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Who will start at shooting guard for the Timberwolves?

By Ben Beecken

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We’ve covered the Wolves’ starting shooting guard conundrum at Dunking With Wolves countless times over the past few weeks, but it’s only getting more confusing.

After Sam Mitchell (perhaps a bit hastily) named second-year guard Zach LaVine as his starting two-guard, LaVine has been nothing short of uneven over the course of four preseason appearances. And while his per-game averages are unsightly (6 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 turnovers per game on 23.3% shooting from the field), the eye test has likely been even more painful.

LaVine has not, in any sense of the word, “earned” the starting shooting guard spot. Not by his play in his rookie year, and certainly not by his play over four otherwise meaningless preseason contests.

But since interim head coach Mitchell pegged him as the starter in early October, it makes even less sense to back off of the 20 year-old now then it ever did to commit to him as the starter in the first place. It’s a situation that has been sorely mishandled by Mitchell and his staff, and it’s precisely the type of thing that could wreck a player’s confidence.

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LaVine is supremely confident, to be sure, but it doesn’t mean that he deserves to be jerked around before the regular season even tips off. We’re still a full week away from the first real NBA game, and LaVine has already had multiple roles attached to him — not behind closed doors, either, but to the media.

Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune called it a preseason for the LaVine-as-starter concept on Sunday after the Wolves’ loss in Memphis.

It’s impossible to say just how informed Zgoda’s take is, but he generally reports based on some level of insider information, so there’s no doubt some legitimacy to the tweet.

Zgoda has also reported a few times on Twitter that the Wolves think that LaVine “needs” the ball in his hands to be effective, which is an entirely different and frightening prospect. It is in fact exactly the opposite of what the front office’s off-season moves implied, with the first-round selection of point guard Tyus Jones and free agent signing of fellow point guard Andre Miller.

If the Wolves promoted and then demoted LaVine simply to hand him a backup point guard spot, well, I’m not sure which direction is up anymore. The whole thing is pretty confusing, and if Minnesota’s brass watched last season and four preseason games and came to the conclusion that LaVine should have the ball in his hands more and be initiating the offense, then I guess I’m not sure what to say.

At any rate, we’ll have plenty more “who should/will start at shooting guard for the Wolves” talk over the next week. Next up will be a No Frills Wolves podcast with Justin Schardin and myself that should hit the site first thing on Wednesday, and we’ll spend quite a bit of time discussing this generally polarizing topic.

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