Missing KAT? Randle rebounding? DiVincenzo bricks? Turnovers? Wolves have problems

Minnesota is in a race to find solutions to a number of pressing problems.

Nov 10, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo (0) celebrates after making a shot against the Miami Heat in the second half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images / Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

It's not Anthony Edwards. It's not Rudy Gobert. It's not a lack of talent. Is it simply the absence of Karl-Anthony Towns? Why are the Timberwolves (6-5) struggling early in the season?

Towns is having a tremendous first season with the Knicks. He's averaging 24.5 points, 12.4 rebounds and shooting 51.1% from 3-point range. His player efficiency rating (PER) is fifth in the league at 27.1, only trailing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (27.4), Giannis Antetokounmpo (30.2), Anthony Davis (31.4) and Nikola Jokic (33.4).

You have to scroll all the way down to No. 41 on the PER rankings to find the first Minnesota player, and it's not Edwards. It's Naz Reid with a 20.0 PER. Edwards ranks 47th with a 19.6 PER. Just facts...

Maybe the Timberwolves are simply going through growing pains after trading Towns for Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. It would make sense because players don't just gel overnight. Heck, even the Knicks are a bit sluggish with a 5-5 record.

Randle has been stuffing the stat sheet, averaging 20.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists while shooting 52.0% overall and 38.3% from 3. The concerning number associated with Randle is rebounds. Never in his career has he averaged fewer than 8 rebounds per game. At 6.6 this season, he's way below his career average of 9.3.

DiVincenzo has been a pest on the defensive end of the floor, but his shooting has been horrific through 11 games. The number to focus on is his 3-point shooting. A whopping 78.2% of his attempts come from behind the arc and he's making just 32.9% of them. He shot 40.1% from deep last season and finished fourth in the NBA at 3.5 made 3-pointers per game.

This is not the level of play the Timberwolves thought they'd be getting from DiVincenzo when they made the Towns trade. Remember, DiVincenzo was a monster for the Knicks last season. He averaged 17.7 points in 63 games as a starter during the regular season and was closer to 20 per game in February, March and April. He went off with scoring performances of 25, 28, 35 and 39 points in the playoff series against the Pacers.

DiVincenzo hasn't scored more than 16 points in a game this season with Minnesota.

As easy as it is to point to missing Towns, Randle not rebounding and DiVincenzo struggling with his shot, it's even easier to pinpoint Minnesota's woes on turnovers.

The Wolves had a season-high 23 turnovers in their NBA Cup loss to the lowly Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night. It was their third straight game with at least 20 turnovers. At 16.1 turnovers per game, the Wolves are fifth worst when it comes to ball security.

Edwards had six turnovers in back-to-back games against the Blazers and Heat, but he only had one in the second chance against Portland Tuesday night. But just as Edwards cut down his turnover numbers, Randle, Gobert, DiVincenzo and Jaden McDaniels had four turnovers apiece.

How do the Wolves fix those issues? More effort on the glass from Randle seems like an easy fix to his problem. DiVincenzo simply busting out of a shooting funk would solve his problem. The roster gelling with time would eliminate the Towns problem. And taking care of the ball is the easy solution to the turnover issue.

The one thing that doesn't seem to have an easy answer is the lost defensive identity that made last season's Wolves so ferocious. Finding an answer to that might be something the players have to discover from within, because, hypothetically, the roster is better overall defensively with DiVincenzo and Randle than it was with Towns.