Minnesota Timberwolves: Projecting the roster and guard rotation

With tip-off for the Minnesota Timberwolves’ season just one week away, let’s take a look at who will make the final roster and ultimately crack the guard rotation.

In three preseason games, Minnesota Timberwolves Head Coach Ryan Saunders has followed through on President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas’s vow to play lineups featuring one lead guard, three wings, and a big down low.

Following Minnesota’s 143-123 loss to Golden State last Thursday night in San Francisco, Saunders hinted that the team’s last three games would feature a rotation that is more in line with what we will see in the regular season.

Consequently, Sunday’s blowout victory over Israeli club Maccabi Haifa was more than just a fun tune-up for Wolves faithful at Target Center. While Coach Saunders’ rotation featured a wide variety of lineups throughout the night and did little to settle the dust surrounding who be prominently featured in his backcourt, we did learn about what he will expect of his lead guards.

Guards will be pushing the pace whenever possible. On most possessions, the ball crossed the half-court line with 20 to 22 seconds remaining on the shot clock.

When Maccabi Haifa’s shots went up, guards hung near the 3-point line in order to corral any long rebounds, but also to be able to bolt up the floor and catch outlet passes from rebounding teammates.

The team’s ability to initiate offense in the open floor with trailing bigs and wings filling lanes correctly in transition will create plenty of easy scoring opportunities from the perimeter and at the rim.

But in order for this to work, Ryan Saunders will need his lead guards to play with their head on a swivel, constantly be looking for open teammates, and hold off on pounding the air out of the basketball in the half-court.

Let’s get into who we might see playing this role for Minnesota this season.