It’s been just over a year since Wolves world was turned upside down with one of the wildest trades in NBA history. In a league that many people believe is continuing to trend towards small ball, the Minnesota Timberwolves rolled the dice and zagged in the face of those who chose to follow by trading a small fortune of draft picks for win-share warrior and screen-assist savant Rudy Gobert. Assuming a massive trade isn’t coming out of nowhere for the second year in a row, Minnesota will begin Chapter 2 of the bigxperiment.
The Timberwolves already have one of the most unique starting lineups in the NBA. They are starting two centers who are 7-foot or taller in Karl-Anthony Towns and Gobert. They have Jaden McDaniels at the 3, who is listed between 6’9” and 6’10” depending on the source. The Wolves backcourt is a little more normal sized with Anthony Edwards standing at (at least) 6’5”, and Mike Conley at 6’1”. Still, Minnesota will be starting one of the tallest lineups in the NBA every night, and their ability to use their height to their advantage will be an integral part of their identity and success this season.
However, what if I told you that the Timberwolves may go even bigger next season? Before last season, I wrote an article examining two of the super-sized lineups the Wolves could realistically make work. My resolution was that subbing Kyle Anderson in at the point while keeping the rest of the starting lineup the same would make the most sense. That lineup has an average height of about 6’9.6″ and a total height of 408″. That’s just 6 inches below the tallest lineup in NBA history (414”), and 4 inches below the 2020 Denver Nuggets, who played a 412” lineup due to injuries, health, and safety.
While we saw plenty of point SlowMo last season, we sadly didn’t get to see the supersized lineup that I dreamed of. However, Chris Finch restored my hope of seeing this wacky off-meta lineup, or something similar. In Naz Reid’s post-contract signing press conference, Finch spoke glowingly about Naz’s game. “Naz has such a versatile game and his skill opens up just so much lineup flexibility with our team,” he said, “whether he backs up at the 4 or backs up the 5.”
Then he said the magic words, “Heck, we might even try to play them all three together, you know? Just because there’s so much skill there.”
Hearing Finch say this got me so excited that I had to rewind the video and examine his facial expression to make sure he wasn’t joking. However, he looked completely serious upon review, and neither Tim Connelly or Naz reacted in any way that would suggest he wasn’t serious.
Why am I so excited about this? you may ask. Two centers didn’t work that well last season, why would three be good? I have to admit that I don’t know if it’ll work at all, and that I mostly want to see it because it would be fun to watch a gigantic lineup run around the court. However, also because following the trend of what has been successful doesn’t work if you don’t have the right players. Often, the teams who experiment are the ones who set the trends that people follow. Small ball wasn’t that successful until the Golden State Warriors dynasty, and it is arguably only as successful as it was for them because of the prowess of their two most important players, Steph Curry, and Draymond Green.
Finch expressed his own beliefs on what the future of the league will look like in the Reid press conference. “Everyone says the league’s trending smaller,” he said. “But when you have skilled big players that’s really where the league I think is headed. So [Naz] is a classic example of what a modern big looks like.”
I personally believe he’s right that the future of the league will center around skilled bigs and positional size, at the very least. Of course, there will still be guards who make their impact on the league, and perhaps are even the best player on a championship team. However, the skilled big revolution has already been in progress for a while, and it may even be fair to say that it is here now.
The near-consensus four best players in the world are skilled bigs: Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, and Kevin Durant. Two of those bigs, Giannis and Durant, regularly play with a 7-foot center. All four are skilled enough to play almost every position on the court, even if they are technically usually slotted in at the 4 or 5.
Similarly, the way the league has been drafting suggests that other teams also believe the league’s future is in skilled bigs. Adrian Wojnarowski dubbed Victor Wembanyama “the greatest prospect in NBA history.” Many others think he will be the next LeBron James in terms of his impact on the league, and he’s a skilled big. All of the top three picks in the 2022, Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren, and Jabari Smith, are all skilled bigs. And it’s not just a recent phenomenon, teams have been searching for “unicorns” since bigs who can shoot like Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porzingis came into the league.
If the league is trending towards skilled bigs as the dominant force, then Minnesota’s roster is stacked with players who fit the “ideal archetype.” Of course, that doesn’t guarantee 50 wins and a finals run. The Timberwolves’ bigxperiment looked rough around the edges last year. They will have to do a ton of work this offseason to implement offensive and defensive schemes that cater to their wealth of skilled bigs, while not forgetting about calling plays for Anthony Edwards, the driving force of their team. It will be tough to navigate. However, the way Naz played with both Rudy and KAT on the fabled California road trip is reason to believe that the Wolves can legitimately meld the powers of their three skilled bigs together into one winning force.
Even if you think this is a terrible idea, or don’t find the idea of weird, experimental basketball as entertaining as I do, Minnesota’s front office has made their proverbial bed and now they have to lay in it. What else is there to do but double, excuse me, triple down on what makes your team unique, and say f— it let’s play three bigs at once? If the team can hit their upside, they could revolutionize how the game is played. If they fail, it may be one of the funniest remember when’s in NBA history, and I’m 100% on board for both.
With that, I’d like to leave you with two ultra-big lineups that I’d deem semi realistic based on Finch’s comments, and that I’d like to speak into existence before the season starts.
- Anthony Edwards/Kyle Anderson
- Jaden McDaniels
- Naz Reid
- Karl-Anthony Towns
- Rudy Gobert
That lineup may have a hard time with transition defense. They would rely heavily on the bigs being able to consistently run the floor to get back in transition defense and not give up a ton of points. However, they would likely be menacing in half court. They could probably impose their will in the paint in offensive sets, and smother teams in defensive sets when they get back on time.
Or perhaps if Finch has a looser definition of “big,” and some of the young prospects are able to play this year, you could go with a switch-everything lanky wings lineup that includes:
- Anthony Edwards
- Jaden McDaniels
- Josh Minott/Leonard Miller
- Kyle Anderson/Miller
- Karl-Anthony Towns/Rudy Gobert
This team would have less force, but much more versatility that, if it hit its ceiling, could be similar to the Boston Celtics teams of the last two seasons. Think about that for a moment.
