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The Minnesota Timberwolves traded Julius Randle before the NBA Draft to clear salary space.
Then after the draft, they traded Naz Reid as part of the blockbuster deal for LaMelo Ball.
And so a team that was really, really tall is now a little bit less so. Their frontcourt is going to look a lot different.
The overall roster might not be worse, but it's going to become a lot more perimeter-oriented -- which might make sense in the modern NBA anyway.
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Minnesota Timberwolves projected lineup, frontcourt depth chart
The Timberwolves have a few options, but they likely center around the versatility of Jaden McDaniels.
The most talented five players they could put on the court would look like this:
- PG: LaMelo Ball
- SG: Ayo Dosunmu
- SF: Anthony Edwards
- PF: Jaden McDaniels
- C: Rudy Gobert
That's a lot smaller than having Edwards at the 2 and McDaniels at the 3 with a true small forward.
To do a lineup more like that, they'll likely need to sign a big man in free agency, or pull off another trade.
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This will also push into duty more quickly young centers Joan Beringer and Rocco Zikarsky, who were both drafted in 2025.
Beringer, in particular, has intriguing upside, but it's not clear if he could play power forward alongside Gobert.
The key here is that the Timberwolves have four immensely talented players on the perimeter in Ball, Dosunmu, Edwards and McDaniels. Making that work both offensively and defensively will determine just how good they can be.
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