Minnesota’s youth do all that it can with this opportunity

With five and a half minutes back in the third quarter against the Utah Jazz, Anthony Edwards attacked the paint and collapsed the defense. He sprayed the ball out to Jaylen Clark, who aired a triple. Edwards got a rebound and went right back and set up Minnesota Timberwolves 76-63.

Clark played in the second meaningful game in his NBA career. After Edwards scored, he gave Clark a high five when they needed back on the defense.

Three possessions later Edwards Clark found another open 3-pointer. Jaylen drilled what was his first career 3rd Edwards greeted Clark again, this time with an encouraging smile and a clap on his chest.

“I’m super happy for him,” Edwards said After Minnesota’s 138-113 victory. “I’ve told all the young guys that NBA is just about opportunity and what you do when you get it. He is one of the guys right now that has made the most of every occasion he has been given in the last two or three games. He has played out of his mind. Man, and I love it. “

Three and a half weeks before Clark recorded six points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in Utah, he logged 40 minutes in a G League game. No one expected Clark to back up the NBA team, which made such a big impact less than a month later. Probably Not even themselves. However, through adversity, Clark and the rest of Minnesota’s young players have taken the first step on a long journey to separate a consistent role in the NBA.

“I can imagine the confidence it gives the coaches,” Edwards said After the Utah game regarding Minnesota’s extended rotation. “It gives me a lot of confidence and confidence in the young guys. I know it gives them a lot of confidence. I love days like today. “

Minnesota took care of the worst team at the western conference. Edwards had 36 points and Wolves won their fifth straight game. Vegas favored Timberwolves with 7.5 in Utah. It was an expected victory on paper. Still, Wolves had played in Phoenix the night before. They were also without Donte Divincenzo, Mike Conley and Julius Randle, who only played 10 minutes before leaving the game early in the second quarter with a Right groin strain.

A window opened to Minnesota’s depth to have its first real crack on meaningful NBA minutes. Edwards are just on the money; NBA is about opportunity. And what you do with that opportunity dictates what comes next.

Some young players immediately get their opportunity. Ant started his first game in the NBA 18 matches into his rookie year. For others it takes longer. Some rookies have to wait until dominos fall around them before they get as much as meaningful playing time.

“Me, Luka (Garza)and Rob (Dillingham)We work every day, ”Clark said After the victory in Utah. “We have to make the stay in Formliga. We have to do it all the time. It also gels as a group. We all root for each other at any time one of us subs. And we all play hard as hell. This is what we love to do. We are all super talented. It’s cool that we are finally able to show it on full view. “

Clark missed his rookie year with a right Achilles injury. He too Experienced setbacks During his rehabilitation process and was out for a year and two months before he was cleared to start playing basketball again in any property.

It was a long, dull process to get back in shape, so much less return to the level that had scouts that projected him as a potential first round pick out of UCLA before his injury. Therefore, it is likely that playing NBA minutes nine months after being cleared to play in front of the schedule he had in mind.

However, the same is not the case for Garza and Dillingham.

Fans expected Chris Finch to start leaning on his young guys after Wolves lost Kyle Anderson, Jordan McLaughlin and Monte Morris in free agency. “Where we are, we could use a couple of plug-and-play rookies,” Finch told KSTP’s Darren Wolfson before the draft. “When you predict ahead, we need young, talented players to start playing in the rotation more.”

Minnesota acquired two rookies with NBA-clear potential of Trade Up to select Dillingham with # 8 Select out of Kentucky and select Terrence Shannon Jr. Out of Illinois with No. 27 choice. The wolves also had some promising young talent who had been sitting on the back burner for the past few seasons, such as Clark, Garza, Josh Minott and Leonard Miller.

In addition, Finch referred To extend its rotation to nine or possibly 10 deep before the draft. Then Wolves Karl-Anthony Towns traded for New York Knicks for Randle and Divincenzo, who had fans wondering if the wolves had Deepest list In NBA.

Is this the season when Finch, who has favored short rotations since he became first-time head coach with Wolves in 2021, is rolling consistently with a 10-man rotation? It would have made sense with all the movements that Minnesota made in the summer and how fatigue prevented the wolves from putting more of a fight against Dalla’s Mavericks in the western conference final.

However, Finch used an eight and a half men rotation for Games 1 in Los Angeles and has used similar rotations throughout the season. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naz Reid and Conley/Divincenzo have been the carrying beams from the bench. When the wolves are fully healthy, there are no signs of promising young players, except for short stints for Minott, which Finch recently limited because of his bad defense.

“I know I’m behind Rudy Gobert, one of the best Big Man defenders of all time, a Hall of Famer,” Garza Explained After the victory in Utah. “Obviously, Naz, there was a sixth man of the year. Before it was a cat, and now it is Julius (Randle). I’ve been behind really good players. It is a big, important role to be a guy who is ready when one of these guys goes down or something happens. You still have to win games. These games are huge for us right now. “

Garza played only four minutes in Phoenix, but Micah Nori credited him to hit a large three in the first half after the game. Less than 24 hours later, with Randle out in most of the game in Utah, Finch went with Garza for 14 minutes, with Luka registering 16 points on 6 of 8 from the floor and 2 of 2 from Deep.

Once again, Garza looked like a player who could help the wolves. Every time the team needs him to step up in real minutes, he has it. And when Luka plays in waste minutes, he is clearly the best player on the field. Since Garza signed with Wolves in 2022, he has had the bad fate for Gberbert, Towns, Reid and Randle in front of him in the depth card.

His only opportunity to show his talents is in garbage time or when one of them is out. Garza has shown that he is too good to be the end of the Genen General, but Minnesota’s schedule has kept him off the field.

The same is true dillingham that the wolves seem to have bumped out of game 1 rotation when they brought in Divincenzo. Fans asked Finch to start playing No. 8 choices, especially when the team lacked an offensive spark. However, it was only before Divincenzo went down with Torvtå, which Dillingham got his first break in the NBA.

The wolves are 6-3 in the nine games since Divincenzo’s injury, with victories against playoff-caliber teams, including knicks and Denver nuggets. Dillingham has an average of 15.9 minutes in that stretch, giving Finch a reason to keep him in the rotation when DDV returns. Immediately after joining the team from an ankle sprain that kept him inactive in 10 games, Dillingham is an average of 9.4 points and 3.4 assists of 54.7% from the floor and 50% from deep over the last nine games.

As Wolves maneuvering through their first serious injury defects of the season, Dillingham has had to adapt to different lineups and play 15 minutes with Garza and Clark in the last two matches. There has recently been some consistency with Finch’s lineups due to an injury, but it has not slowed down any of Minnesota’s young players despite having no meaningful playing time for most of the season.

“There really is nothing to find out,” Dillingham said Thursday regarding the various lineups. “We train every day together and get ready for games together. We put the work in. Even (the guys who do not get to show it all the time) put the work in. It’s no different. It’s really easy to play with (Garza and Clark) because it’s easy to go out there when you want to show what you’ve been working on.

Dillingham, Garza and Clark have built a unique connection as they fight against ups and downs in inconsistent playing time, which has helped them get the most out of their recent opportunity.

Clark played well against Washington Wizards on Saturday and noted nine points and four rebounds on 4 of 9 from the floor in 20 minutes. Dillingham recorded six assists in the first half. However, he shot 0 of 4 from the floor and committed three violations in seven minutes in the third quarter, and Finch benched him in the fourth quarter. Garza played a limited 10 minutes and shoots 0 of 6 from the floor and 0 of 3 from deep. The wolves, missing three starters, fell 105-103 to the worst team in the NBA.

We don’t know how long the wolves will be knocked up. Edwards missed Saturday’s game because of diseaseSo he should return soon. However, they will not reassess Divincenzo before the All-Star break and Randle Could miss more games. The opportunity remains open to Dillingham, Garza and Clark to get Finch to consider playing them when the schedule returns to full strength.

Even if Finch returns to his tight rotation when the wolves get healthy, Minnesota’s young players have done everything they can – gain confidence and confidence from those around them by falling back on the work they have put together.