It's pretty easy to walk around a little taller after the Minnesota Timberwolves' first two games of the season.
Blowouts alike, production has come from up and down the rotation in their Tour de Florida, resulting in eviscerations of the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic. Heading into the season, roles were pretty solidified at the top of the rotation, but questions remained about what the full bench rotation would look like and who would rotate in with one another so as not to sacrifice the offensive or defensive end completely.
While head coach Chris Finch has not committed to a set rotation and is clearly still figuring out his group, there are some Easter eggs about what things could look like as the season goes on.
Trey Lyles is the 2026-27 evolution of Kyle Anderson for the Timberwolves.
A high-IQ veteran that Finch would go to when the offense needed to take a breath, get an extra ball handler on the floor, or guard multiple positions defensively, it went beyond the skillset with Anderson in Minnesota - it was what he brought between the ears.
While an extremely different skill set from what SlowMo brought to the team, Lyles provides the between-the-ears veteran savvy off the bench that Finch enjoys as part of his rotations. Lyles is a willing mover off the ball, finds space extremely well, and is a proponent of making the right play inside the offense (perhaps harkening back to his time in Spain last season).
While Lyles seems relatively cemented with the frontcourt depth thin, it seems as though Bones Hyland is in a committee with Lyles to be deployed based on what the game needs. If it's a track meet, another ball handler conducive to pace and apt to let it fly could be in the cards. Making his first non-garbage-time appearance of the season in Orlando, Hyland played eight minutes.
It's hard to say Hyland is on the outside, but it seems as though there will be a lot of variability in his minutes.
Have you ever been at work and needed that 3:00 p.m. cup of coffee to prevent the heavy office nap?
It seems like that's what Jaylen Clark could be for this group - only their 3:00 in the afternoon could be a Tuesday in January.
Two games in, effort hasn't been even remotely an issue . Energy has been fantastic, and defensive intensity has been excellent. But it's naive to think it will continue for 82 games, especially in the doldrums of the season against teams that may not be trying to win as much as the Wolves.
Enter Clark. The early impression is that the rotation is currently too crowded for him to be a regular member. But what Clark does best is provide a legitimate perimeter defender and a physicality on defense that's hard to match by most of the other members of the roster.
In games where they're rolling, Clark's warm-ups likely won't come off until garbage time. But in contests where the Wolves come out slow, it's easy to see a role for Clark as a match and tinderbox to intensity.
After game one in Miami, Finch didn't commit to a long-term staggering of LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards throughout the game.
"I'm still feeling my way through some of the rotation pieces," he said ( h/t Deadspin ). "We always have a blueprint, but we always leave ourselves the freedom to deviate off it."
Two games in, it makes a lot of sense to roll with what's working. Some cracks can tend to show at times when Edwards is on the floor with Ayo Dosunmu and asserts himself as the offensive initiator (shades of last season's dribble-dribble offense can come to light), but the rarity of that happening throughout the game makes it less of a concern for now.
Edwards and Ball are on the floor together for most important parts of the game, and Finch can keep it as an off-balance weapon when he needs it by staggering their minutes throughout four quarters. Besides, it already looks like Rudy Gobert and Joan Beringer could use Ball's help in the lineup, so wherever his minutes are distributed among them can only be an aid.
But right now, it's smooth sailing. And what we're seeing likely won't have any deviation for the time being.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/timberwolves/onsi as What Timberwolves' First 2 Games Have Revealed About Their Rotation So Far .
