While the Minnesota Timberwolves’ roster isn’t set in stone yet (dreams of LeBron James still persist), fans are coming up with potential depth charts for the upcoming season. Most have their starting lineup for now as LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Ayo Dosunmu, Jaden McDaniels, and Rudy Gobert.
Starting those five, though, might make the bench not very formidable. Charlie Walton of Zone Coverage tweeted out his thoughts on starting Josh Green instead of Dosunmu.
I like the idea of starting Josh Green for all of the reasons Joey points out here.
— Charlie Walton (@CharlieWaltonMN) July 8, 2026
Doing so would get more on ball creation off the bench (in lieu of Naz) and make the lineups more balanced offensively with Ayo Dosunmu and Bones Hyland running things off the bench. https://t.co/4VUGsZ2EX0
While Dosunmu is a better player than Green, it makes sense for Chris Finch to consider starting Green.
Green could be a fit in the starting lineupÂ
Turning 26 years old on November 16, Green was acquired along with Ball in the trade with the Charlotte Hornets in June. The 18th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft has started 129 of his career 349 regular season games, with more than half of those (67) coming in 2024-25 while with Charlotte.
Losing Naz Reid takes away a lot of the production off the bench that Minnesota has had in recent years. 15 of Dosunmu’s 24 regular season appearances after joining the Wolves in February came as a reserve. Keeping him on the bench would give the Timberwolves a reliable scorer with their reserves every night.
If Dosunmu were to start, their current roster construction would make it so that Bones Hyland would be their top bench scorer. Unfortunately, his consistency isn’t always there, as evidenced by a rather inefficient playoff run. Terrence Shannon Jr. could also fill this void, but he needs the ball in his hands to be successful.
If Minnesota were to start Green, there would be enough scoring between Edwards, Ball, and McDaniels to make it work. Gobert can do his best to give the team second opportunities, and he may get more lob chances now that Ball is manning the point.
Green could play a role similar to what Dean Wade did with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They won’t get a lot of touches, but they are more than capable of hitting an open 3-point. Green knocked down 58 of his 138 3-point tries (42%) last season and is at 38.7% for his career.
A lot can change, of course, particularly when you have Tim Connelly always working feverishly to try to improve the club. LeBron would obviously start if he chooses the Timberwolves.
Green can still be traded, which many assumed would happen when he was included in the Charlotte trade. The bench looks like a potential weakness right now, though. Having Dosunmu in that reserve role would bolster the production from the bench quite a bit.
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