The Timberwolves are planning to be versatile with their play styles this season, Chris Hine of the Star Tribune writes. To start, head coach Chris Finch mentioned it would be ideal to have at least one of Karl-Anthony Towns or Rudy Gobert on the floor at all times, but that’s not a guarantee.
Minnesota will likely sport a starting lineup of D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Towns, and Gobert this season. Off the bench, the team would have Jordan McLaughlin, Bryn Forbes, Jaylen Nowell, Taurean Prince, Kyle Anderson, and Naz Reid, among others. The team’s style of play will largely depend on who’s in the game.
By acquiring Gobert, Minnesota also created additional lineup flexibility. The team can play Towns and Gobert together and go bigger, or it could replace one player with a wing depending on the in-game circumstances. Towns and Gobert figure to be the most formidable 4-5 combo in the league this season, having averaged a combined 40.0 points, 24.5 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game last year.
Here are some other notes from the Western Conference:
- New Jazz center Kelly Olynyk is no stranger to rebuilds, Sarah Todd of the Deseret News writes. Olynyk was acquired by Utah in a deal with Detroit last month. He was part of a rebuild with the Celtics earlier in his career. The 31-year-old started in Utah’s preseason game against Toronto on Sunday.
- Nuggets veteran Aaron Gordon discussed how he and the team have plenty of strides to take, as relayed by Mike Singer of the Denver Post. The Nuggets have a title contender on paper, but the club’s chemistry will naturally need some time to improve. The projected five-man group of Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Gordon and Nikola Jokic have never played together, while Murray hasn’t played at all in over a year due to a torn ACL.
- The Rockets‘ rookie class is ready for its NBA debut, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. Headlined by No. 3 pick Jabari Smith, Houston has a strong group of young players. The team also has Jalen Green (20 years old) and Kevin Porter Jr. (22 years old) to lean on as it continues its rebuild.
Jabari Smith will be great but how about Tari Eason? He’s going to develop into a monster
Minnesota’s bench???? Ouch! We will see how the Gobert trade works for Minnesota. Jarryd Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley will be missed greatly.
Taurean Prince, an incredibly inefficient player offensively. Ouch. Kyle Anderson was not good for Memphis last year. He was not essential to Memphis season last year. Minny needs to see the old Kyle Anderson in the worst way. Bryn Forbes the only shooter on the roster????? Bryn Forbes?? Ouch!!!
Only one good shooter? Well there’s Bryn Forbes and this other guy…. can’t remember his name….think it starts with a K, his middle name starts with an A and I think his last name is something like Towns maybe? Ehhh, nahhh he only shot like like .410 from deep, he can’t be that good at shooting.
Which “shooter” is KAT gonna pass to when he is double-teamed???
Is there someone behind you, Very Barry? Why do you keep going ouch…..ohhhhhhh…..
It’s painful seeing what Minnesota has done to their roster with the Gobert trade. If Minny wanted “rim protection”, why not make an easy trade for Nerlens Noel like Detroit did? He was really cheap. Could have kept Vanderbilt (defense, rebounding) and Beasley (shooter). Rim protection with a bench still in place. Plenty of remaining assets to add even more depth and talent.
Aaron Gordon – He lost his “star” status by being traded to a contender. A lot of guys in this league can get stats on bad teams. Then they turn into the “Invisible Man” when they start playing meaningful games.
MIN’s future is now tied to the two big men working well together. Zero flexibility. Of course they won’t share the court at all times, but, considering the combined investment in them, if both are not part of the team’s best 5 (against all opponents), then the trade was a failure.
Rockets have the youngest team in the league and plenty of depth and options. I kind of like the options and gives the Rockets the old “Sacramento Kings” with Coach Pop type of roster. Plenty of options and setups against any team in the league. Will it transition to winning formula? That is TBD with this young core and a head coach I’m not crazy about.