The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming off back-to-back conference finals appearances. They would love to take that next step, but it would likely require improvement being shown from players on last season's roster, particularly their younger ones. Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo! Sports is hopeful that Chris Finch will let those young guys play.
Chris Finch didn't trust many of his young players last season
On the latest episode of his podcast The Kevin O’Connor Show, KOC was joined by Trey Kerby. The two discussed multiple teams, including the Timberwolves, mentioning them as a team taking the next step.
"I think Dillingham and Shannon…I hope to God Chris Finch plays those guys this year, O’Connor said. If he continues to lean on veterans instead of playing them, I’m going to be so disappointed. I’m sure Tim Connelly, their general manager, would be as well considering the moves that he made to kinda force minutes to those young guys."
O’Connor is, of course, referring to letting Nickeil Alexander-Walker leave for the Atlanta Hawks without truly replacing him. To a slightly lesser extent, it’s also about not counting on Mike Conley for extended minutes as he turns 38 years old before the start of the season.
Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. were drafted eighth and 27th, respectively in the 2024 NBA Draft. Neither saw a full-time rotational role throughout the season. Finch didn’t utilize Dillingham for any meaningful minutes in the playoffs and finally relented by playing Shannon Jr. in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.
Jaylen Clark should also see more playing time
Another name that should see more playing time is Jaylen Clark. Drafted in 2023, he missed his entire first year due to a torn left Achilles tendon.
The team needs to see if the 6-foot-5 wing's improved outside shooting from last season is a harbinger of things to come, or an outlier. After shooting just 30.2% from beyond the arc in three years with UCLA, he connected on 43.1% last season for the Wolves (albeit on just 51 attempts).
It's also an important year for Leonard Miller. In his first two seasons, he has played a total of just 84 minutes with Minnesota.
The Timberwolves didn’t sign an outside free agent to a standard contract this offseason (while losing Alexander-Walker). It’s pertinent for Finch to let Dillingham, Shannon Jr., and Clark play through mistakes and further develop in preparation for postseason basketball.