Finch defends tight rotation as Wolves' young guards wait their turn

With Anthony Edwards and Mike Conley out for a second consecutive game, one would've figured that second-year guys Terrence Shannon Jr. and Rob Dillingham were in for more playing time. Instead, Bones Hyland made his second straight start, while Shannon and Dillingham, especially in Sunday's 117-103 win over the Kings, only saw minimal gains in their playing time.

When asked about idea of getting the younger guys more minutes, in order to further their development, head coach Chris Finch was ready with a holstered answer.

"Well, I'm glad you asked that question," Finch began. "So, there's a lot of things right now. TJ played 30 minutes the other night in San Francisco. OK. And he earned all 30 minutes. And, you know, much has been said about the 10-minute roles these guys have. With the way that we're constructed, we don't have anyone who's near the top of the league in minutes led. We have a deep six, seven guys who can all play upwards of the high-20s and low-30s, mid-30s."

With the 17-9 Wolves sitting in sixth place in the Western Conference, Edwards leads the team at 34.4 minutes per-game. That's good for 20th in the league. The next closest is Julius Randle, who averages 33.8 minutes, which is 28th in the NBA. After Ant and Randle, you have to drop to 45th in the league to find the next Wolves star (Jaden McDaniels at 32.8). Donte DiVincenzo (31.3) and Rudy Gobert (31.1) round out the team's top five and come in 55th and 58th in the league, respectively.

Former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid occupies 26.3 minutes per game, and veteran guard Mike Conley takes up 19.1 minutes per contest. That doesn't necessarily leave a lot of time for the younger guys to get on the court.

"Sometimes it just doesn't leave this 20-minute role for these guys," continued Finch. "We've been playing 10, and, you know, what if the role is only 10 minutes? I mean, shouldn't you go out and crush those 10 minutes? Then be ready to go back if we need you more, or maybe we run with you a little bit longer."

Finch came under plenty of scrutiny last season for the limited playing time Dillingham, whom the team moved up to take with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 draft, received. Dillingham averaged 10.5 minutes per game as a rookie, and he's averaging the exact 10.5 minutes per game this season. Shannon has seen his minutes tick up a little bit from 10.6 during the 2024-25 season to 14.0 this season. Meanwhile, Jaylen Clark continues to lead the trio of young Wolves, averaging 15.0 minutes this season, up from 13.1 last season.

"The reality is that's the role right now, and they got to nail it," said Finch. "We expect that there's going to be good days and bad days because they're second-year players, and that's what second-year players do. They have inconsistencies. If you played three games, you hope that you get one good, one not so good, and maybe stinker. And you've got to turn that into two positives and maybe one negative. Once we get there, things start to go."

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