Editor’s Note: It brings me great joy to introduce Will Woodford, one of our newest members to the Canis Hoopus team! You’ll be seeing more from Will this season and can follow him on social media @woodford_will.
As part of a multi-part series, he’ll be previewing platoons of the roster, beginning first with the guards. Hop in the comments section and give him a welcome!)
Anthony Edwards
Make no mistake about it, this is the season for the best player on this team to take his assumed leadership role by the horns. In years past, leadership fell on the shoulders of older players such as Mike Conley, Kyle Anderson, and Joe Ingles. Now, the onus is on Anthony Edwards to achieve the harmony that is required to beat the Oklahoma Citys and San Antonios of the world. A cohesive team is a well-performing team, and with perhaps a new role on offense, Edwards should be able to be the connector
this team needs while maintaining his offensive output and increasing his defensive effort. This balanced effort could put the Wolves over the top in a loaded Western Conference.
LaMelo Ball
A shocking offseason trade involving fan favorite Naz Reid brought LaMelo Ball to his first opportunity to contend in his six-year career. Although he’s known as a flashy player, his struggle to stay healthy and a lack of postseason experience is what really brings questions about his ability to facilitate winning at a high level. How can one ignore the LaVar-shaped cloud of craziness that still follows Ball, which certainly doesn’t help smooth over these concerns either.
What Tim Connelly and fans are hoping for is that his high level understanding of what Jalen Rose calls “the geometry of the floor” will make things infinitely easier for his teammates offensively while also being an uber-capable scorer himself.
Ayo Dosunmu
He began as just a name that fans struggled to pronounce correctly when he first got traded to Minnesota at last season’s trade deadline. Now, he’s made a big impression on fans with his play down the stretch and into last season’s playoff run. The result was a a five-year, $112 million contract signed over the offseason.
A change in the team’s core may actually benefit Ayo Dosunmu, whose blazing speed can definitely take advantage of the pace that this team is expecting to play with. Defense is where some improvement could be warranted. His career-high in defensive win shares was in Chicago during the ‘22-’23 season at 2.2, but it dwindled down to just 0.8 with the Timberwolves in admittedly less games (per Basketball-Reference.com). Anthony Edwards can guard, but Donte DiVincenzo’s injury and LaMelo Ball’s lack of defensive pedigree will force Ayo to be a key contributor to the team’s perimeter defense.
Bones Hyland
After falling out of favor with both the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers, Bones Hyland experienced somewhat of a career resurgence last season with the Timberwolves. Skelly Cellys rained throughout the Target Center like it had been a long-standing tradition. Moving forward, Bones expects to be an important bench guard, especially with the absence of Donte DiVincenzo. There’s not really a knockdown three-point shooter off the bench, so Bones will certainly have an opportunity to fill that void.
Donte DiVincenzo
A torn Achilles tendon in the first round against the Denver Nuggets derailed a promising playoff run for Donte Divincenzo, taking him out for most of, if not all, next season. The real kicker is that he is in a contract year, impacting what could’ve been a big payday. The absolute best case scenario for Donte is the Jayson Tatum track, where he would come back late in the season, hopefully getting back into game shape and into the rotation by the postseason.
Zyon Pullin
Those who didn’t watch Summer League (or the Iowa Wolves last season) may not know this name, but those who did know that this kid can play with poise. Zyon Pullin also impressed in last year’s season finale against the New Orleans Pelicans. He’s a guard who can score the ball, but can also be a stabilizer if needed. He may spend some time in Iowa again, but there are definitely worse depth pieces out there.
What are you expecting from each of these guards? Will the reshaped backcourt be the key to finally pushing the Wolves over the top? Or will that be a cause for crashing and burning (pun not intended) in the postseason?
Let us know what you think!
