Clutch Moments Highlight MN Timberwolves PG Problem

The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t shuffle much of the roster this offseason. After a slow start, Tim Connelly’s offseason patience has paid off with a 20-11 record.

Of course, that hasn’t kept the Wolves president of basketball operations from shopping around for blockbuster upgrades before the February trade deadline.

He’s checked in on all sorts of possibly options, as any good decision-maker does. But really, the MN Timberwolves want a point guard they can feel good pairing with Anthony Edwards, which they clearly do not have right now.

Minnesota Timberwolves must land a point guard

Rob Dillingham was supposed to be that guy. Otherwise, Connelly wouldn’t have dealt a future first round pick for him. But he isn’t ready yet, and the Wolves are.

Conley and especially DiVincenzo have been pretty good overall. But when defense ratchets up in crunch time like they will in the playoffs, as Zach Kram (ESPN) highlighted in a recent piece at ESPN, Minnesota’s point guard problems become clear and obvious.

The Timberwolves have a clutch turnover rate of 18.4%, which is by far the worst in the league. The only other teams above 14% are the Clippers and Trail Blazers.

Turnover rate tends to decrease in the clutch, as teams take more free throws and use more one-on-one play. But the opposite is true for the Timberwolves, who rank 13th in overall turnover rate but suffer from a clutch-specific problem.

Those late-game giveaways have directly contributed to Timberwolves losses, like a last-minute collapse against Phoenix that kept them out of the NBA Cup quarterfinals. They can’t afford to sacrifice possessions in close games in the playoffs like they have until now.

Zach Kram – ESPN

The Minnesota Timberwolves have checked in on multiple point guards, including Coby White, Darius Garland, and even Kyrie Irving.

I guess we’ll just have to wait to see what Timmy Boy has in store over the next couple of months. You can’t help but feel like he is cooking up something big.