The Minnesota Timberwolves will need to trim their roster down before the beginning of the season. Here’s who will make the team.
The Minnesota Timberwolves and Tom Thibodeau have a couple of weeks to trim some extra fat off their roster and whittle it down to size.
They currently have 17 players under contract, but are only allowed to carry 15 on their NBA roster, not including two additional two-way spots.
Of those 17 players, 13 of them have fully-guaranteed deals for the 2017-18 season. Three more, Marcus Georges-Hunt, Melo Trimble and Amile Jefferson, have non-guaranteed deals. That means they can be cut before the season begins at no extra cost to the Timberwolves.
More from Dunking with Wolves
- The dream starting 5 for Minnesota Timberwolves 5 years from now
- Anthony Edwards’ latest accolade is a great sign of things to come
- In an OT thriller, Team Canada snatches Bronze from Team USA
- Timberwolves start, bench, cut: Mike Conley, Shake Milton, Jordan McLaughlin
- Which Timberwolves roster additions have upgraded the bench?
The two-way deals are technically part of the roster, but can only spend a maximum of 45 days with the NBA team. Anthony Brown, the 17th player, is already signed to one of the two-way deals, leaving one more available.
Overall, Minnesota has 12 first round-picks on their roster, the sixth most of any team in the league. They also carry two second-round selections and three undrafted players.
With their current trip to China, unfortunately, some of these players will be participating in their last few practices as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The good news is, however, this gives them some more time to make a positive and lasting impact to Tom Thibodeau and his staff.
What will the roster look like come the season-opener on Oct. 17? Let’s dive in and take a look.
Point guard
Made the team: Jeff Teague, Tyus Jones, Aaron Brooks
Cut: Melo Trimble
The trio of Jeff Teague, Tyus Jones and Aaron Brooks give the Wolves a capable, even if diminutive, trifecta of point guards.
Teague will hold down the starting role all season long and figures to play a majority of the minutes. He may not be great at any one thing, but he is good in almost every area across the board.
So far, neither Jones nor Brooks has separated themselves as the main backup to Teague. This battle will likely remain tight all throughout the preseason and into the beginning of the regular season. Each player will continue to have their time to shine on the floor and Thibs will hope someone seizes the opportunity.
Unfortunately for Melo Trimble, there isn’t a need for a fourth point guard on this roster. Or any roster for that matter.
Trimble didn’t make into the first preseason game against the Los Angels Lakers and that’s not a great sign. He doesn’t appear to have the physical gifts or skillset to survive in the NBA for very long. Once a promising prospect at Maryland, his play became very inconsistent the longer he stayed. Although
Although Thibodeau hasn’t had anything negative to say about Trimble, his play hasn’t done much talking either. Due to the depth ahead of him, he’s unlikely to see his name on the Wolves’ roster come opening night.
Shooting guard
Made the team: Jimmy Butler, Jamal Crawford, surprise player
Cut: none
In many ways, Minnesota has a very unbalanced roster. This becomes most prevalent when looking at the shooting guard position. Sure, there are a couple of other players who could play this spot, however, Jimmy Butler and Jamal Crawford are the main two.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Butler figures to play anywhere from 35-38 minutes a night and sometimes even more. Given his positional flexibility, I expect him to be put in multiple different situations to succeed maybe even including some time at the 4.
Crawford will almost exclusively play at the 2 when he comes off the bench. With Jones/Brooks and Shabazz Muhammad on either side of him, this will allow him to manage some of the ball-handling and playmaking duties as well as get his fair amount of shots up.
Behind Crawford, however, remains a mystery.
Thibodeau intentionally left a roster spot open to give his team some flexibility moving forward. Presumably, he will sign a veteran who was a surprise cut off another team. Shooting guard is the most likely position to be filled, as they are unquestionably the shallowest on the depth chart.
Make sure you tune in for this surprise signing as the regular season nears.
Small forward
Made the team: Andrew Wiggins, Shabazz Muhammad, Marcus Georges-Hunt
Cut: none
Similar to Butler, Andrew Wiggins will man the majority of the minutes at small forward. He’s a little less positionally flexible, but could also see some time at the 2 and 4 depending on who he shares the court with.
He’s one of the most durable players in the league, having played in 245 of a possible 246 games throughout his career. Oh, and he’s averaged a whopping 36.2 minutes throughout those games. At 22, he’s only just getting started. I expect him to continue seeing the floor around that 35-37 minute average.
That means there won’t be many minutes behind him and what’s left figures to be gobbled up by Muhammad.
Last season, Bazz played 19.4 minutes per game which was a decrease for the third straight season. I expect that trend to continue as Minnesota now supports a deeper and much-improved bench.
Although he’s a useful player, he certainly has his flaws. Those flaws may open up some opportunities for other players to step in and seize some minutes. Namely, Marcus Georges-Hunt.
Georges-Hunt played briefly, and I mean briefly, last year with the Orlando Magic, appearing in 22 games. However, he proved he can play at the D-League level by dropping 15.8 points per game and shooting 39.2 percent from the 3-point line.
If he can find even an inkling of that success in the NBA, he can earn himself a spot at the end of the Timberwolves’ bench.
Power forward
Made the team: Taj Gibson, Nemanja Bjelica
Cut: Amile Jefferson
Taj Gibson received a two-year $28 million deal from the Timberwolves this summer. Some fans questioned the high annual salary, but Gibson will look to prove his worth. Quantifying that worth may prove to be a difficult challenge for the eight-year veteran.
He will likely have an equal impact both on and off the court. His experience in Thibodeau’s system and playing in the NBA, in general, is a very crucial aspect. He will also provide great leadership to his younger teammates and is someone who knows how to win.
Behind him is Nemanja Bjelica. Bjelica might be the most underrated player on the roster. His improved play late last season was one of the main reasons Minnesota was beginning to make a playoff push around the All-Star break. It’s no coincidence the teams’ play faulted down the stretch immediately after Bjelica went down with an injury.
When at his best, he brings the innate ability to knock down outside shots, thus stretching the defense out of the lane. This is critical for the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns, Wiggins and Butler to succeed when attacking the rim.
Unfortunately, the Timberwolves are absolutely loaded in the frontcourt. This means Amile Jefferson will find himself on the outside looking in. Jefferson simply doesn’t bring enough to the table to warrant rostering at this point. He doesn’t specialize in any one skill, rather, is okay a lot of things.
Center
Made the team: Karl-Anthony Towns, Gorgui Dieng, Cole Aldrich, Justin Patton
Cut: None
Despite centers quickly becoming an extinct position in the NBA, the Timberwolves will probably sport four or them walking into the season. Unfortunately, there’s not an efficient way around it.
Karl-Anthony Towns is on his way to becoming not only the best center in the league, but potentially the best player. Throughout his extremely short career, he’s proven to have an omni-growing game that makes him a threat from anywhere on the floor.
When he’s not in the game, Gorgui Dieng will most-likely see the majority of minutes at the 5. Dieng has been miscast the last couple years as a power forward, but should thrive back at his natural position.
Cole Aldrich makes the roster simply because of the amount of money he’s owed this year. It wouldn’t make sense for Minnesota to release him so he will stick around for at least one more year.
Lastly, the rookie Justin Patton rounds out this positional group. Patton is still recovering from a foot injury he suffered during a workout this summer. Who knows when he will be back, however, when he does return it will likely be in a split role between the Iowa Wolves and their parent team, the Timberwolves.
Next: Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 things to watch for in the preseason
It’s clear this roster is far from a finished product. It is still very unbalanced and has a couple of minor holes that need to be filled. Whether or not those holes are filled this year remains unimportant. Thibodeau certainly has a championship on his mind and those teams aren’t created in one summer.