Chris Finch: Wolves aim to unlock 'best version' of D'Angelo Russell with Rudy Gobert at his side

LAS VEGAS – Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has experience devising an offense around two big men. He did it when he was an assistant with New Orleans with Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins. The Pelicans made it to the second round of the playoffs in 2017.

He'll have to do it again with Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert occupying the floor together for the foreseeable future.

Finch spoke with the Star Tribune at the NBA Summer League about the similarities and differences between those two frontcourts, how point guard D'Angelo Russell fits into the fold as he enters a contract year and how Russell's responsibilities on defense will change. He also discussed what third-year players Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels need to work on over a big summer for both of them. The conversation was edited for clarity and brevity.

Q Have you given much thought into what the offense will look like next year?

A We haven't really dug into it too much yet. We will. I think the most important thing is we figure out the spacing between the two bigs, figure out the spacing around the bigs and the different kind of actions and concepts. When you have KAT, it does make it a lot easier because he literally can play all over the floor. But you also have to be mindful to not turn him into a spot-up shooter.

Q What have your conversations been like with D'Angelo?

A Incredibly positive, of course. He's very excited, as all of our guys are. He knows how important a rolling big is to his game. … One thing we might not be able to do as much is kind of play him off the ball [on defense] as much as we had done as a roamer. We don't need that now. He's got to be a little more locked in. … That's going to be a little different for him. His competitiveness on the ball, everyone might have to guard their natural position a little bit more than we had done in the last year. So those are all things that come to mind initially when I think about it. But he's very excited. We feel like this gives us a chance, gives him a chance to get the best version of him, which is what you want.

Q What about him meshes well with a player like Gobert?

A Certainly the midrange game. He's very hard to speed up. So when he gets to the heart of a defense, he slows things down and forces people in a drop coverage to make a choice. That's what it's really about. They're trying not to make a choice. It's a game of chicken. With his ability to play in small spaces, still hit the shot, still make all the plays late, I think that's his wheelhouse, really.

Q Jaden will have more responsibilities. Where do you want to see him grow the most?

A We keep emphasizing building on what we did last year. We saw a little of it this year. That's his ball handling and playmaking opportunities. That doesn't mean primary and pick and roll. It means off the ball.

Q How are you trying to improve his shot? [McDaniels shot 32% from three-point range last season.] He's said before he needs everything to go right for him to make a three.

A Yeah, he's got long levers. Trying to bring his arc down a little bit. He's got a lot of that but he doesn't need a ton of arc, he's so tall. It's always about affecting their own rhythm. Feeling comfortable with their own rhythm. It's just staying confident to take it. He has a very good shot. There's no reason he can't be a better shooter. He has to take it. Stay committed to it.

Q What's the big priority in the offseason with Ant?

A The big priority for him is to continue to really get better at the things he's good at. Attacking and finishing. I think his finishing can certainly improve. He gets to the rim at a high rate, finishes at a medium rate. Foul drawing. Playmaking. Everybody is working on throwing lob passes right now.

Q His on-ball defense was something you liked last season. Will he draw more prime defensive matchups?

A Yeah, exactly. Keep getting him to compete and value that end. Certainly on the ball, he's really been good, especially when he's got like marquee matchups. He likes the challenge of that. He just has to do that all the time and then his off-ball awareness. It's hard to work on off-ball awareness in the summer.

Q You mentioned Jaylen Nowell as having a big opportunity this summer; what does he need to do to continue to improve defensively?

A Guarding on the ball a little more. His awareness off the ball, his readiness off the ball is probably not where it needs to be but needs to get better. His physicality. Last year he took some steps forward. The biggest thing we asked him to do last season was quit fouling. He fouled a lot and that's been better. We can't make the mistake of expecting Rudy to solve everybody's problems. We need to demand that we guard the ball better. Rudy needs to demand they guard the ball better.

Q Have you broken out the film from New Orleans with Cousins and Davis?

A I haven't broken out the film. Like I know the model offensively. There's things I can draw upon. … Offensively it's literally spacing concepts. Now those two guys were extremely dynamic offensively and could play most places all over the floor. And I think with Rudy though, we want to use him as a top of the floor playmaker and ball mover and get the ball into his hands and let him make some decisions up there, read the floor a little bit. Playing big to big, whether it be pocket playmaking by KAT, relocation when the bigs have the floor, those things are the things we worked a lot at in New Orleans. Then you figure out how you fit around those guys. Because the bigs have to do their thing and the guards can read the rest of the spaces. Otherwise it's really hard for the bigs to see the floor.