What is the Minnesota Timberwolves’ plan at backup point guard?

Minnesota Timberwolves’ plan at backup point guard: Playmaking by committee

Option No. 2: Playmaking by committee

This is the scenario that is somewhat of a hybrid solution, in that the Wolves are still likely to try and bring McLaughlin back.

Coming off of a two-way deal, McLaughlin is technically a restricted free agent. But if they manage to bring him back, there’s still a world in which they still and try to do something more of a backup-point-guard-by-committee situation.

Jarrett Culver started a few games at point guard in his rookie season, and most of those minutes left something to be desired, to put it kindly.

Timberwolves fans saw this a bit with Zach LaVine a few years ago, when a rookie two-guard was asked to run the offense instead of playing off the ball. In the long run, it probably assisted in LaVine’s development, but it meant that LaVine was a clear negative for the Wolves in his first season or two.

Culver is a bit of a different player than LaVine, but there are some similarities. If the Wolves’ brass truly thinks that his future is as a secondary playmaker, they may give him the keys to the second unit at times.

Additionally, the Timberwolves have been quite clear about their desire to allow Karl-Anthony Towns to operate more often on the perimeter as a ball-handler. He won’t be running the point, necessarily, but it’s fair to assume that Towns will be allowed to initiate offense even more in 2020-21 than he did last season.

Others on the roster can run the offense for a few possessions at a time, including Johnson and possibly Nowell.

If McLaughlin is still in the fold, perhaps he sees minutes alongside Russell in addition to running with another secondary playmaker on the second unit, such as Culver or Johnson.