Dunking With Wolves
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Timberwolves positional needs for 2016-17

By Ben Beecken

Apr 13, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Tyus Jones (1) shakes hands with Minnesota Timberwolves center Gorgui Dieng (5) after making a three point shot in the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Target Center. The Timberwolves won 144-109. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 13, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Tyus Jones (1) shakes hands with Minnesota Timberwolves center Gorgui Dieng (5) after making a three point shot in the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Target Center. The Timberwolves won 144-109. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Timberwolves core is more or less intact, but there are certainly some clear needs on the current roster that need to be fixed prior to the 2016-17 season.

The reason(s) that Tom Thibodeau signed up to run the Wolves is/are obvious: Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Ricky Rubio, and Gorgui Dieng.

That’s nearly a starting five — it was the starting five for the Timberwolves in March and April this past season — although Dieng’s natural position is at the center spot. Assuming that Dieng is best utilized as a third big, than this team’s first, most obvious need is a starting power forward.

Whomever the starting ‘four’ is, they don’t need to be a superstar; they simply need to complement the stars and potential stars on the team — namely, Towns and Wiggins.

A power forward with quickness on the defensive end of the floor and the ability to score from the perimeter on offense and rebound around a league-average level would be ideal. Nemanja Bjelica, who is already on the roster, has some of those qualities, but didn’t quite show enough consistency as a 27 year-old rookie to hand the starting job heading into the fall.

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The bench unit currently consists of last year’s second first-round pick, Tyus Jones, Shabazz Muhammad, Bjelica, and Adreian Payne. There isn’t a backup shooting guard, and the likes of Tayshaun Prince, Damjan Rudez, and Greg Smith are likely to be free agents. (There’s also a solid chance that Payne isn’t back, it just remains to be seen if they’re able to trade him or if they simply have to buy him out.)

Jones played well in short bursts as a rookie and actually seems to embody some of the qualities that Thibodeau seemed to favor in his non-Derrick Rose point guards in Chicago, but it’s impossible to tell. Jones was pretty clearly Flip Saunders’ ‘guy’, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see Thibodeau prefer an established, steady veteran running the bench unit behind Ricky Rubio.

Muhammad disappointed in his third season after a promising, pre-injury first half of his second NBA season just a year prior. He still has value as a solid three-point shooter and wrecking ball on offense, but struggles mightily defensively and simply doesn’t share the ball, either.

It’s a very real possibility that Shabazz is moved this off-season, but if not, he profiles as the backup to Andrew Wiggins, meaning that Wiggins would then also serve as the backup shooting guard given the current roster compilation.

Bjelica will likely be on the team, it’s just a matter of if he’s the third, fourth, or fifth big, and how much leash Thibs gives him.

But that still leaves at least one spot in the front court, one on the wing, and the backup point guard spot. At least three roster spots that will actually see the court need to be filled, plus a couple end-of-the-bench slots, too.

Next: Lots of Timberwolves Rumors...

There’s a lot of work for Team Thibodeau-Layden to do, and we’re going to start getting a much clearer look at what their collective idea of team-building looks like here in the coming weeks as the Timberwolves’ roster begins to come together.