Rejoice, Minnesota Timberwolves fans, as the 2026–27 season begins tomorrow! Opening night will see the Wolves head on the road to take on the Miami Heat.
It should be a great matchup, as the close spread suggests—Heat -1.5, per DraftKings Sportsbook. Let’s see who has the advantage in the positional head-to-head matchups, along with the benches.
Point guard - LaMelo Ball vs. Davion Mitchell
Mitchell is an excellent point-of-attack defender. With that said, the Charlotte Hornets’ offensive rating with Ball on the floor in recent years has been absurd. Mitchell can’t hold a candle to Ball on offense.
Advantage: Timberwolves
Shooting guard - Anthony Edwards vs. Klay Thompson
Thompson is a legend and a future first-ballot Hall of Famer. In 2026, there’s no comparison. Edwards would have the advantage over any shooting guard in the league. Don’t be surprised if he approaches—or surpasses—30 points per game this season.
Advantage: Timberwolves
Small forward - Jaden McDaniels vs. Andrew Wiggins
McDaniels is already one of the league's best defensive players, and he can easily jump into the All-Star race if he reaches another level on offense. Wiggins has definitely evolved into a useful player since his empty-calorie scoring days with the Wolves, but he is also more than 5.5 years older than McDaniels.
Another McDaniels career-best year looks to be in the cards, and given his two-way impact he clearly has an advantage over Wiggins.
Advantage: Timberwolves
Power forward - Jonathan Kuminga vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo
When the Timberwolves signed Kuminga late in the offseason, it was seen as a big deal. They finally knew who their starting power forward would be. Antetokounmpo is a two-time MVP and, much like Edwards, he clears everyone at his position. Kuminga is a nice addition, but there's no real debate here.
Advantage: Heat
Center - Rudy Gobert vs. Bam Adebayo
I don’t expect Gobert to regress all that much in his age-34 season. His scoring average could actually increase, with Ball tossing him lobs. Adebayo will never sniff an 83-point game again, but his offensive edge over Gobert is greater than Gobert's slight defensive advantage. This was easily the closest of the five starting matchups.
Advantage: Heat
Bench
Timberwolves: Ayo Dosunmu, Joan Beringer, Terrence Shannon Jr., Bones Hyland, Trey Lyles
Heat: Tim Hardaway Jr., Bobby Portis, Pelle Larsson, Dru Smith, Nikola Jovic
Neither team would probably appear on lists featuring the best benches. The Heat traded away a lot of their depth to acquire Antetokounmpo.
Hardaway Jr. finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season, and Dosunmu is a sneaky-strong candidate to contend for the award this year.
Someone—perhaps Beringer—will hopefully step up for Minnesota and become a reliable reserve all season. Right now, you can’t say for sure who will do so after Dosunmu.
Portis has been one of the more productive reserves for years, similar to Naz Reid. Larsson was mostly in Miami’s starting lineup last season.
There isn’t much after that (Dru Smith and Nikola Jovic), but for now, Miami has more known commodities.
Advantage: Heat
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