What’s wrong with the Timberwolves? Plus, an NBA stock report and stats that will blow your mind

The Bounce newsletterR | That is The Athletics daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce straight to your inbox.

Two players in NBA history have made at least 15,000 field goals in their careers. (No, it’s not Ricky Davis twice.) LeBron James met up with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at this club last night.

What the hell?

What’s going on in Minnesota?

Remember the funny Timberwolves team that, after a 3-2 loss, shocked the world by defeating the defending champion Nuggets on the road in Game 7 of last season’s conference semifinals? Well, that’s not so much the Wolves’ mood this season. They have lost four of their last five, and their most recent loss to the Sacramento Kings caused Anthony Edwards to be very honest about this team. About Jon Krawczynski:

“Internally, we are incredibly soft as a team. Not towards the other team, but internally we avoid them. We can’t talk to each other. Just a bunch of little kids. Just like we play with a few small children. Everyone, the whole team. We just can’t talk to each other. And we have to find out, because we can’t go that way.

“I’m trying to get better at that, figure out what the hell to say to get everyone on the same agenda, because right now everyone has different plans.”

Minnesota ended that four-game losing streak with a decisive win over the Clippers last weekend, but the Wolves look a lot different than what we saw last season:

• Defense: Best defensive rating last season (108.4) | Tenth best defensive rating this season (111.4)
• Attack: 17th best offensive rating last season (114.6) | 17th best offensive rating this season (112.3)
• Net valuation: Third best last season (plus-6.3) | 13th-best this season (plus-0.9)
• Wins: 56-26 last season (third in the West) | 9-10 this season (tied for 10th in the West), projected to be 39-43
• Clutch games: 21-15 last season | 6-7 this season

At this point, the Wolves were 15-4 last season, tied with the Celtics for the best record in the entire NBA. Their offense was still only 18th in the NBA (113.2), but their defense (106.7) was by far the best. Only three teams had a better net rating. Minnesota was also 7-1 in final games and had the third-best net rating (plus-23.1).

The big difference between these Wolves and last season is the trade of Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. It was a financial move disguised as a basketball move, and basketball is suffering. The Wolves’ defense has regressed, and Randle doesn’t exactly replace 1997’s Dennis Rodman at this point. Randle’s individual numbers look good, but his impact on the team has been more negative than it should be.

It doesn’t help that DiVincenzo went from shooting like Klay Thompson to shooting like Antoine Walker last season with the Knicks. The Wolves were expecting a boost on both ends of the court with the 27-year-old DiVincenzo, but that just didn’t happen. To be fair, this move came just before training camp began and came as a surprise to most, including Minnesota players and staff. The Wolves still need time to build the chemistry of the previous core.

My three corrections for the Wolves would be:

1. Listen to the trainer: Ant says the players did their own thing. But the game plans of Chris Finch and his staff are quite successful.
2. Be patient with Donte. He’s a great shooter and that should happen without anyone having to panic.
3. Bring Randle off the bench. This is more difficult in terms of managing Randle’s ego, but using Naz Reid would result in better ground balance and rotation. However, it only works if Randle participates, and he may not do that in a potential contract year.

The last 24

We just want a healthy LaMelo season again!

🩼 LaMelo Ball is injured. He will be out for at least two weeks due to a calf strain. At least it’s not the ankles again?

🏀 Cavs get their revenge! Donovan Mitchell started in the fourth quarter to beat the defending champion Celtics yesterday.

🏀 Read Sam Amick on the seemingly endless possibilities with Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.

💸 Top 2025 free agents. Will Myles Turner be the top player next summer? Danny Leroux explains.

⭐ Clippers guard makes All-Star case. But maybe not the Clippers guard, you think! HOFer David Aldridge talks about Norm Powell.

📺 Don’t miss this game tonight. Heat (9-9) at Celtics (16-4), 7:30 p.m. ET on League Pass. Can the Heat still trouble the Celtics like they used to?

📺 A great nightcap. Lakers (12-8) at Timberwolves (9-10), 8 p.m. ET on NBA TV or Fubo. Both teams actually need a big win here.

NBA Stock Report

Grizzlies and Hawks 📈, Warriors 📉

📈 Grizzlies (14-7): They just won their sixth straight with a 136-121 victory over the Pacers yesterday. Memphis went 4-0 this week and sits in third place in the West, just a half-game behind second-place Houston. The Grizzlies are 8-3 with Morant this season and 6-4 without him, but their franchise player isn’t their only big name to miss time. Desmond Bane missed seven games, Marcus Smart missed 10 games, Vince Williams Jr. missed 18 games and GG Jackson missed the entire season.

📉 Warriors (12-7): Golden State is on a four-game losing streak after struggling to have the best record in the West to start the season. They have lost to the Spurs, Nets, Thunder and Suns in their last four games. I know what you’re wondering: Did Steph Curry star in it? He starred in three of them! He missed the loss to the Thunder. The Warriors just aren’t making shots.

📈 Mavericks (13-8) have won eight of their last nine games, including four in a row. At this stage, the Mavs have a top-five offense, a top-five defense and the best net rating in the league. Luka Dončić missed six of those nine games, leaving Kyrie Irving, Naji Marshall and PJ Washington carrying offensive responsibility. Dallas fell to 5-7 due to a four-game losing streak heading into this stretch, but the Mavericks were able to significantly improve the balance.

📉Kings (9-12) They are going in the wrong direction after losing six of their last seven games. Sacramento really struggled to score during this period. DeMar DeRozan and Malik Monk both missed three games and Domantas Sabonis missed one. This just isn’t the Kings team we’re used to. The good news is that Sacramento’s defense has been decent, but this team is currently lacking its identity on the field.

📈Hawks (10-11): Don’t look now, but the Hawks could get back to .500 tonight when they take on the weak, injured Pelicans. Atlanta has won three straight games, including two against the Cavaliers (18-3). The Hawks aren’t just relying on Trae Young to be great. De’Andre Hunter and Jalen Johnson were their leading scorers during this miniseries, combining to hit nearly 60 percent of their shots. Number 1 pick Zachharie Risacher has also fit in quite well.

📉Hornets (6-14): Not only is Charlotte on a five-game losing streak, but as mentioned, LaMelo Ball is out with another injury. Four of those losses were also within six points. Ball was on a four-game heater before the injury, averaging 40.3 points on 32.5 shots. He missed 106 games over the last two seasons.

🤯Stat

Add this mind-blowing statistic to your group chat

The Bucks are finally playing good basketball and their superstar centerpiece is a big reason why. Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo leads the NBA in scoring (32.9 points) and is averaging more points this season than Zach LaVine, James Harden, Ja Morant or Trae Young. You’re probably thinking, “Well, Zach, he’s the league’s leading scorer.” And you’re right! However, I’m not talking about the overall score. This is the statistic that currently blows my mind:

Antetokounmpo is averaging 22.1 points per game in games alone! His scoring average would rank 33rd in the league in total points that season. Anthony Davis and Nikola Jokić are second in the league with 16.9 points. This got me wondering when was the last time a player averaged this many points in a game…

So I logged onto NBA.com/stats and started scrolling. And scroll. AND SCROLL!

Antetokounmpo averaged a PITP of 20.3 last season, but that’s not a fun quiz answer, and it’s not 22.1! Zion Williamson had 20.3 PITP per game in the 2020-21 season, but that doesn’t come close to Antetokounmpo this season. Shaquille O’Neal averaged a PITP of 19.6 per game in the 2002-2003 season, but we’re still not there. In 2001-02 he scored 20.1.

And we finally found it! During the 1999-2000 season, Shaq averaged 22.5 points per game. So Antetokounmpo is literally challenging MVP Shaq for points in the paint dominance. That’s silly.

📫 Do you love The Bounce? Check out The Athletic’s other newsletters.

(Top photo: David Sherman / Getty Images )