Minnesota Timberwolves: 5 Reasons Why Kevin Martin Has To Go

The Zach LaVine Point Guard Experiment Has To End

Zach LaVine is making strides.

Over the past several games, the former UCLA Bruin has exuded steady glimpses of his progression. For one, he’s coming off the pick-and-roll with much more conviction — either looking to attack the rack and tear the rim the rim down, or stop on a dime and pull-up for a makeable mid-range J.

However, with every single positive Zach does as a point guard, he nullifies such praises with his inherent hair-pulling tendencies when serving as the lone floor general.

To be more specific, he still kills his dribble at the most inopportune times, struggles mightily when handling against aggressive ball pressure, painfully telegraphs his post entry passes, and cannot or is unwilling to fight over a screen even if his life depended on it (just ask Stephen Curry, who hung 46 on Zach this Thursday).

Simply put, he lacks the inborn awareness to improvise on the fly when the opposing defenses denies him of his first option — instead, he’ll stubbornly try to thread the needle, or force the dribble handoff, in an effort to initiate the offense. But, contrarily, all that does is stagnate their offensive sets, and many times, hinders the Wolves by causing the team to work against a short clock.

Moreover, LaVine takes his role as the “point guard” too literally. He feels almost obligated to go back and retrieve every outlet pass, even though he is often paired with Nemanja Bjelica — an accomplished point forward who’s probably more qualified to run an NBA offense.

With Bjelica’s unique, guard-like skill set, LaVine should receive plenty of runouts and fruitful opportunities in transition given his blinding speed in the open court; but, alternatively, he often just strolls right alongside Professor Big Shots, calling for the ball and destroying the team’s spacing.

The plan for Zach LaVine initially in year two was to use him at shooting guard — Mitchell even prematurely named him the starter at the 2 during training camp.

However, after a couple of uninspiring exhibition performances, Mitchell would pull the plug on the experiment by inserting Prince into the starting lineup and moving Wiggy to the 2.

In doing so, it meant LaVine would be relegated outside of the team’s 10-man rotation if keeping his intended role as a 2-guard. Incoherently, Mitchell would move Zach back to the 1, as he aimed to keep his stringent promise on player development.

By trading away K-Mart, the reigning Slam Dunk king can comfortably play exclusively on the wings, and use the pick-and-roll skills he has honed over the past year-and-a-half in a secondary ballhandler capacity.

Additionally, Zach wouldn’t feel the need to retrieve every outlet pass; thereby, allowing him to fully utilize his athletic gifts to run the floor alongside the likes of Ricky Rubio, Andre Miller and Bjelica.

The proposed move will also enable the Wolves to give their rookie point guard and hometown hero, Tyus Jones, a significant look as a backup, and adhere to their philosophy of developing their youth.

Next: Lack Of Fit With Team Philosophy