Which players can play for the Minnesota Timberwolves in their next game?
The Minnesota Timberwolves will play their next home game on Saturday, and that means they will be getting some major additions in their lineup.
With the Minnesota Vikings playing their first home game of the season on Saturday night against the Los Angeles Chargers, the team announced on Wednesday that center Andrew Wiggins and guard Ricky Rubio will start the game.
The announcement comes just days after Minnesota announced the signings of forward Dwayne Bacon, center Alex Okafor, guard Jalen Brunson, guard Dontae Johnson, guard Anthony Bennett, and center Tyus Jones.
With that trio, the Timberwolves have just two rookies available, which is a good sign considering the amount of talent on the roster.
But the team is going to have to get some veteran help on the bench if it wants to get a win in its next game against the Arizona Cardinals.
The first big addition on the Timberwolves roster will be Wiggins, who was acquired in a trade with the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.
The 26-year-old is coming off a breakout season for the Milwaukee Bucks, averaging 13.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists.
While Wiggins’ numbers are great, his scoring and shooting are not.
While Wiggins is shooting 48.4 percent on 3-pointers, he’s also getting a lot of turnovers and being the recipient of many of his teammates’ dirty looks.
Wiggins has also struggled in the post, averaging only 0.8 points per possession.
It is worth noting that Wiggins has never been a great rebounder, as he averaged only 1.4 per game as a rookie.
However, Wiggins has a career-high 4.3 blocks per game, so he should be able to contribute.
Rubio, who is playing for the Los Angles Clippers, is a veteran that is also a versatile player that can play both center and forward.
Rubio has made 12 starts in the NBA and played in all 82 games for the Golden State Warriors this season.
Rubio is averaging 10.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
He is also shooting 43.4 and 40.7 percent from the field, respectively.
Okafor is the second big addition to the Wolves, joining rookie center Alexey Shved.
Okaof, who has appeared in eight games this season for his hometown team of the Toronto Raptors, has averaged 5.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contest this season, good for 10.1 points and 6.5 rebounds.
Opafor and Rubio will likely get plenty of minutes with the starters and reserve players, but it will be important to see how much of an impact they make in the first game.
