Timberwolves Player Preview: Cole Aldrich

This is the fifth part in our series previewing the entire Minnesota Timberwolves roster, player-by-player from the least to the most minutes played last season.

Just like teammate Tyus Jones, new Timberwolves center Cole Aldrich is a Minnesota native.

Aldrich had a three-year career at the University of Kansas, where he won a national championship in 2008. While in college, he never lost a home game, with his squads going 55-0 over his three years.

He was a high school All-American and heavily recruited by colleges around the country. Cole was drafted 11th-overall in 2010 by the New Orleans Hornets. Since then, he has bounced around from team-to-team.

Aldrich has played for the Thunder, Rockets, Kings, Knicks, and Clippers, in that order. He also played in 21 games for the Tulsa 66ers of the D-League back in 2010-11.

This summer, however, the seven-footer signed a three-year, $22 million contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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Personally, I like Aldrich. He’s nothing particularly special; he’s a role player. He’s a big ol’ boy, standing 6′-11″ and weighing 245 pounds. There are, more or less, dozens of players just like him in the NBA. What he does do, however, could be a good fit for the Timberwolves roster.

Aldrich is a big man who can come off the bench and give the starter a rest without losing too much productivity as a team. With this Timberwolves roster, I think he has the potential to play at least 15 or more minutes per game for multiple seasons.

Cole is quick for his size, which shows in his defensive ability. For a guy off the bench, he’s a solid defender. A big presence in the paint, Aldrich makes any offensive player think twice before going to the cup. Just ask Andrew Wiggins.

Because of his size, Aldrich also rebounds well. When a ball goes up, he knows how to get in the way of the other team. He stays wide and uses his strength to push other players out of the way to grab the rock.

Right now, the Wolves starting lineup looks to include big men Karl Anthony-Towns and Gorgui Dieng, but they’ll need more than one big man on the bench that can give them rest.

Unfortunately, Nikola Pekovic is more than a large question mark right now, and won’t be able to fill that spot on opening night. The Timberwolves brought in Aldrich and fellow veteran journeyman Jordan Hill, who should both contribute to filling that backup center spot.

Hill might get more minutes than Aldrich, but I still believe that Cole will be a guy that sees the floor and relieves Towns and Dieng in a productive fashion.

As long as you have other guys that can score, Aldrich can play without losing too much productivity. When he gets subbed in, there should be a couple of guys on the floor like an Andrew Wiggins or Zach LaVine to pick up the scoring load.

Next: Timberwolves Player Preview: Tyus Jones

I believe that Cole Aldrich has found a home with the Timberwolves. He’ll fit in nicely with the roster and hopefully can play in Minnesota for a long time. Playing for his home town team should also keep him with the Wolves for a while.