With a roster overhaul this summer, Tom Thibodeau will have many opportunities to get creative with his lineups.
By now, we all know Tom Thibodeau has a penchant for overplaying his players. That didn’t change last season, his first year with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and you shouldn’t expect it to change this year either.
Even though Thibs uses a lot of lineup variations, 246 of them last season to be exact, he heavily depends on the same players to produce time and time again. It’s obvious that players earn his trust in practice and that trust carries over into game situations.
Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns all racked up a ton of minutes last year, finishing near the top in minutes played per game.
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However, finding the right lineup to gel is a lot more complex than simply trotting your five best players out on the court.
Last season, the head coach showed nine five-man lineups who appeared in more than 20 games. The best offensive lineup happened to be Ricky Rubio-Wiggins-Shabazz Muhammad-Gorgui Dieng-Towns who registered a 117.4 offensive rating.
Finding the right mesh of guys can go a long way to carrying a team into the postseason and beyond.
Thibs should lean on these fine lineups to take his team to the promise land.