Don't expect imminent changes to Timberwolves' starting lineup

Chris Finch said if he felt like that was the 'magic bullet,' he would've done it already.

Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch looks on against the Boston Celtics in the second half at Target Center in Minneapolis on Jan. 2, 2025. / Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Timberwolves' starting lineup has played the second-most minutes of any five-man lineup combination in the NBA. Only the starting unit of Tom Thibodeau's New York Knicks has played more — and far more — minutes together.

Mike Conley, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert have been the starting five in 30 of Minnesota's 34 games this season — Conley missed a few games to injury — and shared the court for 418 total minutes.

That group is still an overall positive with a 1.1 net rating, but the starting lineup has also looked clunky, at times, offensively with the spacing between Gobert, Randle and Edwards being a challenge. It's struggled defensively as well, particularly in transition. That's often led to slow starts in games, including in Saturday night's 119-105 loss to the Detroit Pistons, when Detroit started the game to a 9-3 advantage and led 17-12 when the Wolves made their first substitutions.

Though the group hasn't been a negative, it hasn't lived up to the performance of some of the second-unit combinations that have thrived during the season. That's led to a lot of questioning of the starting lineup, but that group isn't likely to change anytime soon. While coach Chris Finch acknowledged lineup changes are a constant subject of discussion, he told reporters postgame Saturday he doesn't believe changing the starting five would be a fix-all for the team's issues.

"If I felt like the magic bullet was changing the starting lineup, I would've done that already," Finch said. "And I don't think I'm being particularly stubborn. There's a chain reaction to everything that you do. There are other combinations and things that go on on the floor that are just as important, if not more important, than the starting lineup."

That doesn't mean there aren't improvements Finch needs to see. Offensively, he thinks the Wolves react too much to runs and missed shots, which leads to impatience on that end of the court and frustration defensively. Season-long, the starters' offensive numbers are actually pretty good — they're scoring 112.8 points per 100 possessions, which is fourth-best of their eight five-man lineup combinations that have seen at least 50 minutes together on the court this season.

But defensively, the starting five harbors a 111.7 defensive rating, which ranks seventh among those top-eight lineups, as does the starting unit's 1.1 net rating. Despite having bigs like Randle, Gobert and Naz Reid, rebounding has been among the defensive issues for the team as a whole. The Wolves have struggled on the glass this year, ranking 18th in the NBA in rebounding overall and just 22nd on the defensive glass. The opposition is scoring 13.6 second-chance points per game.

The Wolves gave up 15 second-chance points to the Pistons and were outrebounded 47-33.

With Gobert, Randle and the length of McDaniels at the three, rebounding should be a strength of the starting unit.

"I'd like to see a little bit more, particularly that first group, we should dominate the glass with the size that we do have out there," Finch told reporters postgame Saturday. "There were opportunities to go to the glass, I didn't see us doing that. We should dominate both ends of the glass, but that group has also struggled to rebound, too, defensively."

A starting lineup can only take a team so far, and it hasn't been the root of all Minnesota's issues. But it simply hasn't lived up to potential this season, and while it's perhaps to early to make that major change with a .500 record 34 games into a season with a drastically different roster, if the starters continue to struggle, perhaps Finch will have to change his tune.