Subscribe
Follow Us
After a 2-1 start to the NBA season, the Minnesota Timberwolves are still working on finding their identity. Mike Conley is coming off his first full campaign with the Timberwolves, and the 37-year-old guard addressed that his slow start is due to a little wrist soreness that stems from a few years ago, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
Conley has an extensive injury history, most recently to his calf and Achilles, so the wrist soreness is of great concern even though he's apparently been playing through it for a while. Conley's numbers are down compared to his previous seasons, averaging seven points, four assists on 20 percent shooting over his three appearances.
In his 18th NBA campaign, Conley is playing 24.7 minutes per game and he's been a quality veteran alongside Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards since the beginning of last year. Minnesota has coped well, despite losing Karl- Anthony Towns to a preseason trade with the New York Knicks, and they will continue to make a run in the Western Conference.
Mike Conley's role with the 2024-25 Timberwolves
Conley produced very well when the Timberwolves finished the 2023-24 NBA season 56-26 and third in the Western Conference. He appeared in 76 games, his highest mark since 2012-13 with the Memphis Grizzlies when he was 25 years old, and averaged 11.9 points, 5.9 assists on 45.7 percent shooting. He will likely revert to those numbers, if what he's saying about his wrist soreness is accurate.
In the Towns deal, the team was able to pick up another quality two-way guard in Donte DiVincenzo to take some of the pressure off of Conley, and got some significant value back in the frontcourt with Julius Randle.
It's a tad concerning that Conley is the only true point guard that the Timberwolves have played in the rotation. So far they've tried to go forward-heavy with their lineups during games, but it'll be interesting to see if that can hold up throughout the year.
