Wolves Training Camp: Rotations, and a log jam on the wing
It’s kind of crazy to know that Wolves training camp is just around the corner.
I’ve been so preoccupied this off-season with the NBA Draft, the LeBron James Decision 2.0, and the Kevin Love trade that I didn’t really have a chance to “miss” basketball all that much. And with the FIBA World Cup just finishing up this weekend, I’ve pretty much had all the hoops I could want since the Wolves’ season came to a crashing halt nearly five months ago. Basketball never really went away this year.
I guess I could take the next two weeks to flush my mind of worn-out basketball thoughts and instead focus on something else for a change–like football. But with all the turmoil brewing in the NFL and with the Minnesota Vikings in particular, I’m probably better off staying put inside my little basketball bubble. Why worry about Adrian Peterson’s lack of parenting skills when I can spend my time contemplating the Wolves’ 2014 depth chart, right?
So, yeah, I’m thinking about player rotations. Five positions, two-hundred-and-forty minutes to spread around, and 15 guys who want to get off the bench and actually play a little professional basketball.
As I see it, the Wolves have 11 guys on their training camp roster who could see minutes at either the shooting guard or the small forward positions. Of those 11 players, five of them could see time at other positions like power forward or point guard, while the other six belong exclusively on the wing.
That means that there’s just not enough birthday cake for everyone.
So who gets to play and who gets to do “benchy” things?
I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure it out and the process has led me to wonder which Flip Saunders will be making these decisions: will it be Flip Saunders the coach or Flip Saunders the President of Basketball Operations?
Being that I don’t have inside access to Flip’s brain (still working on that), I did the only logical thing a person in my position can do: I made lists. Undoubtedly nerdy, sure, but the lists made me feel strangely empowered.
I thought that if I wrote some ideas on a piece of notebook paper it could somehow make a difference. For a brief moment I forgot that I have absolutely no say in anything within the Wolves’ front office. Like a boss, I was makin’ shtuff happen.
I made three lists, all of which pertain to the logjam of wing players on the roster. The first list titled The Players with the Most to Offer Right Now was a ranking based on bankable NBA talents that the Flip Saunders the coach might appreciate. Factored into said list were skills like shooting, rebounding, and the ability to guard multiple positions.
Here are my completely subjective rankings ( I left out J.J. Barea due to the swirling rumors that he’ll be working elsewhere next season.):
The Players With The Most To Offer Right Now
1) Kevin Martin 2) Andrew Wiggins 3) Corey Brewer 4) Mo Williams 5) Chase Budinger 6) Shabazz Muhammad 7) Robbie Hummel 8) Anthony Bennett 9) Brady Heslip (shooting is primo) 10) Zach LaVine 11) Glenn Robinson III
The second list was titled The Players with the Greatest Potential, and as you can guess it ranks the players according to their ceilings. This one’s for Flip Saunders, the president. Check it:
The Players With The Greatest Potential
1) Wiggins 2) LaVine 3) Bennett 4) Muhammad 5) Budinger 6) Brewer 7) Robinson 8) Martin 9) Hummel 10) Heslip 11) Williams
Being the slightly mathematical chump that I am, the next logical step was to combine the rankings and then divide by two to find an average score. Groundbreaking stuff, I know. I was hoping that by using my own subjective metrics and then applying the basic principles of addition and division that I’d miraculously discover a formulaic balance that would allow me to decipher the inner workings of Flip’s brain. So I did it…
This List Does Not Have A Title
1) Wiggins 2) Martin 3) Brewer 4) Muhammad 5) Budinger 6) Bennett 7) LaVine 8) Williams 9) Hummel 10) Robinson III 11) Heslip
It wasn’t until I had all of my lists and charts neatly organized that I realized what an idiot I was. I was looking at my made-up data, trying to make sense of its ridiculousness, wondering where I had gone wrong and why it didn’t make any sense…and then I had two realizations.
- There will never be more than one sub coming in to relieve the starting players at any given position. It doesn’t matter who the third best small forward on the roster is because he’ll never get to play unless the one of the top two small forwards get injured, AND
- Training camp will answer these questions for me. Nothing puts a debate to bed like a good old fashioned competition. The players that play the best during camp will get to play in the games. It’s really that simple.
These somewhat obvious revelations about the rotation got me thinking about the roster in an entirely new way. We know that Rubio will start at the point, and that some combo of Wiggins, Martin, and Brewer will handle many of the duties on the wing. We know that Thad Young has the starting power forward gig, and that Nikola Pekovic and Gorgui Dieng have the center position on lock-down.
That’s seven of guys in a ten-man rotation already slotted in. All that’s left are three spots: one at backup power forward, one at the wing, and one at point guard for the rest of the Wolves’ roster to fight over.
It’ll be like a vicious pack of wolves snarling at each other over the last bit of dead something or another. It’s gonna be competive. It’s gonna be crazy.
It’s gonna be a showdown.
That’s right ladies and gentleman: a showdown. Look for this year’s training camp to be one of the feistiest and most hotly contested in recent memory. Established players want to keep their spots and the young cats want to take them away. They may pretend to be buddy-buddy with their secret handshakes and their shared interest in beautiful women and video games, but make no mistake, these dudes are playing for keeps.
Like I said there are three spots to be clawed over in a potential ten-man rotation. Let’s look at them one-by-one, shall we?
Showdown #1: The Last Wing On The Platter
Shabazz Muhammad Vs. Chase Budinger
It’s almost certain that Andrew Wiggins and Kevin Martin will play meaningful minutes on this year’s squad. And being that Corey Brewer was a starter last year, it’s difficult to imagine him falling completely out of the rotation. His leadership and effort are just too valuable to leave on the pine.
So the last remaining chicken wing is left to be fought over between five-year veteran Chase Budinger and second-year player Shabazz Muhammad. This should be an interesting battle because Budinger should be healthy for the first time in years and because Muhammad seemingly knows the odds are stacked against him and has been working his tail off to beat them.
Chase is a more of proven shooter (shot 40% from three in his last healthy season with Houston), while Muhammad is more of a bully with his knack for rebounding and buckets around the basket.
Prediction: Muhammad by the hair of his chinny chin chin.
Showdown #2: The Point Guard Proxy
Mo Williams Vs. Zach LaVine
Because the competition for the remaining wing is already so fierce, Mo Williams and Zach LaVine are better off focusing their attention on trying to win the backup point guard slot. With Alexey Shved gone to Philly, and J.J. Barea soon to be out of the picture, it really comes down to who performs better between Williams and LaVine for Ricky Rubio’s spare minutes.
Williams is an eleven-year vet, so that should give him the advantage out of the gate over LaVine who at this point is more of a project than a sure thing. It’s difficult to dismiss LaVine, however, due to his flashes of seemingly unlimited potential and the ease in which he makes the jaw-dropping plays look ordinary. The question is whether LaVine will show enough awareness and moxie to prove himself worthy of running the show on a part-time basis.
Prediction: Mo Williams will win the job in camp, but LaVine will steal it away like the Grinch by Christmans.
Showdown #3: The Backup Big Man
Anthony Bennett Vs. Anyone Who Dares Enter
The backup power forward slot is probably the most wide-open bit of playing time on the roster. Many are assuming, that because of his pedigree, Anthony Bennett will be handed these minutes on a silver platter, but that’s simply not the case. Because the minutes are so few and far between at the wing and center positions, look for players with the ability to slide over to the four to try and stake their claim on Bennett’s prize.
Gorgui Dieng, a proven talent at this point, surely cannot be happy playing as Pekovic’s backup, so don’t be surprised if he squeezes in a little PT at the power forward to get his minutes. And if Shabazz Muhammad and Robbie Hummel lose out on the last remaining scraps on the wing, look for them to give Bennett a run for his money here at the four.
Bennett has the talent to someday be a starting-caliber power forward in the league, but unless he comes to camp ready to battle for his playing time, he could be looking at a long season of DNP’s.
Prediction: Your guess is as good as mine…
Alright, folks that does it for my training camp showdown preview. What do you think? Who do you believe has the best chance of cracking the Wolves’ rotation this upcoming season?