Chris Finch must figure out the Timberwolves’ crucial combination before it’s too late

The Julius Randle-Naz Reid defensive duo has been a troubling aspect of the Minnesota Timberwolves season. Overall, Randle and Reid have a net rating of plus 5.4 per Cleaning the Glass, which is great. However, they also have a defensive rating of 119.6, which ranks in the 20th percentile. Non-Rudy Gobert minutes have been a major issue for the Wolves all season, and that’s in large part due to Randle and Reid’s defensive shortcomings.

Before the playoffs begin, Chris Finch must find ways to optimize this duo. Otherwise, the opponents will expose the Wolves defense when Gobert is off the field. On the plus side, the duo’s offensive upside and impact is clear, so if things can improve on defense, it would be a game-changer for the Timberwolves and their overall championship chances.

Believe it or not, this is actually a solvable problem

Finding ways to maximize a defensive combination of two big men who are poor rim protectors is tricky, especially when the Wolves’ defense is built around Gobert’s rim protection. Nevertheless, there are some ways to make this Randle and Reid pairing work.

All season long I’ve been advocating for the Wolves to play Jaden McDaniels and Jaylen Clark during Randle and Reid minutes. Despite only playing 135 possessions together, this four-man duo has a defensive rating of 109.4 – a number that ranks in the 89th percentile. Simply put, surrounding Randle and Reid with two quality offensive defensemen is the only way to compensate for their poor rim protection. Additionally, McDaniels can protect the rim at a high rate, giving the Wolves defense some added versatility when Gobert is off the field.

With the signing of Ayo Dosunmu, the Wolves have a clearer path to surrounding Randle and Reid with more defense. Despite Clark’s defensive acumen, Finch was hesitant to play big minutes for him. However, now that Dosunmu can pack more offensive punches, there’s no excuse not to play him and McDaniels in the non-Gobert minutes.

In two games, we’ve seen this two-man pair for 23 possessions, and they have a defensive rating of 95.5. This is a small sample size, but it is undoubtedly an encouraging sign.

To me, playing Dosunmu, McDaniels, Randle and Reid together is the most obvious solution for the non-Gobert minutes. However, another solution could be to play Joan Beringer. I admit this is more off the beaten path than my other suggestion, but I think it’s worth exploring.

In his very limited minutes, Beringer has proven he can contribute. The problem is there aren’t enough minutes for Beringer in a loaded Wolves frontcourt. As such, playing three bigs is the only way to play him. Of course, playing Reid at small forward is risky given his lack of lateral quickness, and in this trio’s limited minutes the results have been terrible. Either way, having a natural rim protector during the Randle-Reid minutes could be worth it, and the Wolves could lean on their elite positional size.

Again, I think the combination of Dosunmu, McDaniels, Randle, and Reid is the most obvious solution to this problem. My point, though, is that Finch has some options to maximize Randle-Reid minutes.

Either way, finding a way to improve Randle-Reid’s minutes defensively should be a clear priority for Finch during the final stanza of the regular season.