Last season, the Minnesota Timberwolves' lack of consistent bench production held them back. Notably, they ranked 21st in bench scoring and before trading for Ayo Dosunmu; Naz Reid was their lone consistent bench scorer.
And while there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the Timberwolves' upcoming season, their bench play remains a legitimate concern (once again).
I've advocated for Dosunmu to come off the bench to ensure some bench creation and scoring. Whether he starts or comes off the bench, though, Minnesota's reserve unit is a fair concern.
That's not to say their bench is full of bad players -- there are actually a lot of intriguing players, but they are mostly unproven. Likewise, there's a chance this group becomes more productive than anticipated. There's also a chance, though, that the Wolves' bench unit holds them back this upcoming season.
The Timberwolves' bench has a lot to prove
Terrence Shannon Jr. and Bones Hyland are the team's most established bench scorers (unless Shannon starts). Yet, both players are generally pretty erratic. Hyland ultimately fell out of the Wolves' playoff rotation, and Shannon needs the ball in his hands to succeed -- something Minnesota might not be able to provide.
Joan Beringer is primed to take over as the team's backup big man. He has a ton of upside and may thrive in this role. At the same time, Beringer played just 314 minutes as a rookie, and there will surely be some level of growing pains.
Jaylen Clark and Josh Green are two quality connective players. I would consider starting one of them. Yet Clark needs to improve his 3-point shooting to earn a consistent role. While Green has a solid 3-and-D skill set, he saw his minutes fall to just 15.7 per game with the Charlotte Hornets last season.
All five of these players deserve an opportunity, in my mind, and if everything goes right, the Wolves could have a pretty solid rotation. Nevertheless, there are significant question marks with each player. At the end of the day, there's a chance we look up, and this bench is wildly unproductive.
A lot has understandably been made about the Wolves' lack of forward depth, and this is a clear issue with the bench in addition to their lack of proven players. Whether Ayo starts or not, their top-five bench players have no true forward. I suppose Trey Lyles could make a surprise impact, but he was literally out of the league last season.
The Timberwolves' starting lineup is ultra-talented, and the addition of LaMelo Ball should propel the team. However, in the modern NBA, depth is becoming increasingly important, and the Timberwolves' unproven bench could be a costly flaw. We saw how this problem hurt them at various points last season.
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