In two weeks, the Minnesota Timberwolves will open their preseason on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks, and the six-game slate runs through Oct. 16 against the Chicago Bulls. The starters should have their roles largely locked in, but for a few others, this is the stretch that could decide who gets trusted early in the regular season.
That puts the spotlight on three players who need to make a strong impression on Chris Finch.
Jaylen Clark is the clearest case of a guy whose value starts on one end and has to translate to the other. Finch already trusts the defensive edge and nightly effort the soon-to-be 25-year-old brings.
The question is whether Minnesota can live with him on the floor offensively. If a defender can ignore him, the whole possession gets cramped.
Clark shot the 3-ball surprisingly well as a rookie in 2024-25, though on limited volume, but that number slid to 32.7 percent last season. If he can hit a few shots from deep and find easy finishes at the rim in the preseason, his chances of being on the floor in the regular-season opener go way up.
Terrence Shannon Jr. has a different challenge: he needs to prove he can be a real scoring threat no matter who’s across from him. The 26-year-old won’t be seeing the same level of defenders in preseason play that he’ll face once the games count, so the expectation is simple - produce.
His first two seasons have been uneven, and he missed nearly two months last year with a foot injury. Still, there was a burst of promise in the 2024 playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, when Shannon averaged nearly a point per minute over the last three games.
Minnesota would love to see that kind of scoring punch again.
Then there’s Cody Williams, a newer piece in Minnesota after the trade with the Utah Jazz. The Timberwolves moved him as part of the deal that cleared space to sign Jonathan Kuminga without going over the second apron, sending Josh Green out in the process.
Williams was the No. 10 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, but his first two years have been mostly quiet. He’ll turn 22 in November, and while a strong preseason may not vault him into the rotation immediately, it could matter in a bigger way: it would make Finch less likely to hesitate when the roster gets thin and minutes open up.
In Other News...
Timberwolves Starters Each Face One Issue That Could Define This Season
The Timberwolves spent the offseason reshaping the top of their roster after injuries and uneven play exposed enough flaws to force real change. Trading Julius Randle and Naz Reid for LaMelo Ball and signing Jonathan Kuminga gave Minnesota a different look in the starting group, one built less around familiarity and more around the idea that internal growth can clean up what went wrong a year ago.
Now the early pressure points are clear. Ball has to adjust to a role that asks him to fit next to Anthony Edwards rather than drive everything himself, while Kuminga is stepping into the power forward spot with the job of bringing more juice on both ends. Minnesota is banking on that combination, plus a sharper defensive commitment, to raise the floor of a lineup that still has plenty to prove. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Could Face A Tough Rudy Gobert Call Sooner Than Expected
The Timberwolves frontcourt picture could look very different a year from now if the right pieces start to click. Joan Beringer is expected to open with limited minutes, but the organization clearly sees a path for him to grow into a quality starter, and that kind of development would change the long-term math around Rudy Gobert. Add Jonathan Kuminga into the mix on a short-term deal, and Minnesota suddenly has another moving part to weigh as it tries to balance present-day contention with future flexibility.
Minnesotas decision on Gobert would not come lightly, but salary cap realities always have a way of forcing the issue. If Beringer keeps progressing and Kuminga settles in as more than a temporary solution, the Wolves could face a difficult call next offseason about whether to keep paying for an elite veteran center or pivot toward a younger, cheaper structure. For now, it is more of a planning exercise than a deadline, but it is the kind of roster question that can sneak up fast. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Suddenly Have One Big Problem Fans Will Gladly Take
The Timberwolves have spent much of the summer trying to answer the same question every contending team eventually faces: how do you feed enough mouths without dulling the edge of the ones who matter most? Anthony Edwards remains the centerpiece, but Minnesota now has a deeper mix of shot creators and versatile pieces around him, with Jaden McDaniels and LaMelo Ball adding to a group that can score in different ways. For once, the concern is less about finding enough talent and more about keeping it organized.
Jonathan Kumingas arrival helped settle an earlier frontcourt worry and gives Minnesota another useful option in a rotation that suddenly looks crowded in all the right places. The challenge now is figuring out how the offense can keep everybody engaged, and the answer may come from a quicker tempo that lets the Wolves spread touches around without forcing one player to carry too much. It is a nice problem to have, even if it still leaves the coaching staff with a few lineup puzzles to sort out. [Read more 🡒]