Evaluating the Minnesota Timberwolves’ roster from top to bottom

With 26 games remaining in the season, now is the time for Chris Finch and the Minnesota Timberwolves to see what they have going into next season.

All season long, there has been nothing resembling certainty surrounding this team. Injuries, COVID-19, an abrupt midseason coaching change, blowout losses, and blown leads have all contributed to a league-worst 11-35 record.

Malik Beasley is back in the lineup after serving a 12-game league suspension. D’Angelo Russell is returning soon from knee surgery that has kept him out of the lineup since Feb. 8.

Now, with a full roster for seemingly the first time all season, a new coach, and no chance at sniffing the playoffs, now is the time for Finch to finally figure out what the heck he has on this roster.

It’s been well documented how little the core of this team has played together, particularly Karl-Anthony Towns and Russell, who have only played five games as a tandem since Russell was traded to Minnesota last year. But it goes beyond that.

The presumed starting lineup going forward of Russell, Beasley, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and Towns hasn’t played a single minute together. Take out McDaniels, who has blossomed midway through his rookie season, and the four best players on the Wolves have played a whopping 13 minutes together, per NBA Advanced Stats.

Now is the time to figure out how much of this supposed young core should remain on the roster moving forward, and who might be better used as a trade asset. Some of the answers may be surprising, but there appears to be a clear path forward for Finch and his staff to begin the evaluation of the current stable of talent.