Last season, the notion was that the Minnesota Timberwolves starting five couldn't play together, and the offense wouldn't be able to take off until some of the bench pieces got mixed in. That makes sense due to the combination of poor front-court spacing and a lack of a true point guard.
Thankfully, Tim Connelly managed to patch both of these holes during this whirlwind of an offseason. Now, the starters look like they can have synergy mesh as a unit. This will, in turn, give the Wolves less sluggish starts to games and will make sure that they aren't overly reliant on a rather unproven bench unit.
With the blend of star-level talent and players who can shine in their roles, there's no reason why this can't be one of, if not the best starting lineups in the league this season.
The Wolves can have the best starting lineup in the league this season
To be a true, complete starting five, there are different facets of the game that you need to excel at. The first one is the ability to get everyone involved in the offense. Now, with LaMelo Ball as the new franchise point guard, that won't be an issue at all.
Sometimes, when players aren't given opportunities on offense, their game slips in other areas due to dissatisfaction with roles or simply being disengaged. The Wolves saw that a lot with Julius Randle over the last couple of seasons, and occasionally with Naz Reid, too. Both are now playing elsewhere.
Another aspect they have to excel at is adapting to the game-to-game environment and being able to identify and shift into what that game needs. There are games where it's a shootout, and the Wolves will need to outscore the opponent. They now have the personnel to do that. There are also games where they have to grind it out defensively, and on the backs of Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels, they're able to do that too.
All four of their starters, besides Gobert, have the ability to explode on offense and will lead their team to win a game. That's a rare trait that not many other starting lineups have. Even in Jonathan Kuminga's case, we've seen his ability to take over games offensively, most notably against the Wolves in the 2025 playoffs when he was with the Golden State Warriors.
There's stiff competition between the reigning champion New York Knicks and Western Conference juggernauts like the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, but the level of two-way balance of the Wolves' starters can rival anyone.
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