Anthony Edwards faces up to two months away from the Wolves, Shams Charania said Tuesday in his original post for ESPN. Charania said an arthroscopic procedure is planned for Edwards’ right knee. That changes what I want from the Timberwolves immediately: give Ayo Dosunmu and Terrence Shannon Jr. a bigger share of the offense, and let LaMelo Ball find them.
Ball should run the team. Asking him to become Edwards as well would be the wrong response. Minnesota needs more players involved in creating and finishing possessions, with Dosunmu my choice to enter the starting lineup and Shannon getting more chances to attack. The scoring gap is too big to hand to one guard.
Edwards leaves more than a starting spot
This is right-knee news, as NBA.com’s Tuesday story confirms. Charania’s timetable is up to two months. It gives Minnesota a stretch to plan for, without a fixed return date to build the rotation around.
The size of the assignment shows up in Basketball Reference’s four-game totals. Edwards has scored 133 of Minnesota’s 488 points and taken 104 of its 375 field-goal attempts. That’s about 27% of the points and 28% of the shots, calculated from those totals. Remove him and the Wolves need to distribute a lot more than the final possession of a close game.
Monday in Cleveland made that dependence plain. Edwards scored 47 in a 127-125 overtime loss, per ESPN’s box score. Ball scored 11 with six assists. Shannon had 14 points and five assists. There were other contributors, but nobody else approached Edwards’ scoring load.
I wouldn’t turn that game into instructions for Ball to shoot every time he gets an opening. The job should be to get useful shots for the players who remain. Some of those possessions should finish with Ball. Plenty should finish with someone he passes to.
Start Dosunmu, give Shannon more possessions
Here is the part of the rotation I’d build around, using Basketball Reference’s per-game table through Monday.
| Player | Minutes per game | Points per game | Assists per game |
|---|---|---|---|
| LaMelo Ball | 24.8 | 14.8 | 6.3 |
| Ayo Dosunmu | 26.3 | 12.0 | 4.0 |
| Terrence Shannon Jr. | 22.3 | 13.0 | 2.5 |
| Jaden McDaniels | 31.8 | 15.0 | 2.8 |
| Jonathan Kuminga | 29.8 | 11.5 | 2.5 |
Dosunmu has come off the bench in all four games, per Basketball Reference, but he is already playing substantial minutes. Starting him would put another passer next to Ball without requiring Finch to promote someone from the end of the bench. I’d keep McDaniels, Kuminga and Rudy Gobert alongside those two guards. The full Wolves roster and depth chart lays out the available alternatives.
I’d give Dosunmu possessions to initiate throughout the game, rather than make him wait for Ball to create everything. His 16 assists through four games are enough to justify trying it. Ball’s 25 assists lead this group, but Minnesota should use the passing it has elsewhere.
Shannon is my next priority. He has scored 52 points on 32 field-goal attempts, with 10 made threes in 20 tries, per Basketball Reference. I don’t expect him to keep making half his threes. I do want to see whether he can maintain useful production with more touches and more defensive attention.
We’ve already made the case for Shannon’s place in the wing rotation. This is a bigger assignment. I’d keep him involved with the reserves and give him time beside Ball, so his extra chances include passes from the starting point guard. Promoting Dosunmu shouldn’t mean making Shannon spend every important possession waiting for the starters to return.
Ball should create more without taking every shot
Ball has taken 49 shots through four games, compared with Edwards’ 104, per Basketball Reference. There is room for him to take more. There is also a danger in treating the missing shots as a pile that belongs to him now.
I’d want Ball looking for McDaniels early, before the defense gets comfortable. McDaniels has made 26 of 44 shots, including six of 14 threes, through Monday. Kuminga has taken only 35 shots across the four games. I’d try more possessions for both before settling for a Ball-heavy offense.
Ball also has 16 fouls in those four games, per Basketball Reference. The early foul problem matters more with Edwards unavailable. Minnesota can’t plan an entire evening around Ball’s passing and then lose access to it for long stretches. Dosunmu handling some possessions should be part of the normal offense, so the team isn’t inventing a different attack when Ball sits.
For Finch, I’d judge the first games without Edwards by the shots the group creates. Are McDaniels and Shannon receiving the ball with room to shoot or drive? Is Dosunmu making decisions before the possession gets late? Can Kuminga get chances to attack without having to manufacture everything himself?
I can live with those players missing good shots while they learn the larger roles. I’d be much less encouraged by Ball taking on an Edwards-sized workload while everyone else watches. Give Ball the offense to direct, and give the rest of the Wolves a real part in running it.