak point teams have already learned to attack.
That’s why Gobert’s role is so central. It could be the difference between a good offense and an elite one.
In Other News...
Timberwolves Still Have One Roster Risk They Can't Ignore
The Timberwolves have the kind of starting group that can make a roster look solid on paper, but the margins behind it remain worth watching. Frontcourt depth is the main concern, especially with only Joan Beringer and Trey Lyles available as backup bigs on standard contracts, which leaves the team a little thin if injuries or foul trouble start to pile up.
Minnesota does have an open roster spot, and that gives the front office some flexibility as it weighs veteran options such as Drew Eubanks or Kelly Olynyk, along with the possibility of a trade deadline move. The team could also patch things together with two-way or 10-day contracts, but the question is whether that is enough for a group with bigger ambitions once the season starts to get tested. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Already Face One Big Offensive Question With LaMelo and Ant
The Timberwolves new backcourt pairing brings plenty of juice, but it also comes with an early roster-building question: how do they keep the offense humming when Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball are both out of the game? Chris Finch has already made clear he does not see a need to lean on either star for all 48 minutes, which means Minnesota will have to make those non-star stretches count if it wants to maximize what those two can do together.
Balls workload is expected to be managed carefully, so the Wolves are going to have to find scoring from elsewhere in the rotation. Jaden McDaniels, Ayo Dosunmu, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Bones Hyland are among the players expected to help fill those gaps, and how well that support group holds up could go a long way toward determining whether Minnesotas offense stays steady or bogs down whenever its two headliners sit. [Read more 🡒]
Jonathan Kuminga Already Puts The Wolves In A Tough Spot
The Timberwolves have added Jonathan Kuminga on a two-year contract, and the early read is that he is being slotted in as the starting power forward. It is the kind of move that can reshape a rotation quickly, especially for a team trying to sharpen its frontcourt and get clear answers about how the pieces fit around him.
The interesting part is what happens if the fit is not as smooth as expected. Minnesota would then have to decide whether to keep Kuminga in that role or rethink his usage, and that is where the history matters. He was not especially comfortable with coming off the bench during his time with the Warriors, so any future move out of the starting group could become a sensitive part of the equation. [Read more 🡒]