Souhan: What Chris Finch must do for Wolves to win

This Timberwolves team is disappointing, and promising.

Talented, and oddly fitted.

Deep, yet confusing.

Injured, but healing.

Capable of beating the beat team in the league — which happened last week — and of losing to lousy teams, which has happened far too frequently.

As the Timberwolves begin the post-all-star portion of the schedule, you could build a case that they are poised to make a dramatic run, or that they’re doomed to remain mired in position to experience the play-in round. That their injuries have created opportunities that have strengthened the roster and, indeed, the entire organization.

Or that those injuries have ruined the cohesiveness they had been building.

This much is certain: Wolves coach Chris Finch is facing one of the most challenging stretches of his career.

He has big decisions to make.

Here’s a primer on what Finch could (and should) be thinking:

When Julius Randle was healthy, Finch knew that benching him in favor of Naz Reid could have caused problems in the locker room and with Randle’s happiness. Also, those who thought that Finch was foolish to keep Randle in the starting lineup should admit that Finch was able to create an offense in which Randle felt comfortable and became much more efficient before his groin injury sidelined him.

With Randle out, Reid has looked like a much more natural fit with the starting five. His three-point shooting and quick decision-making have cleared space for Anthony Edwards. Also, Reid is at worst the Wolves’ third-best player, so he should be starting.

Randle’s injury gives Finch the ability to tell Randle that he’s going to work with the second unit when he comes back. Then, if Reid continues to shine, Randle won’t have a valid argument about rejoining the starters.

Also, these kinds of problems are often solved by other injuries. By the time Randle ramps up, there may be another opening.

The Wolves’ current batch of injuries has created playing time for Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon, Jr. and Jaylen Clark.

Dillingham has been alternately spectacular and mistake-prone. Shannon and Clark have generally been spectacular.

Soon, Finch will be choosing between three distinct flavors of point guards — the savvy Mike Conley, the three-and-D veteran Donte DiVincenzo, and the flashy rookie.

My recommendation: Start DiVincenzo when he returns, use Conley as an efficiency injection to settle down a team that still turns the ball over way too much, and use Dillingham to increase pace and create offense for the second unit.

Similarly, Finch will want to keep Shannon and Clark involved and sharp, without stealing minutes from his established veterans.

All of which is far easier said than done.

Jaden McDaniels has improved his offensive efficiency and rebounding, becoming more like the dynamic two-way player they hoped they would get when they signed him to a long-term contract.

When and if this roster is healthy, Finch needs to find a way for McDaniels to be an offensive threat. When McDaniels is assertive and efficient on the offensive end, the Wolves become much harder to defend.

Finch and his staff have helped Edwards develop quickly into one of the NBA’s best players.

They have two challenges in coaching Edwards down this stretch run: Helping him recognize the right times to take three-pointers, and getting him to hustle back on defense when he wants to stop to argue for a foul call.

Edwards’ ability and willingness to shoot the three-pointer is a major and important development, but he can be too reliant on the three, causing awkward possessions in which his teammates never see the ball.

His recent run of 40-point games was the result of him driving aggressively and drawing fouls.

Finch also needs to get Edwards to realize that failing to get back on defense could be the difference between a top-six seed and a play-in appearance. Or between winning and losing a playoff series.

After four games against teams ahead of them in the Western Conference standings, the Wolves will face a remarkably easy schedule.

With a few tweaks, some injury luck, and a display of team maturity, the Wolves could still finish the season as a fifth seed.