The Timberwolves small-ball identity should look different the first time Chris Finch puts his new group on the floor. LaMelo Ball can grab a rebound and push before the defense gets set. Anthony Edwards can sprint into open space instead of constantly attacking a loaded paint, while Jonathan Kuminga beats a slower center down the floor and Jaden McDaniels trails to punish the defense from three.
Minnesota spent the summer creating that possibility. The transformation started June 25, when the Wolves agreed to acquire Ball from Charlotte. The four-team deal became official July 10 and sent Naz Reid to the Hornets and Julius Randle to Brooklyn. Minnesota then added Kuminga, whose two-year contract became official September 4. In less than three months, Finch went from coaching one of the league’s bigger frontcourts to preparing a roster built around more speed, ball handling and positional flexibility.
That overhaul changes more than the starting lineup. Minnesota needs a second way to play when its traditional formula stops creating advantages.
Minnesota changed the roster after another playoff lesson
The Wolves went 49-33 last season, finishing 12th in offensive rating and eighth on defense, according to Basketball Reference. They beat Denver in six games in the first round before San Antonio eliminated them in six games in last spring’s Western Conference semifinals.
Those results hardly call for abandoning Rudy Gobert. His screening, rebounding and rim protection still give Minnesota a dependable defensive foundation. The problem comes when playoff opponents force Finch away from that foundation.
Five-out offenses drag traditional centers away from the rim. Elite guards hunt switches until they find the matchup they want. A team that depends entirely on one defensive structure can spend an entire series reacting instead of dictating, and Minnesota now has the personnel to counter those situations with speed.
The challenge is turning that speed into a system. Playing smaller cannot mean removing Gobert, throwing five athletic players together and hoping Edwards creates something late in the clock. Minnesota needs defined spacing, screening and defensive rules before those lineups matter in May. Training camp should establish them.
LaMelo Ball should create the first advantage
Ball changes the geometry immediately.
He averaged 20.1 points and 7.1 assists in 72 games for Charlotte last season, according to NBA.com. More important for Minnesota, he gives Finch another creator who can generate offense before Edwards touches the ball.
That matters because Edwards has spent too many possessions attacking defenses already waiting for him. Ball can change that rhythm by pushing after misses and forcing defenders to make decisions before their preferred matchups are set.
Picture Ball advancing the ball with Edwards running the right lane and Kuminga filling the middle. McDaniels trails to the opposite wing. Before the opposing center reaches the paint, Minnesota has several options: Ball can attack, hit Edwards on the move or force the big to step toward Kuminga.
The same principles should carry into the half court. Ball and Kuminga can run high pick-and-roll while Edwards starts away from the action, then attacks the second side after Ball forces the first rotation. If Ayo Dosunmu occupies the weak-side corner, his defender must choose between helping on the drive and leaving a dangerous three-point shooter.
Minnesota can also experiment with inverted actions. Edwards can screen for Ball before slipping into open space, while McDaniels cuts when defenders turn their heads toward the two star guards. Kuminga can operate in dribble handoffs that let him attack before the defense loads up.
Minnesota’s quicker groups should work from one basic principle: create the first advantage early, then move the ball before the defense recovers.
Kuminga’s real test starts when Gobert sits
Kuminga will draw attention because of his athleticism, but his most important work may have little to do with highlight plays.
NBA.com reported that Kuminga averaged 12.5 points and 4.2 rebounds last season between Golden State and Atlanta. Minnesota officially signed him after Anthony Edwards helped recruit him, and the expectation is that he joins Ball, Edwards, McDaniels and Gobert in the starting group.
His role changes when Gobert leaves the floor. Kuminga becomes the logical option to handle many of the minutes at nominal center. At 23, he has the burst to attack slower bigs and enough strength to survive contact inside, but surviving those matchups alone will not make the lineup work.
Kuminga has to finish defensive possessions. He needs to get his body into bigger forwards before the shot reaches the rim, box out instead of leaking toward transition and find the opposing center whenever McDaniels gets pulled outside on a switch.
Reid helped cover those jobs last season. Basketball Reference credited him with 6.2 rebounds in 26.1 minutes per game, and his shooting could pull opposing bigs beyond the arc. Replacing him requires more than one player matching his scoring.
Kuminga also has to resist holding the ball. His best possessions in this group may involve one or two dribbles: screen for Ball, roll hard, catch and attack, then move the pass if the lane closes. Minnesota does not need another player pausing the offense to survey the floor. It needs Kuminga to accelerate it.
Dosunmu gives Finch a natural fifth piece
Dosunmu should be central to the experiment from the beginning.
Minnesota acquired him from Chicago at the February trade deadline, then re-signed him in July. Across 24 regular-season games for the Wolves, he averaged 14.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 41.4 percent from three. His role expanded in the playoffs, where he averaged 15.6 points across ten games.
Those numbers make him a natural fit beside Ball and Edwards. A lineup of Ball, Dosunmu, Edwards, McDaniels and Kuminga gives Finch five players who can handle at least part of a possession. Four can credibly attack off the dribble, while McDaniels no longer needs to be hidden as a reluctant shooter after hitting 41.2 percent from three last season.
Dosunmu’s job should stay simple when Ball controls the action. He can stay parked in the weak-side corner and make his defender pay for helping on Edwards. When the ball swings his way, the decision should come quickly: shoot the open three or attack the closeout.
Minnesota can also use him as the secondary organizer when Ball rests. That matters because versatile lineups often fail when coaches confuse flexibility with freedom. Giving everybody permission to create can leave five players standing around waiting for their turn.
Finch needs hierarchy. Ball organizes the possession, Edwards bends the defense, Kuminga screens and attacks space, Dosunmu connects actions and McDaniels cuts, spaces and cleans up mismatches. Those jobs can change during a possession, but everyone needs to know where the action begins.
Dosunmu matters even more because one of Minnesota’s cleanest fits for these lineups will not be available from the start.
DiVincenzo can add another layer when he returns
Donte DiVincenzo gives Finch almost everything these quicker groups need: shooting, physical perimeter defense and rebounding from a guard spot. In a healthy rotation, he could slide into many of the same lineups as Dosunmu without forcing Minnesota to change its principles.
For now, Finch has to build without him. DiVincenzo ruptured his right Achilles 1:19 into Game 4 of Minnesota’s first-round series against Denver on April 25. NBA.com reported that he underwent surgery the following day and missed the remainder of the postseason.
That makes camp less about waiting for reinforcements and more about establishing habits with the players available. Dosunmu can absorb those minutes early, while Minnesota installs the spacing and switching rules DiVincenzo should eventually strengthen.
When he does return, Finch should not have to redesign the lineup. He can simply add another proven shooter and defender to a group that already understands how it wants to play.
That becomes especially important on the other end, where Minnesota’s smaller combinations will succeed or fail on their ability to cover for one another.
McDaniels should roam instead of wrestling with centers
The defensive plan starts with one important decision: do not turn McDaniels into a full-time center simply because he can defend almost anyone. Doing so would waste part of what makes him valuable.
McDaniels stands 6-foot-9 with the length to disrupt guards, wings and passing lanes. He made the All-Defensive second team in 2024, and his offensive growth has made it easier for Finch to keep him on the floor in virtually every matchup.
Minnesota should let him operate like a free safety whenever possible. If Kuminga takes the initial assignment on the opposing big, McDaniels can handle the most dangerous wing and slide toward the rim when the ball gets downhill. His length carries more value arriving from the side than spending entire possessions wrestling with a 250-pound center.
The Wolves can also protect Ball with scram switches. If an opponent forces him onto a big man after a switch, McDaniels or Kuminga should exchange assignments before the entry pass arrives. That keeps Ball out of prolonged post defense without forcing Minnesota into an automatic double-team.
Against some teams, Finch can switch one through five. Against others, the Wolves may need to switch one through four while keeping Kuminga closer to the paint. The coverage can change with the matchup, but the communication rules cannot.
Rebounding will decide whether the experiment survives
Every undersized lineup looks exciting until it gives up three shots on the same possession.
Minnesota cannot avoid that reality. Gobert averaged 9.3 rebounds during last spring’s playoffs, while Reid grabbed 7.3 per game in the same run, according to Basketball Reference. When both leave the floor, Finch loses a huge amount of size and defensive rebounding.
The replacement has to be collective. Kuminga takes the opposing center. McDaniels has to crack back on bigger forwards instead of immediately sprinting upcourt. Edwards, Ball and Dosunmu cannot watch from the elbows while somebody else cleans up the possession.
That may require sacrificing an occasional transition opportunity, but Minnesota’s speed means little if the opponent keeps the ball. The best version of this group should create transition through defense: force a difficult shot, secure the rebound with five bodies involved, then let Ball run.
That sequence gives Minnesota’s alternate lineup a purpose beyond simply taking a center off the floor.
The new look has to make Edwards’ life easier
Everything circles back to Edwards.
Minnesota does not need a smaller lineup simply because modern basketball says every contender should have one. It needs one because Edwards should have more room to attack when playoff defenses load two and sometimes three bodies toward him.
Ball solves part of that problem with creation. Kuminga can solve another part with rim pressure, while McDaniels and Dosunmu provide spacing that forces defenders to stay attached. If those pieces work together, Edwards gets more possessions against a moving defense instead of staring at five defenders already planted in their spots.
That changes the quality of his drives. Instead of beating the first defender and immediately meeting a center at the rim, Edwards can attack after Ball has already shifted the big toward the opposite side. Instead of forcing a pull-up against a late-clock switch, he can catch the ball with eight or nine seconds left against a defender still recovering.
Those details matter more than simply increasing pace. Minnesota should not ask Ball to reduce Edwards’ role. It should use Ball to improve the possessions Edwards already owns.
Training camp should establish the rules
Finch does not need to discover his perfect closing lineup in September, but he does need to establish what Minnesota wants from its smaller groups.
The first rule should concern pace. Ball pushes after every clean defensive rebound, but nobody leaks out before the Wolves secure the ball. The second involves spacing. When Edwards or Ball drives, Dosunmu and McDaniels cannot creep toward the paint and bring their defenders with them.
Kuminga needs his own rule as well: when he catches against a rotating defense, make the decision quickly. Attack, pass or screen again. Defensively, Minnesota must know how it gets Ball out of bad post matchups and who becomes the low man after a switch. Those details cannot wait until a playoff timeout.
Last season showed how thin the margin becomes in the Western Conference. Minnesota won 49 games and still entered the playoffs as the sixth seed. It survived Denver, then watched San Antonio end its season one round later.
The roster that returns to camp carries a different set of solutions. Gobert remains the anchor, and he should. But Ball, Kuminga, Edwards, McDaniels and Dosunmu give Finch something last year’s group could not offer in quite the same way: a legitimate chance to change the speed and geometry of a game without sacrificing creation.
The Timberwolves small-ball identity does not have to replace their traditional lineup. It has to give Minnesota a second language.
If Finch can teach it before the season starts, the Wolves will enter the next postseason with an answer they did not consistently have last spring: when size stops working, they can make the game smaller, faster and much harder to control.
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FAQs
What is the Timberwolves’ small-ball identity?
Minnesota can play faster with Ball, Edwards, McDaniels, Dosunmu and Kuminga. The lineup depends on spacing, quick decisions, switching and team rebounding.
How does LaMelo Ball help Anthony Edwards?
Ball can create the first defensive rotation and push in transition. That should give Edwards more chances to attack defenders before the defense gets set.
Can Jonathan Kuminga play center for the Timberwolves?
Kuminga can handle minutes at nominal center when Gobert rests. His rebounding, boxing out and defensive communication will determine whether those groups hold up.
Why is Ayo Dosunmu important to Minnesota’s smaller lineups?
Dosunmu adds shooting, another ball-handler and perimeter defense. His ability to play without dominating the ball makes him a natural fit beside Ball and Edwards.
Where does Donte DiVincenzo fit when he returns?
DiVincenzo can add shooting, physical defense and guard rebounding without changing Minnesota’s basic system. The Wolves should build the structure before he returns.
