The Minnesota Timberwolves are built to be a position-less team

With a revamped roster and a new stable of wing talent, the Minnesota Timberwolves have officially been built as a position-less team.

Over the past decade-plus, the NBA has changed a great deal, from a mid-range, isolation-heavy style to the new perimeter-oriented, pick-and-roll-heavy style. If it seems like the Minnesota Timberwolves are the last team to join the modern game, well, you’re right.

With this perimeter oriented style of play we’ve seen many players besides traditional point guards initiating offense. Recent examples include Giannis Antetokounmpo, Draymond Green, Pascal Siakam and Nikola Jokic.

To this point, Gersson Rosas has been open about changing to this modern style of play. Based on the offseason, this team looks deep in every position except point guard, so what can the fans expect to see?

Rosas has committed to build around All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns, who might be the most talented scoring center in the league. At the very least, Towns is the best shooting center in the league, shooting north of 40 percent from behind the 3-point line over the last two years with an average of four attempts per game.

Rosas also indicated that Robert Covington might be the best fit at the power forward position. Covington is also an above-average 3-point shooter and surely isn’t shy to launch from deep. With two elite front court players at the perimeter, teams will be forced to play their biggest men close to the perimeter on defense, something that no big man is comfortable doing.

Towns has a great handle, too, and it’s a handle that’s only improving. With the threat to shoot he can really attack on closeouts especially against slower moving centers.

With Towns and Covington primarily playing from the perimeter, the Wolves can have a 5-out system. This way, all five players are behind the 3-point line, allowing anyone to cut to the rim through the paint. Or, any player can have the space to drive to the rim or in the pick-and-roll.

At 6-foot-8 and 200 pounds, Andrew Wiggins is a big shooting guard who occasionally plays small forward. His weight doesn’t allow him to create separation against more physical defenders in isolation, which often results in a contested long 2-point attempts. What he does possess is speed, quickness, and a ridiculous vertical, so using him as a ball handler suits him much better.

Most guards are too short to defend him and most wings are too slow, making him very unique. Wiggins is mostly a straight-line driver but he also has a crossover and an in-and-out dribble.  Even though his handle seems somewhat limited, his combination of height and athleticism allows him to get the rim and make plays, especially if he gets a screen in the pick and roll in the half court.

Wiggins can really shine as a pick-and-roll ball-handler. With a spaced floor and forcing a switch with the pick-and-roll on a slower center, Wiggins doesn’t hesitate to get to the rim.

Using his first step, long strides, Euro steps and spin moves, he can score at the rim efficiently. Even if he does miss the initial layup, his second jump is so quick that he can usually tip the rebound back in the basket. However, tipped in dunks are not guaranteed with good rebounding

Centers and heavily-contested shots at the rim are not always the best shot even for someone as talented as Wiggins. Therefore, Towns rolling to the rim should be a great passing option which should be available with all the attention Wiggins gets by himself.

The fact that Towns is such a good shooter from beyond the arc should allow him to roll to the rim and is partly is what makes him so versatile. The defense cannot predict whether he is going to pop for three or roll to the rim, unlike a lot of other centers in the NBA that only roll.

This off-ball movement will allow Towns to score easy points which would save his energy to run in transition and defend. Towns also freezes the defense anytime he gets a pass, which allows Wiggins to get a lot of easy looks himself. Wiggins can change directions and accelerate which will allow him to dish and go for easy dunks at the rim – these two players could run a similar caliber game to Jamal Murray and Jokic in Denver.

Wiggins is a good ball-handler in the open floor and the pick-and-roll, but if blitzed by a double-team on the perimeter, he is not someone that will try to split the double-team. Instead, he is most likely just pass it around the perimeter.

This is where rookie and No. 6 overall pick Jarrett Culver comes in as a secondary ball-handler. Culver basically was used as a point guard at 6-foot-7 for Texas Tech with a 32 percent usage rate. He is very comfortable with the ball but may not be as explosive as Wiggins or even as good of a shooter.

Culver does have a nice hesitation dribble that freezes the defender and allows him to get to the rim, but the most impressive part of his game is his vision and passing ability. Long-term, he might be better than Wiggins at creating for others.

The final piece in the starting lineup is last year’s first-round pick, Josh Okogie. At 6-foot-4, Okogie has the low center of gravity, energy level, and lateral quickness to defend any point guard.

Okogie was often matched up on taller players (out of necessity) last year and with mixed results, but with the team’s newfound wing depth he can be slotted into defending more starting point guards.

Josh Okogie’s 42-inch vertical and 7-foot wingspan is a rare combination which allows him to be a special on-ball defender that can switch onto other positions, including defending the pick-and-roll, where he will be forced to switch onto big men. It is vital to have those physical tools to box out, rebound, or deflect lobs — something that most point guards cannot do.

The best teams in the West play multiple lead guards in their starting lineups: Steph Curry and D’Angelo Russell in Golden State, Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum in Portland, Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley in Utah, Russell Westbrook and James Harden in Houston, and Gary Harris and Jamal Murray in Denver, to name a few.

The Wolves now have a backcourt that may be able to physically overwhelm some of them defensively and still be athletic enough to play fast.

In a starting lineup with Towns and four wings, there are still plenty of wings on the bench to form this position-less identity. The offense was always good with Jeff Teague in the starting lineup but with Josh Okogie and Jarrett Culver seeing regular minutes in his place this team could have a top-10 defense in the league.

With all four wings with Towns capable of defending on the perimeter and defending the rim, the Wolves can create easy points in transition since anyone can start the fast break after a rebound or turnover which can be a big momentum swing for the team.

This should eventually result in more wins and a chance for a playoff push, which is exactly what the doctor ordered for this franchise.