Dysfunctional has been an overused term to describe what is going on with the T-Wolves in the last 6 weeks. And we used it properly. No other word was more on point to profile the various chapters of the Butler trade saga.

But in the last few games, there were some new positive trends. Ironically, these things started in a completely game-disaster against the Bucks. In their 95-125 defeat, the Wolves shot 32.1% from the floor: that’s their worst FG% in a game since December 7th, 2013.

These are the best shots taken in the sloppy start (0/11 on their first 11 FGA) against the Bucks: a bunch of semi-contested jumpers on drive and kick actions…No counters, no flow, no remunerative ball movement.

All the Bucks shooters have size and are long enough to drain 3’s contested by Towns and Taj. At the half, they doubled the 3’s scored by the T-Wolves and keeping them on the 30% clip from the floor.

Once the switch happens, Middleton gets Gibson out there. His release is such as high as few other wings in the NBA.

But here comes the interesting part. The T-Wolves shot 43 triples, which means nothing without at least an average shot selection (23.3 percent converted from deep: 10/43), at the same time, for a team ended in the bottom 10 of the NBA both for efficiency and for frequency from 3 point range in the last 2 years, you hope to persist with that volume.

The funny side about the “never stop shooting 3’s regardless the outcome” is a quote from Giannis from their game against the Knicks, just before facing the T-Wolves.

3rd quarter:
Knicks 8-for-9 from mid-range. (I thought they were 8-for-8.)
Bucks 1-for-13 from 3pt.

We’ve all discussed the Bucks desire to shoot 3s and force other teams to shoot mid-rangers. In that quarter, that plan went against them.

I asked @Giannis_An34 about it: pic.twitter.com/Ahuapvyw50

— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) 23 ottobre 2018

T-Wolves are currently attempting 29 3’s per game (21st in the league), still 8 more shots than their average last season volume from deep.

Where the Wolves offense is really clicking from 3 point line?

EMPOWERING TRANSITION

Cutting off a portion of low-post ISO plays for KAT and Taj seems one of the first move to reshape the offense.

Last year, after the same number of games, Wolves were playing bully-ball 6 percent more of their possessions than now, per Synergy.

These Wolves are playing faster. They are leading the NBA with 1.36 point per possession in transition, 7 percent more of the times compared to last year.

But what has really changed is being active in early-offense. In the first 8-9 seconds of a play, among teams with at least six attempts, they are shooting with 46.4% from 3.

It worked a lot in the last two wins against the Jazz and the Lakers, shooting after 1-2 passes, no matter how the configuration of the offensive set was. Towns ramped up as well in pick and pop situations, starting to shoot more 3’s when the bigs are still trying to set defensively.

Gobert is on drop coverage, he supposes he has to hold off a potential confrontation with Tolliver. Towns pops out and get an open look.