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.
Start, Bench, Cut: Minnesota Timberwolves small forwards
Start: Jaden McDaniels
The Minnesota Timberwolves have emphasized upgrading defense on the Timberwolves roster ever since hiring President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly. Perhaps that is why the Timberwolves have rejected any attempt to pry the talented Jaden McDaniels from this team.
Small forward Jaden McDaniels is a player that every NBA coach would love to have on the team. At 6-foot-9 and 185 pounds, McDaniels has the size to guard all the way up to the tallest NBA centers, and all the way down to the smallest and most agile NBA point guards. That in itself is pretty amazing.
Where McDaniels ices the cake is the level of his defense. He has the ability to frustrate even the most prolific scorers in the NBA. He was in the running for the NBA All-Defense Team last season, and by all accounts should have been awarded the honors. Still, he is entering the fourth and final year of his NBA rookie contract, and expectations are that he will push to put up career-high numbers this season.
Much like his teammate, shooting guard Anthony Edwards, the 22-year-old Timberwolves forward is a rapidly developing NBA player who is flirting with stardom in professional basketball. Not only can he apply smothering defense, but he averaged 12.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game. Those marks should all increase this season.
Perhaps one of the lesser-known talents that McDaniels boasts is his 39.8 percent shooting accuracy from the perimeter. That seals his starting role for the 2023-24 NBA season, without question.
Bench: Troy Brown Jr.
While small forward Troy Brown Jr. may be new and unfamiliar to the Timberwolves roster, that does not mean that he will not carve out a niche in the rotations pretty quickly. He had a vital role last season for the Los Angeles Lakers, and that role should translate seamlessly and successfully to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
What PG Mike Conley Jr. was to former Timberwolves PG D’Angelo Russell, small forward Troy Brown Jr. is to former forward Taurean Prince. While Prince is the more proficient scorer, Brown is the more versatile player who adds value on offense and on defense.
Standing 6-foot-7 and weighing 215 pounds, Brown Jr. has the size and build to bang bodies with power forwards to haul in rebounds. But he has the agility to smother opponents as well. He had tremendous success for the Lakers in defending Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson, a fact that earned him plenty of praise from Lakers HC Ham.
But he is more than a defensive presence on the basketball court. The 24-year-old veteran who is entering his sixth NBA season has a sneaky-good perimeter shot, can score from the foul line, and even has the ability to toss out the occasional assist. While his role will likely end up being primarily coming off the bench for the Timberwolves, he has the experience to fill in with an occasional start as well.
Cut: Leonard Miller
In the grand scheme of things, there is nobody in the Timberwolves organization that will endorse releasing rookie forward Leonard Miller. But that is not to say that playing time will come easily for the young rookie either.
Rookie forward Leonard Miller arrives on the Timberwolves roster at the tender age of just 19 years old. Standing 6-foot-11 and weighing 212 pounds, he could grow to a height of 7-foot-1 or taller. That is what makes his playing time so challenging to pinpoint this season.
While he is likely a small forward in his rookie season, Miller has the size to compete as an NBA center, the ball-handling skills to compete as an NBA point guard, and the agility, strength, and versatility to compete at any NBA position in between.
Because he is so young, so talented, and so very versatile, the Timberwolves may assign Leonard Miller to their G-League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves if for nothing else than to get a sense of which NBA positions he is most suited to compete in the NBA.
Of course, he has some NBA-ready abilities right out of the gate. While competing for the 2023 Minnesota Timberwolves Summer League team, he averaged 25.0 minutes, 15.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks, while shooting 36.8 percent from the perimeter. Imagine his numbers when he has been a three-year NBA veteran at 22 years old.
I would not be the least bit shocked to discover that rookie Leonard Miller will be splitting his time between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Iowa Wolves. Miller will need playing time to refine his skillset, and I fear that he will not have access to enough minutes on the Timberwolves roster alone.
How do you see it? Let us know in the comments section of our Facebook page.
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