3 Minnesota Timberwolves questions after Jeff Teague trade

1. Who’s the starter now?

The runaway favorite to be the starting point guard has to be Jarrett Culver right? True, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been going with Shabazz Napier since early November, but the guard hasn’t really been stunning and it may be time to move to a 1-2 combination of Culver and Josh Okogie instead.

Over the season, Napier has been averaging 9.4 points, 4.3 assists, and 2.5 rebounds and as a starter he has been able to bump those numbers to 12.2, 5.4, and 3.2 respectively. Still, Minnesota can’t seem to get it done and Napier is more of a volume shooter than an accurate one, shooting 38.2 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from 3-point range.

Culver has shown a little more promise. After a slow start the rookie has averaged 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game over the last 10 games and as a starter he’s averaged 11.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

Still, neither player looks primed to be an NBA starter. Napier is too inconsistent with his jump shot to be a reliable offensive option and Culver is still in the early stages of his development, meaning he’s bound to have a few really bad games over the back half of the year.

Ultimately, the Minnesota probably got more out of the trade than what first meets the eye, and if president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas plays his cards right, this might be the first step in the final stage of a Timberwolves rebuild.