What will the Minnesota Timberwolves do for an encore?
By Bret Stuter
Early turmoil
There are a lot of moving parts on this team, and there is no way to hold Coach Chris Finch to a standard of perfection as the season opens. That means that the team will appear a bit shaky early in the season. Whether that means miscommunication, poor rotation decisions, or a game or two where the team appears to be struggling offensively, misfires are part of the process of aligning this team.
That could mean a less-than-optimal start to the 2022-23 NBA season. Before that sends anyone into a tailspin, keep in mind that the Timberwolves began the 2021-22 NBA season with a 17-20 record, including a six-game losing streak and a separate five-game losing streak. So it’s not unusual for this team to need a longer runway at the start of a new season to get things off the ground.
While I don’t look for the team to be at a sub-.500 record at the mid-season mark, nor for this roster to allow six consecutive games to end up in the loss column, I don’t think that the team will pile up wins quickly this year. Well, not early into the season, that is.
The saving grace to the early season is just how deep the Timberwolves bench appears to be. While the Timberwolves have anywhere from a 10-15 man rotation cycled through in early games, the top10 on this roster is significantly improved over that of a year ago. Even returning younger players have the benefit of another season of experience.