Playing time outside of Wolves' top 8 will be 'situational,' Finch says

The Wolves have a deep roster, but they may not have a set ninth or tenth player in their rotation on a night-to-night basis.

Sep 29, 2025; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch speaks to the media during media day at Target Center. | Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

With the Timberwolves down to two remaining preseason contests and the regular season opener just over a week away, it's a good time to really start looking ahead to the games that count — and what the Wolves' rotation is going to look like in those games.

It's quite apparent that Terrence Shannon Jr. is going to replace Nickeil Alexander-Walker in Minnesota's top eight. Under Chris Finch, the Wolves have typically had eight players in guaranteed roles, with the rest of the roster left to fight over scraps when everyone is healthy. Assuming Mike Conley remains in the starting lineup, Shannon will join Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo as the three bench players seeing big minutes every night.

"I think he solidified that eighth spot last year in the playoffs," Finch said of Shannon on Tuesday.

Finch has talked about wanting to expand the rotation to nine or ten players, but what's becoming more and more clear is that the ninth or tenth guys probably won't be the same on any given night. There are a number of options on a deep Wolves team that Finch can turn to in order to supplement the eight-man rotation, and who he goes to will depend on what the team needs that night.

"I think those last spots are always gonna be situational," he said. "We've seen what Jaylen (Clark) can do on a nightly basis too. Between those guys, Joan (Beringer) and Rob (Dillingham), it'll all be situational. And of course, injuries are gonna help determine some of that."

Let's sort the roster into a few different tiers ahead of the Oct. 22 opener in Portland.

The starters

• Mike Conley
• Anthony Edwards
• Jaden McDaniels
• Julius Randle
• Rudy Gobert

The only player here whose role isn't guaranteed is Conley, the Wolves' 38-year-old point guard who struggled massively against the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. He'll presumably remain in the starting lineup for now, but he'll be rested in some games and could see his role scaled down if it becomes clear he's fallen off an age cliff.

The big three off the bench

• Naz Reid
• Donte DiVincenzo
• Terrence Shannon Jr.

Reid and DiVincenzo will both probably play more minutes than Conley on a nightly basis. Reid would start on a lot of teams, but he'll remain one of the NBA's elite sixth men as long as Randle and Gobert are healthy. DiVincenzo, while not a true point guard, will be in the mix to start games this year. The Wolves have spoken extremely highly of Shannon and what they think he can become.

The next three options fighting for minutes

• Jaylen Clark
• Rob Dillingham
• Joan Beringer

This is a fun group of players that all bring something very different to the table, which will give Finch options for adding a ninth or even tenth player into the mix in spurts. Clark, who is probably the favorite to lead this group in minutes, provides tenacious on-ball defense and smart, low-usage production on offense. If he can hit threes, it may be hard to not play him 10+ minutes per night. Clark is also 24 years old, whereas Dillingham is 20 and Beringer turns 19 next month.

It came against a Chinese team, so it doesn't mean a whole lot, but it was nonetheless important to see Dillingham go off with 27 points and nine assists on Monday night. He still has quite a bit of scoring and playmaking upside, but the key question is how well he can hold up defensively. The rookie Beringer is raw but might be able to give the Wolves productive interior defense and rebounding right away. He could be an option if Gobert gets into early foul trouble.

Any of these three are an injury away from being thrust into the top eight.

Oct 9, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Rob Dillingham (4) drives to the basket against the New York Knicks during the first half at Madison Square Garden. | John Jones-Imagn Images

The deep-cut contenders for minutes

• Bones Hyland
• Leonard Miller
• Johnny Juzang

These guys are even further on the outside looking in when it comes to cracking the Wolves' rotation, but they can't be ruled out as options at some point down the line. Although Hyland may not have Dillingham's upside, he's a similar type of player with longer arms and much more NBA experience. Miller is a guy who is far too good for the G League but has spent several years unable to carve out a role in a stacked Minnesota frontcourt. Juzang has been a breakout star of this preseason so far, hitting 15 of his 25 threes. He might just earn a full NBA contract with his play.

The bench vet and the two-way guys

• Joe Ingles
• Rocco Zikarsky
• Tristen Newton
• Enrique Freeman

It's hard to imagine Ingles playing real minutes, outside of maybe making the occasional late-game inbounds pass, unless things go very wrong. Zikarsky, the Wolves' other draft pick this year, figures to spend most of the season developing in Iowa. Newton and Freeman, assuming they stick around on two-way deals, don't have much to prove in the G League but are way down the depth chart in Minnesota.

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