Mastodon
@Minnesota Timberwolves

Opening day rotation



Trying to figure out what the early season rotation might be following the preseason games. Really seems like Minott has earned the “10th man” role.

Gives Dillingham some short stints to keep developing, which most hurts the NAW at backup PG experiment. NAW’s minutes are just harder to find with Divincenzo.

Also means some stretches of a very small ball lineups with Randle or Naz at center – and as we saw in the NY game yesterday… more transition!

Thoughts?

by Petes2321

27 Comments

  1. JustADutchRudder

    Naw might play himself into less mins than Dilly. He’s been looking rough, shooting, passing and IQ wise. Really hoping Naw can come around again, but this slump been since Denver, through Olympics and into preseason.

  2. SenorSolAdmirador

    That’s an ideal rotation when you are playing a game where you’re in control. In a tight game though, I’d say Dillingham and/or Minott probably end up cut out all together until they can prove their reliability. Finch goes with what he knows when he feels the pressure. Rudy and Ant in particular get leaned on a lot by Finch. For example, Rudy played 39 games last year where he clocked over 35 minutes, and only 16 under 30.

  3. D__Luxxx

    Here is the deal. We have seen Dante in the starting lineup every game so far preseason. I would not be surprised for them to run out a small starting lineup with 3 guards and Jaden at PF and Rudy at C on occasion.
    I can already tell we’ll be seeing DDV starting when Mike sits so I fully expect him to play starter minutes even when he doesn’t start.

  4. variantsonly7

    Dumb question: but those numbers are their projected minutes right?

  5. I think NAW plays a little more than Dilly until Dilly proves himself but depends how ready Finchy thinks he is obviously

  6. Our bench rotation is gonna be so good this year man. With how different rob and naw are its gonna give us so much flexibility going into the playoffs since we can have 2 shot creation guys with ddv and rob or have the double defense with ddv and naw. If minott can develop along with jaylen clark tsj and leo miller our end of bench is gonna be insane too

  7. Majestic-Net-7799

    Ant will play 35+

    Randle will play 32+

    Conley will play 25 at most

    NAW + Minott play to much with 26 combined, more like 20 combined.

  8. silversmith84

    Nice breakdown. Nitpicking here, but it’s hard for me to see Minott playing with Randle at center. It will be interesting to see how many minutes Randle gets. Just spitballing here, but I could even see Rudy’s minutes decrease a little?? Idk

  9. cheeseybacon11

    Why are both Randle and Naz in both C and PF? Same with DD and NAW. Just pick a position?

  10. Shepher27

    Ingles is going to get a shot, even though he looks washed, at least for a few weeks.

    Dillingham and Minott will both probably catch some DNPs

    Mike will probably sit out Back-to-backs and Rudy should probably too for some of them.

  11. GrumpyBlondie

    Minotts not getting minutes. Where is this coming from?

  12. AJbandero

    We are SMALL.

    Definitely need another backup center.

    Randle and Naz are not centers.

    Miss the twin towers already and interchanging one all nba center for another…

  13. Waste-Bee2793

    This is a great thought experiment, and I don’t disagree with the distribution in theory. I do wonder what the substitution schedule looks like and whether this leads to some weird lineup combinations. 

  14. kolology

    The frontcourt rotations are anyone’s guess, but the minutes seem legit.

  15. TomAto7171

    Minott is bad, id imagine we’re gonna see jingles or even garza over him

  16. beermangetspaid

    Ant is not playing 32 minutes. It will be 36 at a bare minimum. My best guess (this is off a 240 minute model, actual averages will be higher to account for OT and others missing games)

    Conley 29
    Ant 37
    Jaden 32 (higher if not for fouls)
    Randle 30
    Gobert 29

    Off the bench
    Divencenzo 27
    Naz 27
    NAW 15
    Dillingham 10
    Ingles 5

  17. wolfpax97

    Could see singles getting some run… but otherwise I think you’re pretty close

  18. Twaffles95

    Naw -10
    Minott-8

    Ant- 40

    Let alone DDVs minutes are too low

  19. AppropriateHouse433

    I assume Donte is going to get more minutes. Starters get more minutes too. I do not think Dillingham gets that many minutes consistently unless someone is hurt.

  20. hayn0041

    Where is Ingles? Is he not good enough to be a part of a 10 man rotation? That’s a good problem to have.

  21. maybemusic22

    Swap out Minott for Garza and I’d say this is accurate

  22. Impossible-Goal3492

    TSJ is an older prospect that is NBA ready. He will get minutes. He’s 24 years old.

    Minot is 21 & Rob is 19.

    I think he will play more than people think

Write A Comment