Timberwolves Roll Out a Spacing Nightmare With New Starting Lineup
Underdog NBA tweeted: 'Lineup alert: Wolves will start Ball, Dosunmu, McDaniels, Kuminga, Gobert on Wednesday.'
The Minnesota are officially treating their starting lineup like a random number generator. On Wednesday night against the Houston , they are rolling out a chaotic five-man unit of LaMelo Ball, Ayo Dosunmu, Jaden McDaniels, Jonathan Kuminga, and Rudy Gobert.
Underdog NBA broke the news of the lineup shift, which pairs two dynamic guards with a frontcourt that has enough wingspan to block out the sun but absolutely zero spacing. If you are holding tickets on player props, this new rotation completely scrambles the usage rates and offensive hierarchy.
Ball is currently running the offense with 14.4 points and 6.3 assists per game, but he is shooting a frosty 39.3 percent from the floor. He also carries an injury history longer than a CVS receipt, so getting him some backcourt help is a basic survival tactic.
Pairing him with Dosunmu, who is quietly putting up over 15 points and five boards a night, gives Minnesota a dual-guard look that should push the pace and take some on-ball pressure off Ball.
But throwing Kuminga and McDaniels on the wings next to Gobert means the half-court spacing is going to be an absolute nightmare. Watching Ball try to thread lob passes into a paint clogged by three guys who do their best work inside the arc is going to be either high comedy or a tactical masterpiece.
It is the kind of offensive geometry that makes a 1990s Eastern Conference slugfest look like a modern spread offense. Opposing defenses are just going to pack the paint and dare someone to shoot.
We will see how this experiment looks immediately when they tip off against Houston. If this group cannot generate enough perimeter shooting to keep the defense honest, expect the coaching staff to pull the plug and shuffle the deck again before they head to New Orleans on Friday.