With the Timberwolves returning most of their top players from a season ago, those young players at the end of the bench face an uphill battle for playing time.
Two-way players like Luka Garza, rookie Leonard Miller, and second-year players Wendell Moore Jr. and Josh Minott will be starting the season as spectators and on the outside looking in at the rotation barring a rash of injuries.
In the preseason, Wolves coach Chris Finch has decided to give a significant chunk of playing time to his starters and first bench unit to help it build cohesion. The one deviation from that came in Tuesday night's 138-111 home victory over the Israeli team Maccabi Ra'anana.