Timberwolves coaching staff admits hesitating to get Jordan McLaughlin into team's flow

OKLAHOMA CITY – Jordan McLaughlin has been so ingrained in the Timberwolves' success since late January, it can be easy to forget the point guard wasn't getting significant playing time earlier this season.

Coach Chris Finch said part of that was due to the coaching staff not maximizing McLaughlin's potential.

"He kind of fell through the cracks in our player development structure a little bit," Finch said. "So that was on us for the beginning of the season."

The Wolves had McLaughlin work individually with assistant Pablo Prigioni instead of in smaller groups. They worked on his shot selection and just tried to get him in the right mental state of mind, Finch said.

"It wasn't like he wasn't getting attention," Finch said. "He just probably wasn't getting enough attention to what we needed him to do to get him back to the level of where he was playing last year for us."

McLaughlin said his early-season struggles didn't have anything to do with the coaching staff.

"I wouldn't put that on the coaching staff," McLaughlin said. "I would say it was my fault, not being able to lock in on what I needed to do for the team at that time. I just had to re-focus in and just continue to get better and figure out what I needed to do to help this team win."

Finch said McLaughlin is now one of the most popular Wolves for other players to be on the floor with at the same time.

"You know you have a guy who's contributing greatly when everyone says, 'Hey I want to play with J-Mac out there,' " Finch said.

One of those players is Malik Beasley, who has averaged 13.7 minutes per game with McLaughlin since McLaughlin re-entered the rotation on Jan. 28. Since then, Beasley, who averages 25.1 minutes per game, is shooting 46% from three-point range. Before then, Beasley was shooting 34%.

"I think a lot of it has to do with J-Mac and creating pace and early ball movement," Finch said. "Malik is, like most guys, a much better shooter when the ball is finding him in the flow and he's got his feet set and they're way more spot-up shots."

McLaughlin said he wasn't sure what, if anything, might be different about his connection with Beasley.

"I know he's a really good shooter so I try to get the ball to him on time and on target and I guess that helps his rhythm," McLaughlin said.

Injury report

Anthony Edwards missed his second game because of left knee tendinopathy. Edwards didn't make the trip to Oklahoma City in order to get extra rest and recovery back in Minneapolis. Jarred Vanderbilt started after being listed as questionable for the second straight game. On Tuesday, it was because of left shoulder soreness, on Friday he had a left quad contusion.

Finch said before the All-Star break the Wolves were trying to limit Vanderbilt's minutes, but have lifted those restrictions. Now, Finch said they only might be trying to limit Vanderbilt's minutes in the first half of games so as to have him available for more minutes in the second half.

A double dip

The Wolves made the routine roster move of recalling guard Leandro Bolmaro and forward Nathan Knight to the NBA roster from G-League Iowa. The two didn't have to go far. Knight had 33 points and Bolmaro 21 as the Iowa Wolves defeated the Oklahoma City Blue 107-103 on Friday afternoon before the Timberwolves faced the Thunder. Center Jusuf Nurkic is also out because of a left foot injury.