Some minutes off the bench: Kyle Anderson
The Minnesota Timberwolves front office hit the bullseye when the team signed former Memphis Grizzlies free agent forward Kyle Anderson. Anderson is an incredibly versatile and adaptive veteran who could effectively compete at all five basketball positions if need be. The thing is, the Timberwolves roster needed him to shoulder the burden of the power forward role after Karl-Anthony Towns’ injury last season.
While Slo-Mo delivered for the Timberwolves under those emergency conditions last season, I would not count on him in a similar primary power forward backup role this season. Unless similar emergency conditions occur this season, the Timberwolves will most likely deploy Kyle Anderson in any number of roles this season.
Slo Mo delivered solid minutes
But the Timberwolves are immensely pleased with the job that Kyle Anderson did last season. Not only did the Timberwolves get 46 starts from Slo-Mo, but he delivered 9.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game. You see, he was not just a power forward, but he also became an entrusted point forward for the team as well.
He is an excellent facilitator, is very strong defensively, and can nail perimeter shooting, but his strongest position is at the small forward role. That should persuade the Timberwolves to trial more of Anderson’s minutes in that small forward role this season.
So if Naz Reid is splitting his time between center and power forward, and Kyle Anderson is splitting his time between the power forward and small forward roles, will the Timberwolves need other players to take up the slack of 60 minutes at the four? Yes, and that leads us to discuss two or more players who can absorb PF playing time.