Minnesota Timberwolves: Predicting the 2018-19 depth chart

The end of the bench

Last year, the end of the Timberwolves bench included veteran point guard Aaron Brooks and Minnesota native Cole Aldrich. The two-way contract spots were not used as such, and that was that.

In 2018-19, Brooks and Aldrich are gone. In their place would be Justin Patton, who probably won’t play until sometime around Christmas due to another foot surgery, as well as rookie forward Keita Bates-Diop.

The two-way spots are filled with undrafted rookie guard Jared Terrell and journeyman swingman C.J. Williams.

In short, the end of the Wolves roster is younger and more versatile than it was a year ago. Bates-Diop can play both forward spots and could very well play himself into a more regular role at the NBA level, although he also may see considerable time in the G League.

Once healthy, Patton would play the Aldrich role, buried on the bench behind All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and overqualified backup Gorgui Dieng.

Terrell is probably not an NBA player right now, and is more of an undersized two-guard than a point guard. Williams, on the other hand, appears to be real wing depth and could step in and play some minutes in a pinch if there was to be an injury or if Okogie struggles early on.

To the extent that roster spots 11 through 13 matter, the Timberwolves seem to have done a better job filling them out for the 2018-19 season than they did the year prior.

Of course, it’d be much better if it didn’t matter who was on the end of the bench. Here’s hoping those guys won’t need to be relied on much at all…