Minnesota Timberwolves: Should James Johnson be a starter?

The Minnesota Timberwolves are still looking for that final piece to make them a considerable threat, and right now, James Johnson looks like he could be it.

The Minnesota Timberwolves had a problem.

They had acquired two players who they thought would be their centerpieces in Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, they got rid of the problem child Jimmy Butler, and they were able to convince Derrick Rose, a former MVP, to come to their squad. Not only that, but they got Jeff Teague, who led the “Spurs of the East” Atlanta Hawks. It seemed like everything was going smoothly.

That…didn’t exactly happen. Rose was good, but only ever came off the bench, and Teague was never able to live up to his previous play. After further draft picks and trades for players like Tyus Jones and Shabazz Napier fell through on producing a franchise point guard, Minnesota decided to go scorched earth and trade whatever they needed to give up for D’Angelo Russell. The move gave Minnesota its franchise point guard, and it may have just secured their long-term future with Karl-Anthony Towns.

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With this trade, which saw the departure of Andrew Wiggins, who had failed to produce on the level that was expected of him, Minnesota thought they had final figured out that final piece they needed. After a nearly 30-point route of the LA Clippers, everything seemed to finally be falling into place.

Minnesota has played five games since then, lost all, and were separated by at least ten points in all but one of those games. So what are the Timberwolves missing now? Defense, mainly.

Over the last five games, Minnesota is dead last in defensive rating, at 120.7. In the same span, they’re 27th in opponent second-chance points, and they let their opponents score the most points in the paint by far. The second-worst team in the league, the Atlanta Hawks, let their opponents score five fewer points in the paint than Minnesota. The Timberwolves’ opponents have shot 51.8 percent from the field, putting them at the bottom of the league in that category as well.

The two biggest things that the Timberwolves need right now is someone who can play big on the inside, keep their opponents from getting easy shots, and be able to grab important defensive rebounds. Currently, the Minnesota Timberwolves are 21st in the league in opponent offensive rebounds (their opponents grab 11.2 boards a game), and their inability to keep the opponent from grabbing crucial boards in late-game situations, which is one of the things that hurt them in their game against the Boston Celtics.

In that game, Minnesota was down just five points with five minutes left. Then, Boston went on to corral five offensive boards in the final quarter, compared to Minnesota’s two, and they grabbed 11 defensive rebounds, while Minnesota got eight. Those extra defensive rebounds especially hurt Minnesota because the Timberwolves shot just 28.6 percent, and again, were only able to pull in two offensive rebounds, and were only able to convert on one of those rebounds.

This is where recent acquisition James Johnson comes in.

Johnson has been absolutely stellar for the Timberwolves in the short amount of time he’s been with them. Over the last six games, he’s averaged 10.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game. Over that time span, Johnson has shot 40.5 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from 3-point range, and 75.0 percent from the free throw line.

In those six games, Johnson has only made the starting squad once, as he’s been benched in favor of Juan Hernangomez. While Hernangomez is arguably the better player overall, but Johnson could likely be a better fit defensively for the starting lineup.

When Johnson is on the court, the Minnesota Timberwolves have a defensive rating (which is points per 100 possessions) of 115.0, compared to the 118.4 when he’s off the court. Put those numbers right up aside Hernangomez, and it is a pretty striking difference, although admittedly it’s still a small sample size for both players.

When Hernangomez is on the court, the Timberwolves allow 125.1 points per 100 possessions, which is the lowest number on the team. Meanwhile, when Hernangomez is off the court, the Timberwolves defensive rating is 106.8. That’s the biggest difference on the team.

In fairness to Hernangomez, this big difference could be due in part to where he sits on the rotation. Out of the five players where when they’re on the court the Minnesota Timberwolves have the worst defensive rating, four of them are starters. The final starter, Karl-Anthony Towns, is sixth on that list.

Meanwhile, on ESPN’s depth chart, Johnson falls behind Naz Reid, so there’s simply less time for him to be on the court when the Timberwolves are giving up points.

Another aspect to consider is how each players previous teams performed defensively with Johnson and Hernangomez. For Hernangomez, the Denver Nuggets had a defensive rating of 102.8 when he was on the court and a rating of 108.0 when he was off the court while Johnson’s Miami Heat had a defensive rating of 109.2 with him on the court and 107.9 when he was off the court. Though, again, it’s important to note that neither player cracked 500 minutes with their previous teams.

In the end, it may just be a little too early to really determine who should have the starting role next to Towns. However, Johnson has proved that he is deserving of the opportunity, and if given the chance, may end up being exactly what the Timberwolves were looking for.