Film, lineups and the numbers behind them. How the Wolves are playing, and why it is or isn't working.
Utah has lost seven straight and gives the ball away more than almost anyone. Chris Finch is proud of how LaMelo Ball is competing on defense. On Sunday, the Wolves should turn Jazz mistakes into the easy baskets New Orleans got on Friday.
Minnesota and New Orleans scored 88 points apiece from the field on Friday. The Wolves, the league's worst free-throw shooting team, won 115-109 because they made 27 free throws to the Pelicans' 21. That's the formula for Sunday against Utah too.
New Orleans takes fewer threes than anyone, lives at the rim and makes more free throws than any team in the league. In Friday's NBA Cup game, the Wolves should pack the paint, keep their hands back and let the Pelicans' guards shoot.
Kuminga is shooting 46.3% from three and has seven turnovers in nine games, playing the smallest role of his career. With Anthony Edwards out, Minnesota should fix his short game and leave the rest alone.
Rudy Gobert scored eight points and went 2-of-6 at the line in the 117-107 win over the Rockets. He was still a big reason Minnesota won, and his last two minutes showed why the Wolves need him without Anthony Edwards.
With Clint Capela and Steven Adams out, the only center behind Şengün is a two-way player. The Wolves should make Şengün defend on every trip and own the glass in the minutes he sits.
Ball carried the scoring against Milwaukee. With Ayo Dosunmu handling more of the passing, Minnesota found a division of labor worth keeping.
Minnesota's reserves scored 49 and 51 before falling to 24 in San Antonio. Chris Finch should stagger Dosunmu with them before treating one bad night as a broken rotation.
Finch has an opening for Williams against Milwaukee. Minnesota should build his audition around moving without the ball and making the next pass.
Clark has taken eight threes in three games after attempting one in his first three appearances. Minnesota should give that willingness room to survive a cold night.
Beringer played the entire fourth quarter after four third-quarter fouls against San Antonio. Finch should keep giving him chances to work through trouble.
Milwaukee gives up the third-highest share of shots at the rim and forces fewer turnovers than any defense in the league. After a 2-for-10 night in San Antonio, Ball's drive is Monday's best play.
Victor Wembanyama scored 43 in San Antonio's 121-111 win. The Wolves should start their response with the 16 offensive rebounds they allowed.
San Antonio has allowed 49.7% shooting on twos and 39.4% on threes. Minnesota should use Ball to create perimeter chances before challenging Wembanyama inside.
Hyland has played eight minutes a night so far. Last spring, when Edwards sat, he played 25 a night and made 38% of his threes. If Ayo Dosunmu moves into the starting five, the second unit needs him again.
Golden State has allowed 62.7% shooting on twos and sits 28th in defensive rebounding. Minnesota's first game without Edwards should run through Rudy Gobert, Joan Beringer and the paint.
Both teams shot 23 free throws in Cleveland. The Cavaliers made 17, the Wolves made 14 and lost by two in overtime. Through four games, Minnesota is the worst free-throw shooting team in the league.
Shams Charania says Edwards will miss up to two months after a right-knee procedure. Minnesota should give Ayo Dosunmu and Terrence Shannon Jr. more work instead of asking LaMelo Ball to replace Ant.
Ball has picked up exactly four fouls in each of Minnesota's three wins and played 68 minutes in all. Margins of 22 to 25 points mean it has cost the Wolves nothing yet.
I'd use Harden's assignment as a screener and make Cleveland choose its help. His cold shooting is no reason to give him an easy night at the other end.
Finch welcomed the intensity of Minnesota's September workouts. That standard should reward useful bench minutes and survive a young player's mistakes.
Minnesota has won 10 straight home openers. I want that reliability to last beyond Sunday, after a 26-15 home record last season.
Five three-point attempts in Orlando offered the right blueprint. Minnesota needs Lyles willing to shoot alongside its centers, with rebounding keeping those minutes worthwhile.
Orlando made 29 of 45 shots inside the arc. I'd demand better containment before treating Minnesota's 93 points allowed as proof the defense is settled.
Minnesota beat Orlando 115-93 with Edwards shooting 5-for-23. The shared work on the glass is the part of this win worth demanding again.
The Raptors arrive Sunday after forcing 23 Washington turnovers. Minnesota should keep attacking, with an outlet close enough to punish the help.
The referees explained why Ball's Miami stepback was illegal. Finch should demand cleaner footwork while keeping his point guard aggressive.
Knecht agreed to a two-way deal with the Knicks after drawing Minnesota's interest. His uneven Lakers record is a reason to keep looking for shooting, without promising the next prospect rotation minutes.
Orlando took 39 free throws in its opener. Minnesota's next defensive test is keeping Banchero off the stripe without giving away the paint.
Edwards hit nine threes in Minnesota's 131-106 win at Miami. Keep giving him those attempts, even when the percentage comes down.
Dosunmu grabbed three of Minnesota's 17 offensive boards in Miami. I'd give him permission to keep chasing misses, with clear rules for who gets back.
Kuminga took 10 shots in the opener and still supplied four steals and three assists. Minnesota should build his job around helping its stars, with a bigger demand on the glass.
DiVincenzo is out for opening night in Miami with no return date. Jayson Tatum came back 298 days after his Achilles tear; apply that to April 25 and you get mid-February. The Wolves have to plan the first two-thirds of the regular season without his shooting.
Jaylen Clark has the defensive reputation. Shannon has the shooting that Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball need around them, and the shooting numbers from last season favor him for the minutes.
Miami's opener gives Minnesota a choice: send extra help at Antetokounmpo immediately, or make him beat a set defense first. I'd start by trusting the size the Wolves already have.
Minnesota is adding a $40 million season to McDaniels' deal. I like paying to keep the wing who can complement the stars, even with an offensive game that still has to hold up in May.
Ball produced at a star's rate in Charlotte while averaging 28 minutes. I'd give him more time in Minnesota, but 32 minutes is a better starting target than chasing his per-36 line.
The rookie hit five threes in the preseason finale, more points than his previous four games combined. Against that: 11-for-34 for the preseason, and a game with the starters in Detroit where he never got in.
Six of the first 10 games are on the road, and the 10 opponents averaged 43.7 wins last season. Then comes a franchise-record eight-game homestand against teams that averaged 32.6.
Minnesota led Detroit 48-40 with six minutes left in the first half and trailed 65-58 at the break. Edwards turned it over four times in that stretch, and Detroit went on to win the preseason game 128-106.
Chris Finch's gut says keep his two guards on the floor at the same time. 56% of Edwards' threes and 62% of Ball's were assisted last season (Ball's in Charlotte), so each can be the shooter while the other passes.
Chris Finch says LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards have made the Wolves loose. A 122-104 win at Madison Square Garden showed the upside, and Ball's game-high five turnovers and a 67% team night at the line showed what the joy still has to clean up.
Reid and Randle accounted for 28% of Minnesota's points, 28% of its rebounds and 30% of its free throw attempts last season. LaMelo Ball covers the threes and the passing. The glass and the free throw line are the bill.
Hyland went 5-of-6 from three in the Wolves' 125-124 preseason win over the Heat. He is a real shooter, but the number to watch is his 9-of-34 in the playoffs, because Donte DiVincenzo's torn Achilles leaves the Wolves short on guards.
Gobert shot 52.6% from the line last season, his worst mark since his rookie year, and the slump took about half a point a game off his scoring. The Wolves can extend him now, and they shouldn't hurry.
Kuminga shot 1-for-9 in the preseason loss to Indiana on Wednesday and never reached the line. That is the number that matters, because he is replacing Julius Randle, who took 6.3 free throws a game for the Wolves.
McDaniels made a career-best 41.2% from three last season, and 92% of those makes were set up by a teammate. Threes were the smallest share of his shots in his career. With Ball and Edwards creating, that has to change.
The Wolves have a free-to-air slate of 15 DAZN games on KARE 11, plus eight NBC games. For the rest of the schedule, the Season Pass beats paying month to month, and it works out to about $3 a game at most.
Beringer scored 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in 15 minutes of the preseason opener, and picked up 4 fouls doing it. Minnesota has no obvious plan B behind him.
Edwards says he went two full months without basketball to let his left knee heal. After a career-low 61 games, his health is the number the Wolves' season turns on.
Gobert's offense shrank to its smallest in a decade last season, and less of it came off a teammate's pass. Ball is the passer Chris Finch says Minnesota never had for him, and more offense from a center the Wolves already pay costs them nothing extra.
Every player Minnesota brings into training camp, what each one makes this season and where he fits behind Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball.
LaMelo Ball is here, Naz Reid is gone and the backup center job is wide open. What Minnesota has to explain on Monday before camp opens.
