Minnesota Timberwolves: My Rotational Wish

I’ve made it well known that one of my biggest fears for this year’s Minnesota Timberwolves team is how they are going to allot the minutes among the competent veterans and the young players upon which the real foundation is built. While my default assumptions are pessimism, I do have hope for how I want it to play out.

Some positions are clearer than others in the hierarchy, but let’s break down my wishes for the rotation in each position.

Point Guard: A little of the luster has worn off in my eyes on Ricky Rubio, but the fact that coach Flip Saunders wants to run a more up-tempo offense is good news for his playmaking abilities. More will be asked of him as a leader than ever before and I expect him to respond.

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The Wolves did pick up the terminally underrated

and he will have a prominent role on a team that will probably struggle to score. I hope Rubio’s presence gets the most out of the young guys and he is good for 35 minutes a night with Williams that ideal offensive spark that was sadly played by J.J. Barea the past few seasons.

I hope they can play a few minutes together, too, giving Williams about 20 a night.

Shooting Guard: It gets a little interesting here with incumbent outside shooter Kevin Martin, rookie Zach LaVine, and possibly prized rookie Andrew Wiggins, who might be a 2 or a 3 and needs time to settle into the position that suits him best.

At least there are options, but the collection of wing players at both positions is going to make it hard to settle on a rotation that is going to be satisfactory for Saunders’ medium of being competitive yet still adequately developing guys.

The Wolves wanted to rid themselves of Martin in any of the Kevin Love trades, but that was a deal breaker in many of the deals with his current contract. So, he’s the starter. And, really, he’s one of the few reliable outside shooters they have. Frankly, I don’t want Martin to play.

He’s an embarrassment defensively and his presence is blocking Wiggins and LaVine. I’m not saying that LaVine is ready to play major minutes—he was about the fourth best player on his UCLA team last season—but I am sure that having Rubio as a backcourt mate and facilitator will put LaVine in the best position to succeed right away.

I think the future for Wiggins is at small forward, but the depth there is so crazy right now that I hope Wiggins plays 20 minutes at shooting guard, with LaVine getting 15 and Martin getting the instant-offense mop up duty. A man can wish.

Small Forward: And the clutter continues. There are a stupid number of similar players. Finding a satisfactory balance seems impossible. There is Corey Brewer and Chase Budinger and Robbie Hummel and lottery pick Shabazz Muhammad and oh-by-the-way it’s Wiggins’ natural spot.

There is no way to forecast this rotation. It would be good to know exactly what Saunders is thinking. Is he going to go veteran-heavy to begin the season in order to gauge success before turning to the youth movement? I don’t know. The wing conundrum is due a more extensive analysis; I will address that in my next column.

I’d like to see a robust trade market, but barring that, how about 20 minutes for Brewer, 10 for Wiggins, 10 for Budinger, and about eight for Muhammad. They still have no idea what they’ve got in last year’s pick. What a circus.

Power Forward: Why Flip Saunders was so adamant on getting Thaddeus Young to “replace” Kevin Love is still puzzling to me. He’s good, and I like him, but he is a guy that can leave after this season and will probably be looking for a more competitive environment.

It gave me that whole Randy Moss/Troy Williamson draft day reach feel about giving the fans some sort of instant gratification, even if it’s a curious move. Nevertheless, Young is a good player and will be a good mentor for the newly acquired Anthony Bennett, who looked good in the Summer League and in preseason.

As long as the Wolves don’t have visions of a typical No. 1 pick in their assessment of Bennett, I don’t think they will be disappointed. I think about 30 minutes a game for Young and 15 or so for Bennett to start.

Center: Saunders has come out specifically and said that he wants Nikola Pekovic to play about 25 minutes a game to reduce his risk for injury. I’ve said that I don’t love his role on this team going forward and his contract makes him virtually unmovable, but his is one of the Wolves’ best players and important to their short term success.

About 25 minutes for both Pekovic and promising Gorgui Dieng seems like an ideal compromise for both the short and long term.

This is an interesting and ongoing process. This team has to figure out what they are and where they are going. Most outside observers know. Can Saunders swallow his pride quickly enough and concede it?