Examining 3 potential Minnesota Timberwolves starting lineups

3. Russell, Nowell, Edwards, Towns, Gobert

The final potential lineup we’ll look at includes the addition of Jaylen Nowell into the starting unit. While we shouldn’t expect to see Nowell in the starting lineup on opening night, he’s talented enough that Chris Finch may consider utilizing him with the starters sooner or later.

In this five-man lineup, Jaylen Nowell slides in at the two spot, bumping Anthony Edwards to play at the three. The main motivation in having Nowell in the starting unit is his scoring prowess.

He’s a player that doesn’t need to take a lot of shots to score a lot of points, and that could be something highly useful for Minnesota at various points in the season. While he’ll have the challenge of scoring against better defenders while playing with the starters, it’s still a role he could thrive in.

If Jaylen is able to provide his usual shooting touch and continues to shoot around the 40% mark from beyond the arc, he could be a lethal addition next to the starters. With him and Edwards both major threats to attack the basket or score from outside, opposing defenses will be forced to help off of Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert even more frequently.

Putting another efficient and skilled scorer next to Russell and Edwards could add another layer to the Timberwolves’ offense, and we shouldn’t be surprised to see Nowell included with the starters several times throughout the year.