Timberwolves projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season

Minnesota Timberwolves starting shooting guard: Anthony Edwards

There shouldn’t be any doubt in anyone’s mind that Anthony Edwards will be the starting shooting guard and is the best player on the Timberwolves. After a stellar sophomore season, Edwards improved once again and averaged 24.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.6 steals on 46/37/76 shooting splits, all of which were career-high besides his free throw shooting.

Then when the postseason came around, even though they lost in five games to the Nuggets, Edwards was nothing short of spectacular. He averaged 31.6 points, 5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 2 blocks, on 48/35/85 shooting splits.

Edwards has become Jordan-esque in a couple of ways. He has the killer mindset to win a game by any means necessary. He wants to embarrass his opponent and loves doing it by dunking on people. Last but not least, Edwards, like Jordan, is willing to die on every possession if it means his team wins the game. When you have someone like that, there’s no telling what your dream can do.

By no means is Edwards remotely on the same tier as Michael Jordan, especially after their first three seasons, but expect Edwards to take the leap into superstardom. After next season he will be in the conversation as one of the league’s 15- if not 10-best players.

Primary backup shooting guard: Shake Milton

Shake Milton was one of the new signings for the Timberwolves this offseason and this was a huge one for them. He’s been in the league for five seasons and has been one of the best bench role players in the league. Last season for the 76ers he averaged 8.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists on 48/38/85 shooting splits and a big part of the 76ers’ success.

Milton is accustomed to being a very good bench player and has become the best bench player for the Timberwolves. He brings consistent shooting and scoring which every team needs from their bench.

It is almost impossible to be a great team without having good to great bench players. Milton provides exactly that for the Timberwolves. He may not be the type of spark plug as a Bobby Portis or Immanuel Quickley where he takes a game over, but he is good enough that his play will affect how well the Timberwolves season will turn out.

Others who could receive minutes: Nickeil Alexander-Walker

Nickeil Alexander-Walker was one of the acquisitions of the three-team trade between the Timberwolves, Jazz and Lakers. He played 23 games for the Timberwolves and he averaged 5.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 38/36/62 splits. These numbers were down from what they were when he played for the Jazz earlier in the season where he averaged 6.3 points, 1.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists on 49/40/69 shooting splits.

The drastic dip in efficiency along with the signing of Shake Milton has forced Walker to become the third-string 2-guard. If he is able to play well in training camp and in the minutes he will see he could earn his way back into the rotation.