The Minnesota Timberwolves are looking to have a bounce-back season from the 2023 season. Let's look at the roster Chris Finch has at his disposal.
The Minnesota Timberwolves went into the 2022-23 season with the expectations of playing really well. After being one of the surprise teams in the 2022 season, finishing with a record of 46-36, the Timberwolves made a huge trade for Rudy Gobert to help with their defense.
While yes this trade did end up improving the Timberwolves' defense from the 13th-best defense to a top-10 defense in the league, the trade caused them to lose a lot of their depth as their offense to a major hit.
One of the reasons for the Timberwolves' down year was that Karl-Anthony Towns was dealing with an injury that kept him sidelined for 52 games in the regular season. Another reason was D'Angelo Russell didn't fit with the team and was part of a three-team trade that sent him to the Lakers, Mike Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to the Jazz, and Russell Westbrook to the Jazz.
Having a healthy and well-fit roster together to start the season and hopefully the whole year, the Timberwolves are looking to improve on their last season. Here is a breakdown of their roster for the start of the 2023-24 season.
Minnesota Timberwolves starting point guard: Mike Conley
Mike Conley arrived on the Timberwolves midway through last season and started the last 24 games for them. In those 24 games, he averaged 14 points, 3.1 rebounds, 5 assists and 1.2 steals on 46/42/86 shooting splits.
It was very clear that Conley was a much better fit for this team than D'Angelo Russell. Conley doesn't need to have the ball in his hands as much which allowed Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns to dominate the ball. On top of that, he is just as good of a playmaker and sets his teammates up for easy shots.
Another aspect that Conley brings with his veteran experience is he is very consistent and efficient at scoring the basketball. With most of the attention being on Edwards and Towns, Conley is able to score so much easier and with him being a very efficient scorer, he will make the defense pay if he is left open.
Conley is going to bring tremendous value to this Timberwolves roster. His veteran experience will enable him to be a great mentor for Nickeil Alexander-Walker and be one of the leaders on this team to hopefully get them in the playoffs again.
Primary backup point guard; Jordan McLaughlin
The Timberwolves don't have many true point guards on their roster, with Jordan McLaughlin as the primary option. He has been on the Timberwolves for the last four seasons and has been one of their backup guards. Last season he played in 43 games, due to a calf injury, and averaged 3.7 points, 3.4 assists on 42/31/83 splits.
McLaughlin's shooting efficiency has been all over the place due to his low minutes per game but, in those few minutes, he racks up a ton of assists. This is perfect for the Timberwolves' backup point guard because they have scorers from a lot of different positions and not that many playmakers.
If you want to have a successful team, you need a solid amount of players who can get their teammates involved and luckily the Timberwolves have two good ones in their point guards.
Standing at 5-foot-11, McLaughlin is a solid defender too, which the Timberwolves lack out on the perimeter.
Others who could receive minutes: Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Shake Milton
Minnesota Timberwolves starting shooting guard: Anthony Edwards
There shouldn't be any doubt in anyone's mind that Anthony Edwards will be the starting shooting guard and is the best player on the Timberwolves. After a stellar sophomore season, Edwards improved once again and averaged 24.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.6 steals on 46/37/76 shooting splits, all of which were career-high besides his free throw shooting.
Then when the postseason came around, even though they lost in five games to the Nuggets, Edwards was nothing short of spectacular. He averaged 31.6 points, 5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 2 blocks, on 48/35/85 shooting splits.
Edwards has become Jordan-esque in a couple of ways. He has the killer mindset to win a game by any means necessary. He wants to embarrass his opponent and loves doing it by dunking on people. Last but not least, Edwards, like Jordan, is willing to die on every possession if it means his team wins the game. When you have someone like that, there's no telling what your dream can do.
By no means is Edwards remotely on the same tier as Michael Jordan, especially after their first three seasons, but expect Edwards to take the leap into superstardom. After next season he will be in the conversation as one of the league's 15- if not 10-best players.
Primary backup shooting guard: Shake Milton
Shake Milton was one of the new signings for the Timberwolves this offseason and this was a huge one for them. He's been in the league for five seasons and has been one of the best bench role players in the league. Last season for the 76ers he averaged 8.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists on 48/38/85 shooting splits and a big part of the 76ers' success.
Milton is accustomed to being a very good bench player and has become the best bench player for the Timberwolves. He brings consistent shooting and scoring which every team needs from their bench.
It is almost impossible to be a great team without having good to great bench players. Milton provides exactly that for the Timberwolves. He may not be the type of spark plug as a Bobby Portis or Immanuel Quickley where he takes a game over, but he is good enough that his play will affect how well the Timberwolves season will turn out.
Others who could receive minutes: Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Nickeil Alexander-Walker was one of the acquisitions of the three-team trade between the Timberwolves, Jazz and Lakers. He played 23 games for the Timberwolves and he averaged 5.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 38/36/62 splits. These numbers were down from what they were when he played for the Jazz earlier in the season where he averaged 6.3 points, 1.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists on 49/40/69 shooting splits.
The drastic dip in efficiency along with the signing of Shake Milton has forced Walker to become the third-string 2-guard. If he is able to play well in training camp and in the minutes he will see he could earn his way back into the rotation.
Minnesota Timberwolves starting small forward: Jaden McDaniels
Outside of the Timberwolves stars, Jade McDaniels is one of the most important pieces for this team. Last season he played and started in 79 games and averaged 12.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, .9 steals and 1 block on 52/40/74 shooting splits.
Even though he's a great role player, he is one of the most important pieces because he is one of their best defenders. Not many players are able to average at least 1 block and 1 steal a game yet McDaniels is very capable of doing that year in and year out. As a still young player, he has the potential to get better on the defensive side of the ball.
While he is providing good defense he is also providing consistent shooting. With the team that the Timberwolves have they need as much shooting as possible. The more space that is on the court for Edwards and Towns, the more success they will have resulting in the team winning games.
Primary backup small forward: Troy Brown Jr.
Last season Troy Brown Jr. played in 76 games for the Los Angeles Lakers and had a very solid year. He averaged 7.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists on 43/38/87 shooting splits. For a while, he was one of the starters for the Lakers.
When the Lakers revamped their roster he saw the court less and played in 12 of their 16 playoff games. Now that he is on the Timberwolves, Brown will have the chance to make an impact on this team.
Brown's role will not be any different than what it was with the Lakers. He will primarily be a 3-point shooter, which is very good and plays defense. He was a solid defender with the Lakers but did play a role in that incredible midseason turnaround for them. Brown's role won't be that big but he can make an impact for this team.
Others who could receive minutes: Kyle Anderson, Anthony Edwards, Josh Minott
Josh Minott was a mid-second round draft pick in 2022 and played 15 games for the Timberwolves last season. He averaged 3.1 points and 1.7 rebounds. He essentially played in garbage time minutes and will probably do so again this season if everyone stays healthy.
Minnesota Timberwolves starting power forward: Karl-Anthony Towns
Karl-Anthony Towns has been the longest-tenured player for the Timberwolves and one of the best big men in the NBA. Last season he played in 29 games because he was dealing with an injury but in the time that he did play, he averaged 20.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists, on 50/37/87 splits.
KAT is simply able to do everything on the offensive side of the ball. He is able to score from all three levels and is one of the most versatile players in the league. He is a good playmaker for his size and a very good thing too since he draws a lot of attention to himself. His ability to shoot the basketball at his size is nearly unmatched throughout NBA history.
He slid over to the four spot because there was one glaring weakness in his game and that he was sometimes a liability on the defensive end of the ball. Even though he is 6-foot-11, KAT has the tendency to become small and isn't really an enforcer on the defense end. The Timberwolves did decide to fix that problem but we don't have a large enough sample size yet to see how it worked.
KAT is one of the most important pieces to this team so his missing 57 games last year was a reason they didn't play as well as the season prior. With KAT being fully healthy going into the season and hopefully throughout the season, the Timberwolves can become a quiet threat in the West.
Primary backup power forward: Kyle Anderson
Kyle Anderson last year had a pretty big role with the Timberwolves due to him starting in the absence of Karl-Anthony Towns. He played in 69 games and started 46 of them and he averaged 9.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.1 steals on 51/41/74 shooting splits.
Anderson has been recognized as one of the league's best role players. Even though it seems like he is moving in slow motion, he is able to have a great impact on teams. His best attribute is defense. Last season he was the Timberwolves' third-best defender and will have to be one of their best defenders again this season.
Aside from his defensive ability Anderson is a great rebounder and underrated playmaker. When it comes to scoring the basketball, he mainly shot from 3 to 10 feet out and made 51 percent of those shots last season.
Anderson is one of the best role players in the NBA and is going to impact the Timberwolves in a great way by doing all of the little things.
Others who could receive minutes: Leonard Miller, Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid
Leonard Miller was an early second pick in the 2023 draft and is a 6-foot-10 forward from Canada. He spent last year playing in the G-League and played quite well averaging 18 points and 11 rebounds per game. It is unlikely how much court time he will see this season but, if someone gets hurt he will have the opportunity to prove his worth to this team.
Minnesota Timberwolves starting center; Rudy Gobert
In the 2022 offseason, the Timberwolves traded for Rudy Gobert in one the biggest trades in NBA history sending the Jazz five players and four first-round picks. After giving up a massive haul to the Jazz for Gobert, they don't have much of a choice to start him. Last season Gobert averaged 13.4 points, 11.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.4 blocks on 66 percent shooting from the field.
Even though the Timberwolves gave up an unreasonable amount to receive Gobert, it didn't all go to waste. The Timberwolves got Gobert to help KAT with the rim protection. It worked because their defense improved from the 2022 season.
Since KAT was hurt last season, there was never the opportunity to see how well Gobert and KAT played together. Due to KAT's versatility, Gobert doesn't become an offensive liability where he is still able to be in the dunker's spot on offense. Gobert is able to run pick-and-roll with every player, even KAT and is a great lob threat.
If the Gobert experiment doesn't work out then the Timberwolves need to question what they need to do with him moving forward. If he and KAT really do play well together the Timberwolves become a more dangerous team in the west.
Primary backup center: Naz Reid
Naz Reid has been the backup center for the Timberwolves for the last four seasons and last season he had a career year. He averaged 11.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists on 54/3468 shooting splits.
Reid is a great spark plug off the bench. As an undersized center at 6-foot-9, Reid plays with a lot of energy because he is small. Every team needs a player that is going to bring a high energy and if KAT or Gobert isn't bringing it from the center spot, Reid is going to bring it.
Reid's high energy allows him to be a very good defender. Last season he had a 110 defensive rating which was second on the team behind Rudy Gobert. The Timberwolves have great defenders at their center spot and one of the reasons they'll be a top-10 defense again this season.
Others who could receive minutes: Karl-Anthony Towns