Timberwolves' New-Look Bench Carries Concerns and Possibilities

For the first time in three years, the Wolves' bench isn't entering the season as a known commodity. There will be no talk of eight starters, no talk of a reigning Sixth Man of the Year. It will be a season of opportunity and for the next diamond in the rough to be discovered.

The Wolves have their top five rotation players locked, but the remaining roles in the rotation are up for grabs in a pivotal season.

An offseason of change brings about new Timberwolves questions on the bench

Last year, the Wolves maintained seven of their top eight players, with only Nickeil Alexander-Walker leaving. The trade for Ayo Dosunmu helped Minnesota return to an eight-man rotation that featured starting-quality players throughout.

However, coming into 2026-27, the bench is seemingly a free for all. Of the top eight players from last season only four remain. Mike Conley moved on to Boston, Kyle Anderson to Toronto, Naz Reid was traded to Charlotte, and Julius Randle to Brooklyn.

Assuming LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Dosunmu, Jaden McDaniels, and Rudy Gobert make up the starters, it leaves the bench thin. Donte DiVincenzo being sidelined for most of the season also means no one on the bench would have been a rotation player last regular season.

Terrence Shannon Jr. likely enters this season as the sixth man after a strong playoff run last year. He has only played 877 minutes total in his career, though, across 75 games. That's 11.7 minutes per game on average. While he has shown flashes of production, especially as a primary ball handler, he has also had lapses on the defensive side of the floor that have led to him falling completely out of the rotation.

Shannon Jr. also dealt with ankle, shoulder and groin injuries during his rookie season and a foot injury last year that kept him sidelined for most of November. It would flair up in February and cause him to miss another month and a half of play.The ability and talent is there to impact the team, but the injuries and defense have thus far caused him to never truly get a chance.

Bones Hyland is set up to be the first primary guard off the bench after having a productive 2025-26 season. His 16.6 minutes per game across 71 games marked his most minutes played since 2022-23. His 38.8% three point shooting marked the second best percentage of his career.

Hyland's defense also seemed much improved from his early days with Denver and his brief stint in Los Angeles with the Clippers, as he set a career high with 1.3 defensive win shares. He also set a career high in assist to turnover ratio at 2.69.

Hyland has yet to find a true home in the NBA due to his streaky shooting and playmaking mistakes. His defense had also shown lapses in the past that had him fall out of the rotations with both the Nuggets and Clippers.

For Hyland, defensive consistency and mitigating the cold streaks in his shooting will be a must. If Hyland can do that and keep the turnovers down, he will likely be the lead guard off the bench for the Wolves, but like with Shannon Jr., Hyland comes with a lot of uncertainty.

Josh Green is next on the pecking order, and he comes with the most experience of the potential bench group. He’s played over 7,200 minutes in his seven-year career and has been a contributor on Dallas teams that have made the playoffs.

In Minnesota, however, his role is unclear. At 6-foot-6, he joins a crowded wings group that includes Shannon Jr., Edwards, McDaniels and Dosunmu, and is likely a little too small to factor in as a power forward. He is a good shooter though, hitting 38.7% of his career three point attempts and only having one season shooting under 45.0% from the field.

Green's a capable defender that can guard up on bigger forwards and down to smaller guards. The main holes in his game are a lack of rebounding production and the ability to take the ball off the catch into the heart of the defense.

At 25 years old he is the most known product off the Wolves bench, but also might have the lowest ceiling. For Green the path to minutes may be as simple as just being his consistent self and maintaining in the rotation while other players hit down swings of their seasons or injuries.

The last of the bench players can be grouped together. They are the biggest question marks.

Joan Beringer will likely get a lot of minutes behind Gobert at the beginning of the season, but the second-year big has just not played enough of a sample size to predict. He played just 314 minutes as a rookie, and has upside as an athletic big that can defend multiple positions, yet the fact is he just hasn't had enough playing time to know for sure what his path is to locking down a spot.

Jaylen Clark has shown flashes in his first three seasons, but like Green fits the prototype of a defensive wing player. Unlike Green, Clark has not shot the three ball well through his career and has struggled to show an offensive side of his game. His defense will give him a chance, but he will likely start the season far down the pecking order.

Trey Lyles is one of just two players over the age of thirty on the Wolves and spent last season playing in Europe. In theory he is a stretch forward that can rebound and shoot the three. He signed a veteran's minimum contract to return to the NBA. He has averaged 18.4 minutes per game across his 10-year career, but will likely be on the outside of the rotation to start the season as younger players get opportunities to earn a spot.

Rookies Isaiah Evans and Trey Kaufman-Renn also figure to be on the outside looking in on the rotation. In Evans, the Wolves have a 20-year-old prospect that has shown to be a good volume three-point shooter. Then in Kaufman-Renn they have a 23-year-old rebounding forward that has played five seasons for Purdue being a do anything post player. Both players will likely see time at some point but certainly wont get the first crack at minutes.

It will be a year of transition for the bench in Minnesota. For the first time in three years the Wolves won't have multiple starting quality players on the bench to start the season. It will mean that players will have opportunities to prove themselves and earn rotation spots and cement their roles for the future.

After all, Alexander-Walker wasn't considered a starter when he was traded from Utah, and Reid wasn't a starter-level prospect when he went undrafted. Multiple players on the Wolves bench will have the opportunity to be the next Minnesota success story and impact the team's playoff hopes.

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