Karl-Anthony Towns made his triumphant return to Target Center on Thursday, drawing cheers from fans of his former team and eventually torching the Wolves so thoroughly that those same fans booed the home team.
RandBall: The Wolves’ offense is broken, but the same was true with KAT here
After a blowout loss to the Knicks and Karl-Anthony Towns on Thursday, Anthony Edwards bemoaned the Wolves’ lack of offensive identity. But the reality is Minnesota hasn’t had a true offensive identity in years.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
December 20, 2024 at 6:27PM
It was a reminder of what the Wolves have been missing, particularly when Anthony Edwards decried the team’s lack of an offensive identity after the 133-107 loss.
“We know I’mma shoot a bunch of shots. We know [Julius Randle] gonna shoot a bunch of shots. That’s all we know. We don’t really know anything else,” Ant said postgame. “It’s not on the coaches at all. It’s on us. We out there playing, but we got to make it easier for each other. Coaches put us in great position, too, man. We just don’t do it.”
The aforementioned Randle had 24 points and was off to a hot start in helping the Wolves to a seven-point lead late in the first quarter, but he cooled off quickly and finished with five turnovers. Nobody else did much to help, as I talked about on Friday’s Daily Delivery podcast.
Wolves fans have been quick (and correct) to point out the efficiency and stylistic differences between KAT and Randle, the big men swapped in the blockbuster trade three months ago.
What needs to be said, though, is this: The Wolves’ offense has been somewhere between lacking an identity and broken for quite a while now, predating the KAT trade by at least two years.
For all of Towns’ offensive gifts, the Wolves had an offensive rating in the top half of the NBA just once in his final five seasons on the team.
Last year they were No. 17, as defense (No. 1 rating) clearly led the way. Two years ago, the first year with Rudy Gobert here and with KAT sidelined for two-thirds of the season, they were No. 23.
Their floor spacing and fluidity were better with Towns than they are now with Randle, but the Wolves were a mediocre offensive team last year.
While it might be tempting to lay the blame on Gobert, considering the Wolves were No. 7 in offense in the 2021-22 season (the year before the trade), consider this: Gobert’s Jazz were No. 1 in offensive efficiency that season. And they were No. 4 the year before that.
That the Wolves haven’t carved out a more defined and efficient offense in recent years is frustrating on a number of fronts given that they have had offensively gifted personnel and a head coach (Chris Finch) known for his work on that side of the ball.
But let’s be clear: This isn’t a new problem, even if it certainly is a problem.
Here are four more things to know today:
- The Wolves’ next opponent, Golden State, somehow had a worse night on Thursday. The Warriors lost 144-93 to Memphis. Steph Curry didn’t make a field goal, was held to two points overall and was a minus-41 for the game.
- Former Twins outfielder Max Kepler is reportedly signing a one-year, $10 million deal with the Phillies. While that doesn’t sound like an outlandish sum or term, it also wouldn’t have seemed like a prudent use of the Twins’ right-sized payroll to keep Kepler.
- Also on Friday’s podcast, Star Tribune Vikings writer Ben Goessling joined me to talk about the Vikings’ ability to stay healthy as well as Kirk Cousins’ benching in Atlanta.
- Our newest Vikings writer, Emily Leiker, had a fun and interesting look at how the Vikings’ offseason bonding endeavors have contributed to their 12-2 season.
Harrison Smith has a foot injury sustained Monday night, coach Kevin O’Connell said. Meanwhile, quarterback Geno Smith is set to start for the Seahawks.
