Let’s look at the Minnesota Timberwolves’ most common lineups amidst a season of adversity.
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ 2019-20 season will be remembered as a season of turnover.
A myriad of injuries derailed the team’s season as 13 players were forced to miss a combined total of 173 games. A number of players from the Iowa Wolves, the Timberwolves’ G League affiliate, were regularly called up to play meaningful minutes or even start in place of numerous injured players. The new front office led by Gersson Rosas quickly turned their attention to mid-season roster reconstruction through a number of free agent acquisitions and trades.
A 13-game losing streak to start the 2020 calendar year caused the front office to hit a full reset by trading a significant portion of the roster. The most memorable activity before the trade deadline was the team’s blockbuster trade for D’Angelo Russell that ultimately resulted in a seven-player introductory press conference more than halfway through the season.
Due to injuries and roster turnover, 24 players in total logged minutes for Minnesota and a jaw-dropping 841 different five-man rotations were used during the course of the season. The Timberwolves’ most-used five-man lineup during the 2019-20 season recorded a comical 127 minutes together. For comparison, the division rival Denver Nuggets logged 735 minutes together by their starting lineup.
Despite the extremely small sample sizes and constant lineup tinkering, a handful of clues can be found into the front office’s desired lineup construction and style of play.
The three most common lineups utilized by Minnesota during the 2019-20 season may give us a glimpse into the Timberwolves’ blueprint for success moving forward into next year.