What will the rotation look like with Timberwolves at full strength?

Rudy Gobert made his return to the Minnesota Timberwolves lineup in Sunday night's win over the San Antonio Spurs. That marked the first time the Timberwolves have been at full strength in nearly two months due to a bevy of injuries.

As the saying goes, next man up, and that proved the case for the Wolves. Amid the injury absences, Minnesota saw its young players on the roster step up, including the likes of Jaylen Clark, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Rob Dillingham, among others. Clark and Shannon, who hadn't previously been playing, in particular, proved they can contribute this season.

With younger players having stepped up and proven themselves, that leaves the question of what the rotation will look like now that Wolves coach Chris Finch has his full roster at his disposal. Earlier in the season, Finch primarily used an eight-man rotation as Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo got acclimated into the fold. Now, he plans to expand it to 10.

"I don't know what it's gonna look like every night," Finch said after Sunday's game. "I don't have that answer right now, I don't know if I'll ever have it. I think it's going to be different all the time. ... Guys are bought in right now and they're accepting of that — that's the most important thing. These guys that have played over the last several weeks through the injuries, they deserve to keep having an opportunity to earn minutes, and we're going to keep trying to play them."

Starting lineup

Sunday's game perhaps gave at least some indication of what the rotation might look like, even if it wasn't a perfect example as Gobert found himself in foul trouble early and sat the second quarter. But starting with the starters, Sunday's game was the first time Finch had everyone back in the fold, and the starting lineup was the same as the initial group to start the season — Mike Conley, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Randle and Gobert. That's not shocking by any means, but the last time the Wolves were at full strength, DiVincenzo had just replaced Conley in the starting lineup.

DiVincenzo was initially on a minutes restriction, and deploying him off the bench made it easier to utilize him late in games, Finch said. But DiVincenzo has since played 30-plus minutes twice, including a start on the second half of a back to back against the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday when Conley rested. DiVincenzo could still return to the starting unit, but Conley has also been playing much better basketball than when he was relegated to the bench in early January.

Conley was shooting below 40% from 3-point range during the first four months of the season, but has found his shot since DiVincenzo's injury absence. His percentage rose over 40% in January and February, and through four games in March, Conley is shooting 59% from deep. His scoring is up, and his fit with the starters seems more natural because of it.

Finch has also liked pairing Conley and Gobert together. It's unclear whether Conley is back to being the full-time starting point guard, but if Sunday's game was any indication, expect Conley to retain the starting spot, at least for the time being.

Bench

If Conley remains the starter, the core of the bench remains clear — DiVincenzo, Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Then there's Clark, Shannon and Dillingham, the three rookies who saw significant time during the injury absences.

On Sunday, both Clark and Shannon saw meaningful minutes — Clark played 13 and Shannon played eight — while Dillingham only saw end-of-game action. Clark's two-way contract has been converted to a standard NBA contract, and it would appear he's in line for the biggest role outside the top eight. His impact as a perimeter defender translates, and he's shown an ability to defend the best of the best. Shannon, 24, is an older rookie and has the size, strength and speed — his ability to push the pace in the open court stands out on a team that can be slower paced — to make an immediate impact.

Dillingham, the No. 8 overall pick in last year's draft, could see minutes as a change of pace type of player, but appears to be an outlier. His small size stands out on the defensive end, where he tends to get picked on, and at just 20 years old, he still has some growing to do on both ends. Dillingham has demonstrated the ability to be electric at times, but he might just need a little more time to develop before getting consistent minutes on a team that's trying to compete in the now.

It appears the 10 in the rotation include the starting five plus DiVincenzo, Reid, Alexander-Walker, Clark and Shannon.

That being said, Finch has acknowledged that what the team needs will change on a night-to-night basis. When they need Clark's abilities to shut down top players, he might see a heavier load. When they need some juice and speed on offense, that could lead to opportunities for the likes of Shannon and Dillingham. Either way, expect different rotation patterns.

"I think you probably need to do that — sub a little bit more one at a time," Finch said. "Sometimes when you do these things, you try to like get ahead, so to get to one lineup that you might want to start the fourth with, you got to start rotating somewhere, it might be a little bit earlier so you can get to that, and we're just going to have to get kind of good at that. ... We have a lot of good lineups that we talked about before the game, and I think we got to all of them (Sunday) at some point, and they all produced."

The next look at the new rotation will come Wednesday night in a 9 p.m. tipoff at the Denver Nuggets.

Starting lineup

Bench

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