The Minnesota Timberwolves came into the 2026-27 season with obvious work to do in the frontcourt after losing Naz Reid and Julius Randle. Filling that kind of void was never going to be simple, but Trey Lyles is already giving Chris Finch something the bench badly needed.
Lyles has settled into a useful role without putting up eye-popping numbers every night. What he brings is cleaner spacing, steady rebounding and the ability to fit into different lineups. He’s a tall forward who can shoot when called on and hold his own defensively, and that combination has started to change the look of Minnesota’s second unit.
His outing against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday was a good snapshot of his value. Lyles scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds in a little more than 21 minutes, going 4-of-9 from the field and hitting two three-pointers. It wasn’t a flashy performance, but it was the kind of dependable production the Timberwolves need from their bench.
The shooting is the biggest part of the equation. At 6-foot-9, Lyles gives Finch a frontcourt piece who can step outside and force defenses to respect him beyond the arc. He isn’t the kind of player defenses are built around stopping, which means closeouts are often late, and at that size, late closeouts can be costly.
That matters because Minnesota already has plenty of players who want to attack the rim and create off the dribble. When a big man doesn’t clog the paint, it opens up more room for those players to work. Lyles helps the offense breathe.
That fit becomes even more valuable when he’s on the floor with Bones Hyland and LaMelo Ball. Both guards are at their best when they can get downhill and put pressure on a defense. Lyles gives them a release valve when the lane gets crowded, instead of leaving another big planted near the basket.
His outside touch didn’t appear overnight. Lyles spent the 2025-26 season in Europe with Real Madrid after a decade in the NBA, averaging 13.5 points and shooting 45.9% from three in EuroLeague play. That stretch showed he could still be an efficient offensive player, and Minnesota is now seeing that carry over.
The other part of his value is the flexibility he gives Finch. With Reid and Randle gone, the Timberwolves’ frontcourt looks very different. Jonathan Kuminga has stepped nicely into a starting role, Rudy Gobert remains the starting center for now, and Finch still needs reliable options behind them when the starters sit.
Lyles can play next to another big or serve as the main frontcourt option in smaller groups. That kind of versatility gives Finch more ways to match up from game to game instead of being locked into the same combinations.
It also helps ease the burden on younger players. Joan Beringer is still developing, and Minnesota doesn’t need to rush him into a heavy frontcourt workload. Lyles gives the Timberwolves a veteran option while Beringer continues to grow.
The ideal role for Lyles may not be anything dramatic. He doesn’t need to take over the rotation or play starter minutes. What Minnesota may value most is a steady bench role, with 15 to 20 reliable minutes a night.
There’s still a long way to go before anyone can fully judge the Timberwolves’ bench, and Lyles’ production will naturally rise and fall over the course of the season. But the first eight regular-season games have been encouraging. He’s averaging 6.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per game.
Those numbers don’t jump off the page, but they don’t tell the whole story either. Minnesota doesn’t need Lyles to replace Reid and Randle by himself. It needs him to stabilize the second unit, knock down open looks and make the rest of the offense easier to run.
If he keeps doing that, the Timberwolves’ bench could end up looking a lot better than expected. For a team that lost two major frontcourt pieces over the summer, that would be a meaningful development.
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Gobert still did enough in the box score to help Minnesota stay ahead, but the conversation around him has become bigger than one possession. For a player whose value is supposed to start with rim protection and defensive presence, every lapse gets magnified, and this latest one gave critics another opening while the Timberwolves kept pushing toward the finish. [Read more 🡒]