With Chris Finch’s recent comments, it seems like Jaden McDaniels won’t be the starting power forward for the Minnesota Timberwolves to begin the upcoming season. With the roster as currently constructed, it looked as if he would be the most likely choice to start at the four spot.
It’s not like McDaniels won’t start. If it’s not at power forward, it will be at small forward. In this case, then Ayo Dosunmu will be coming off the bench. If he remains a reserve more often than not over the course of the season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Dosunmu as a legitimate Sixth Man of the Year candidate.
Dosunmu has proven he can shine off the benchÂ
The Timberwolves are used to having a 6MOY candidate in recent seasons. That was Naz Reid, who became the first player in franchise history to win the award in 2023-24 while finishing fifth and fourth in voting the ensuing two years.
There will be a new top reserve in Minnesota after they traded Reid to the Charlotte Hornets in the LaMelo Ball deal.
That makes it understandable why the Wolves would bring Dosunmu off the bench if they choose to do so. They need someone to replace Reid’s productivity. While it’s unclear who would start at power forward, both Terrence Shannon Jr. (option to start at the four) and Bones Hyland are two players who just haven’t proven to be consistent enough to fill that sixth-man role all season.
Dosunmu made 15 of his 24 regular season appearances off the bench for Minnesota after joining them via trade in early February. In 11 of those games in which he didn’t start, he reached double figures in scoring.
The 26-year-old will likely play at least 25 minutes per contest nightly as the first man off the bench, just as Reid did. That would give Dosunmu enough time to provide enough production, particularly scoring, for an award that often rewards those who put up points.
No, he won’t score 43 points every game as he did in Game 4 of the opening round of last season’s playoffs against the Denver Nuggets, but that shows you his ceiling.Â
If you think Dosunmu’s contract is too pricey to be a reserve (five years, $112 million), keep in mind Minnesota re-signed Reid last offseason for five years, $125 million. That’s $2.6 million more per season than what Dosunmu's contract will give him.
Reid was seen almost as a sixth starter in the last few years for the Wolves, and Dosunmu can be seen in the same way. It could lead to some individual hardware once the 2026-27 season is over.
Add us as a preferred source on Google