Timberwolves start, bench, cut: McDaniels, Brown Jr., Miller

The Minnesota Timberwolves may have a problem of riches, it seems. That is, the Timberwolves front office has assembled a rather formidable roster that has talent, versatility, and depth baked in. The challenge with having too much of a good thing is simply that there are too many players who are vying for too few minutes.

Of course, the task of how to make use of so many versatile players falls on the shoulders of Timberwolves Head Coach Chris Finch. Finch proved to be incredibly innovative and adept at troubleshooting a myriad of problems that sprang up throughout the 2022-23 NBA season.

For the most part, he allowed all of the new faces on the team to simply go out and play basketball. After all, why bother to draw up structured plays when you have no clue who will be on the basketball court for any given game?

Still, this season should be a bit more structured. Center Rudy Gobert and power forward Karl-Anthony Towns gravitate to the same spots on the floor, as both instinctively have a center’s mindset. Too many players from last season drove to the basket, and too few picked their spots at the perimeter for easy three-pointers.

How will that impact the small forward position for the Timberwolves this season?

The truth of the matter is that the Minnesota Timberwolves will look for a lot of production out of the SF role this season. That means that the team will be focused on optimizing that role on the roster. While the Timberwolves front office has done its part, now the Timberwolves coaching staff must perform their tasks as well. Such as? Sorting out who starts, who is benched, and who may struggle for playing time this season.