The Minnesota Timberwolves got a useful look at where they stand Wednesday night, and the picture was uneven. In a 128-106 preseason loss to the Detroit Pistons at Target Center, Minnesota used what looked like its opening-night rotation, but the group never fully held together after a fast start.
The Wolves came out sharp enough to score 38 points in the first quarter, with crisp ball movement and a scoring burst from Jaden McDaniels fueling the early surge. After that, though, the offense cooled hard. Minnesota managed just 44 points over the next two quarters as the defense slipped and the Pistons built a double-digit cushion.
Detroit made life uncomfortable right away by bringing steady perimeter pressure and trying to disrupt LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards. Minnesota handled that pressure well at times, but the offense also bogged down when Ball held the ball too long and failed to move it quickly.
The Wolves were at their best when they pushed the pace and attacked in transition or on the secondary break, creating open three-point looks. That dynamic showed up in multiple ways, whether Ball led the break and found McDaniels and Edwards on the wings or Jonathan Kuminga pushed the action and kicked to Ball and Edwards trailing.
Still, the Wolves got sloppy as the night went on. They turned the ball over 20 times, and late in the second quarter they started to overpass.
Edwards had some decision-making issues, while Ball committed a pair of avoidable turnovers. The two guards finished with seven turnovers and nine assists combined.
The Ball-Rudy Gobert two-man game also got a real workout against a Detroit team that often sent extra help and crowded the perimeter. There were rough spots, including one sequence where Gobert passed up a wide-open Ayo Dosunmu in the left corner and drove into a double team at the rim without success. But for the most part, the pick-and-roll pairing paid off.
Gobert flashed good touch and awareness on consecutive second-quarter possessions, first scoring in the paint and then dumping it off to Trey Lyles for an easy finish at the rim. That short-roll playmaking has always been part of Gobert’s game, even if it hasn’t been featured as much in recent seasons. With Ball running the action, the Wolves also got multiple lobs to Gobert, which fits naturally with that partnership.
Minnesota’s biggest problem came on the other end. Detroit shot 57% from the field and piled up 64 points in the paint.
The main issue was the Wolves’ perimeter defense, which didn’t match the kind of ball pressure the Pistons put on Minnesota. Too often, Detroit handlers got into the lane because of poor angles or breakdowns in pick-and-roll coverage.
The paint defense held up better. Lyles and Beringer both had moments where they stood their ground and kept Detroit from scoring at the rim, and the team’s defensive rebounding was better than it had been for much of the preseason. But the non-Gobert minutes still had problems, with Lyles grabbing zero rebounds in 15 minutes and Beringer picking up two fouls in his first four minutes.
In the end, the matchup served its purpose. Minnesota chose a physical opponent for its dress rehearsal, and the Pistons made the Wolves deal with pressure they’ll need to handle once the regular season starts next week. The test exposed both the promise of this new-look group and the areas that still need work.
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The concern, though, is just as clear. Beringer is also averaging three fouls in about 17.6 minutes, and for a team that may need him more as Rudy Gobert gets older and potentially gets managed more carefully, that kind of whistle trouble can become a real issue. Minnesota does not have much room to spare in the frontcourt, so how quickly Beringer learns to defend without sending people to the line could shape how much trust he earns early on. [Read more 🡒]
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Now without an NBA contract after being traded twice and waived by three teams, Dillingham has become part of a larger leaguewide conversation about young guards who look better on the draft board than they do once the games count. NBA draft analyst Rafael Barlowe and other scouts have started revisiting whether the initial evaluation oversold his upside, or whether teams today simply have less patience for players who need time to develop, leaving Dillingham facing a much harsher question than he did on draft night. [Read more 🡒]
Tim Connellys Latest Wolves Swing Just Changed The Pressure On Everyone
Tim Connelly has made a habit of keeping the Timberwolves in motion since taking over as president of basketball operations in 2022, and this latest move fits the pattern. After a stretch that included headline-grabbing deals for Rudy Gobert and LaMelo Ball, Minnesota has continued to chase the kind of top-end talent it believes can keep the roster in the Wests upper tier. The Wolves made the Western Conference finals in 2024 and 2025, so the pressure around every Connelly swing has only grown louder.
The latest pivot came after Minnesota fell in the second round in 2026, pushing Connelly to rework the core again by moving Julius Randle and Naz Reid for Ball. With Jaden McDaniels drawing encouraging preseason attention, there is at least some reason to believe the framework around the new-look group can still hold up. Still, the bigger question now is whether this kind of constant reshuffling has finally raised the stakes for everyone in the organization, from the front office down to the players expected to make it work. [Read more 🡒]