Early signs of dominant Timberwolves 5-man lineup combinations

We’ve talked exhaustively about how one of the biggest strengths of the Timberwolves is depth that will allow them to produce situationally-dominant lineups whether they’re in need of a bucket or a defensive stop, and we’re already seeing early signs of success in that area.

It’s two games, so obviously take everything with a grain of salt, but the five-man lineup combination featuring Donte DiVincenzo, Anthony Edwards, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naz Reid and Rudy Gobert has been machine-like.

Those five have played a grand total of eight minutes together in two games and they boast an offensive rating of 170.6 and a defensive rating of 66.7. That’s a net rating of 103.9, which is freaking absurd. How absurd? The next-best net rating for a five-man lineup combination that has at least eight minutes together on the court this season belongs to Orlando at 72.1.

That five-man lineup was on the court for 4:15 together Thursday night and they outscored Sacramento 18-1 and held the Kings to 0-of-8 shooting in the Wolves’ two-point win.

What’s funny and more telling of how dominant Minnesota might be once they gel all of the new pieces is that the third-highest net rating for a five-man lineup combo with at least eight minutes played together belongs to DiVincenzo, Edwards, Alexander-Walker, Reid and Julius Randle. Those five have a net rating of 50.5 in 12 minutes together.

Again, it’s way too soon to come to any conclusions, but the Timberwolves are showing signs of extreme lineup flexibility and an ability to be prolific on both ends of the court. Alexander-Walker’s strong two-game start to the season has been a big part of the puzzle for Chris Finch.

Even more impressive is that DiVincenzo hasn’t shot the ball well. He’s 3 of 14 from 3-point range. Once he gets going, those five-man lineup combos could be terrifying for the opposition. Granted, Randle (6 of 9), Alexander-Walker (6 of 9) and Reid (6 of 11) aren’t going to continue shooting the lights out on 3-pointers. On the flip side, Edwards is only shooting 40.8% overall and that number is undoubtedly going to rise.

The bottom line here is that Minnesota can put four and even five capable 3-point shooters on the floor at the same time without experiencing major letdowns on the defensive end. They’re extremely dangerous and this is just the beginning of what could be the most exciting season in Timberwolves history.

As Edwards said in the Netflix series, “buckle the (expletive) up.”