Reusse: Load management could be good for Wolves’ youngsters

The Philadelphia 76ers opened at home on Wednesday. They conceded the game to the Milwaukee Bucks by having Joel Embiid sit out with what was termed “left knee injury management.”

Meantime, Giannis Antetokounmpo played 31 minutes, scored 25 points, gathered 14 rebounds, and would have given the Bucks more if required in what was a 124-109 cruise to victory.

Giannis led his Greece team through a play-in tournament this summer to reach the Olympics, then averaged 25+ points in the Greeks’ four games in Paris.

Embiid played for the U.S. Olympic team this summer and went through all the workouts and played his minutes without limitation. That report came from Grant Hill, managing director for the U.S. men’s national team, in a TV appearance this week.

This mattered not to the 76ers. The only thing Embiid did of note in the preseason was to state he wouldn’t be playing in back-to-back games this season, and perhaps never again. Then came the announcement (after all tickets were sold for the opener) that Embiid wouldn’t be playing the early games on the schedule.

It didn’t take long for the NBA, the most star-driven among all major pro leagues in North America, to have its first “load management” crisis for 2024-25.

And two games into the season, we also have a load management problem with the Timberwolves — at least in my view, because I want to see some of it with his veterans from coach Chris Finch.

Listen, we all know the Timberwolves gave $3.3 million to Joe Ingles on July 3 out of desperation to have someone who could make a three-pointer from a corner on occasion. If they had any idea it would be possible to complete a trade with the New York Knicks that included Donte DiVincenzo three months later, there’s no way the Woofies would have used that valuable cap space on Ingles.

Basketball boss Tim Connelly’s other major move was to figure out a way to come up with two first-rounders in the 2024 draft, after giving away all those future No. 1s in the Rudy Gobert trade.

The draftees were potential point guard Rob Dillingham at No. 8 and 6-foot-6 off guard/wing Terrence Shannon Jr. at No. 27. If you were in attendance at the Big Ten tournament at Target Center last March, you became an admirer of Shannon’s game. He lasted until No. 27 because he was fifth-year senior, which is old by NBA draft standards.

And then if you watched the Wolves’ exhibition games, there were two players you actually couldn’t wait to see in the real competition:

The new, muscular center Luka Garza, retained with a one-way contract, and Josh Minott, a 6-foot-8, 22 next month, second-rounder from 2022 who looked ready to roll in Year 3.

Garza was playing so large that when he played against the Lakers in an exhibition on Oct. 4, new coach J.J. Redick offered a postgame accolade.

When the teams played again on Tuesday in the opener, what did Redick have to say about Garza? The only thing it could have been was, “He sure looked tall in the layup line.”

Two games in and we’ll have to see, but I was afraid of this with Finch:

He came off as dedicated to a nine-player rotation in 2023-24, as the Wolves climbed into contender status. And if one of those players was unavailable, he likely was to go with eight.

So, what was he going to do with this young talent?

Two games in, one an often-comatose loss to the Lakers, the next a two-point win over a very good Kings team in Sacramento, the answer has been, “Nothing yet.”

Mike Conley was brutal in L.A. and Dillingham didn’t get a nod, even for a five-minute stretch.

He didn’t know enough about the offense the Wolves were trying to run? Well, neither did the collection that was playing for most of the night.

Anthony Davis was doing anything he wanted in the second half. How about a few minutes for Luka? Maybe he would make a shot and A.D. would have to go guard him.

Didn’t happen.

OK, could be these are half-wit ideas? Nickeil Alexander-Walker was one of their better players for two nights. He went 8-for-12 from the field (6-for-9 on threes) to help make up for Conley’s 3-for-16 abomination.

Here’s the stumper, though: You need a ninth guy for a few minutes and you go with Ingles, a 37-year-old accessory after the trade for DiVincenzo.

Can’t you at least give those 12 minutes in two nights to Minott?

I’m sure Finch feels a bit sorry for Ingles, because the Aussie is said to be a great guy and came here expecting to play, but it’s going to be a bigger deal to find some playing time for that youthful talent sitting there on his bench.

Home opener Saturday night. Not too early to start seeing some load management for the vets.