Timberwolves have fumbled Donte DiVincenzo

Last season, Donte DiVincenzo (283) made the third-most threes in the NBA, behind only Stephen Curry (357) and Luka Doncic (284). 

Since arriving in Minnesota, DiVincenzo has slipped to No. 50 in made threes (39) and No. 29 in three-point attempts (124). 

The latter number is jarring. How exactly does the player who attempted and made the third-most threes a season ago take fewer shots than 28 other players? The math simply doesn't add up. 

It should be noted that DiVincenzo's minutes (25.8) haven't drastically dropped from his time with the Knicks (29.1) last season. The issue has been Minnesota's ISO-heavy system that relies on Anthony Edwards or Julius Randle to create plays every possession, precluding DiVincenzo from coming off screens for catch-and-shoot attempts. 

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau regularly ran plays designed for DiVincenzo to come off pindowns and light up the Garden. That hasn't been the case in Minnesota, as evidenced by the stat that only 51.6 of his attempts are coming off catch-and-shoot tries. In comparison, 59.2 percent of his shots came off catch-and-shoot attempts last year. 

Another reason has been Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch's undue faith in Jaden McDaniels, who, despite being an elite defender, is a streaky shooter. During Tuesday's overtime loss to the Rockets, for example, McDaniels shot 1-of-8 from three and kept bricking shots. Still, Finch kept him in the lineup in OT in favor of DiVincenzo, who could have provided the team some instant offense.

NBA analyst Jason Timpf highlighted that the Timberwolves were playing four-on-five in OT due to McDaniels' cold shooting. And to his point, an elite dribble-penetrator like Edwards had no reliable shooter to kick the ball out to.