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Minnesota Timberwolves: After their historic lineup from 2017-18, what will the new lineup look like?

By Trey Flynn

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 18: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 and Jimmy Butler #23 of the Minnesota Timberwolves high five during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on December 18, 2017 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 18: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 and Jimmy Butler #23 of the Minnesota Timberwolves high five during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on December 18, 2017 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The 2018-19 NBA regular season will start in only two short months and the Minnesota Timberwolves are pretty much done with their offseason moves.

The Minnesota Timberwolves probably won’t surprise anyone with their starting lineup this season. Their starting lineup last season finished the year with the highest minutes per game out of every lineup in the NBA.

Not sure if that’s a positive or negative as they were the 8th seed with two All-Stars, although the Western Conference is ridiculous.

The 23.6 minutes per game lineup consisted of Jeff Teague, Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins, Taj Gibson, and Karl-Anthony Towns.

That 23.6 minutes per game lineup is actually an NBA record, which I’m not sure is something to boast about or not. There was a close second team (22.6 MPG) with the 2009-10 Memphis Grizzlies led by Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, and Zach Randolph – who were arguably one of the tougher basketball teams of the past decade.

Here are some interesting categories that the Wolves ended up leading the NBA in last season with this infamous starting lineup:

  • Minutes Per Game – 23.6
  • Field Goals Made/Attempted – 20.6/42.1
  • Defensive Rebounds – 15.8
  • Assists – 11.5
  • Steals/Blocks – 4.7/2.3
  • Total Minutes – 1,131 in 48 games
  • Points – 2,591
  • Steals – 225

The catalyst from most of these is Jimmy Butler, who funnily enough, only played 59 games healthy last season and these lineup records were stopped at 48 games when Butler fell to his injury.

While the starting lineup looks obviously set in stone, the remaining lineups are difficult to comprise. With the late addition of point guard Derrick Rose last season you can see him getting more minutes in general due to the loss of Jamal Crawford and Nemanja Bjelica.

Also, the addition of the two draft picks in Josh Okogie and Keita Bates-Diop this offseason will definitely make a splash in the lineups at one point during the regular season.

I would assume that head coach Tom Thibodeau would stick with Tyus Jones as his true back up point guard but have switching implemented throughout his game plans with Derrick Rose being utilized at the other guard position.

Thibs almost need to play Jones over Rose at the point guard position or Tyus may want out of Minnesota, as you can read from Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.

"Via, The Sporting News and NBC Sports“But sources told Sporting News that Jones met with team management after the playoffs, and Thibodeau reasserted his support of Jones and his development. Even if the Wolves re-sign Rose, Jones was assured, his minutes and opportunities would increase because Crawford is not expected to return to the team. Rose mostly played shooting guard with the Wolves last season, so there’s a chance Jones could play alongside Rose as a backcourt bench unit.Jones had considered requesting a trade, but the meeting with the team defused that notion before it arose. And for now, at least, the Wolves have no intention of dealing him.”"

Regardless of who gets the helm of back up point guard, what you have with these two guards is a lack of shooting from anywhere past 15-feet.

The addition of 3-point shooting Anthony Tolliver will definitely help, and Gorgui Dieng can be placed at the center position as well. But, the question mark remains at the wing/small forward position.

Next. 2 Jimmy Butler trade scenarios. dark

Josh Okogie is measured in at 6’5″ or 6’4″ but has a 7’0″ wingspan, he may be the answer at the wing position if Thibodeau will let it happen. Otherwise, you could see a move being made to get Dieng out of the starting lineup and let the backup Timberwolves use a small ball rotation with Bates-Diop getting minutes.

Although, it’s extremely likely Thibs will use a 9-man rotation so you can count on the only players seeing minutes off the bench are Tyus Jones, Derrick Rose, Anthony Tolliver, and hopefully first round pick Josh Okogie.

In conclusion, if record setting starting lineup last season can stay healthy, they can make a real run in the Western Conference this season and cement themselves even more in Timberwolves lore.

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