NBA Northwest Division Rotation and Roster Battles

Keith Smith
Keith Smith, Resident NBA ExpertSeptember 25, 2024
Share
#nba #northwest division #denver nuggets #minnesota timberwolves #oklahoma city thunder #portland trail blazers #utah jazz
© USA TODAY Sports

The openings of NBA training camps are just around the corner. The Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets open this week, as they are headed to Abu Dhabi for a pair of preseason games. A week later, the other 28 teams will spring into action.

NBA training camp doesn’t come with the excitement of NFL camp or MLB preseason. Nor does it come with the competition for roster spots. Smaller roster and more guaranteed money mean that NBA rosters are generally set when camp opens.

However, all across the league battles for rotation spots will play out. Incumbents are trying to hold off newcomers. Young players are trying to break through. Vets are trying to hang on for one more season. In some cases, there are roster spots up for grabs too.

We’re going to going team by team and look some of the most interesting battles to monitor as training camps open. We previously covered the Southwest Division. Next up are the Northwest Division teams!

Denver Nuggets

Bench Minutes

Christian Braun is the leader to replace Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the starting lineup. That leaves his spot as the Nuggets sixth man open. Figuring that out, plus the rest of the bench minutes, is what Michael Malone is tasked with this preseason, and likely in the early part of the regular season.

Here’s what we can bank on: Russell Westbrook will play as the backup point guard. Dario Saric probably has the inside track on the backup big minutes. From there, it’s pretty open. Ideally, Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther will be ready to take on the wing minutes. Keep an eye on Vlatko Cancar getting the mix for backup forward minutes. He looked primed for a rotation role before getting hurt in the summer of 2023.

It's a shame that DaRon Holmes got hurt, because he would have seen some backup big man minutes. As it stands, that probably opens the door for Zeke Nnaji to get another crack at locking down a rotation role.

Denver is a living example of how hard it can be to keep a title window fully open. That’s especially true in the new world with the various apron restrictions. The Nuggets could have kept Caldwell-Pope (at the expense of a bigger tax bill) and continued to try to develop the younger players on the bench. Alas, they didn’t, and now those kids need to be ready to play and ready to play right now.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Bench Wings

The Timberwolves starting lineup is locked in. The backup big minutes are handled by the eminently capable Naz Reid. Rob Dillingham will get the first crack at backing up Mike Conley at point guard. That leaves the backup wings as the only spots up in the air as training camp begins.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker will fill one of those spots, but he’s more of a combo guard than a true wing. That leaves open minutes for a bigger wing. The three contenders are veteran Joe Ingles, third-year player Josh Minott and rookie Terrence Shannon Jr.

Ingles will probably get the first crack at regular minutes. Even at his advanced age, he’s still a good ball-mover and good shooter. Ingles is more of a “defend up” guy, as he’ll take on bigger (read: slower) threes and fours, as opposed to sliding down to defend guards. In many ways, he’s a better-shooting, worse-at-everything-else version of Kyle Anderson.

Minott is still a mystery box. There’s potential there. His limited NBA minutes haven’t yielded much, but his G League profile shows a lot. Minott is a pretty versatile defender. He’s also athletic and a solid finisher. For him to grab regular minutes, he’s going to have to hit three-pointers at a far better clip than he’s shown so far.

In an ideal world, Shannon will be ready sooner, rather than later. Shannon has good size for a wing. He can also score in a number of ways, including hitting spot-up shots. Shannon will have to earn the trust of Chris Finch by proving he can compete on defense before he’ll get minutes.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Start Big or Start Small

The Thunder don’t have anyone really fighting for a roster spot. After a few years of drafting, trading and tinkering, the roster is now well-established. Maybe a few guys could be fighting for minutes, but we have a good amount of data that says Mark Daigneault will use everyone enough to keep them engaged.

That really leaves the only question as: Should the Thunder start big or start small?

OKC added Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso as their big moves this summer. Either player could start and either player could come off the bench. Until last season, Daigneault was fairly fluid with his starting groups. So, maybe he returns to that and moves the two veterans in and out based on matchups.

If the Thunder go with Hartenstein, they’ll morph from a relatively small team to a relatively big one. Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren would rival the biggest starting frontcourts in the league. Jalen Williams and Lu Dort both have good size/bulk for the wing, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the bigger point guards in the NBA.

If Caruso starts, Oklahoma City will look a lot like last year’s team, but a touch smaller. The defense will still be terrific, and Caruso is a better shooter than Josh Giddey, who he was acquired for. The difference will be coming with Hartenstein off the bench, which is a lot more size than last year’s team could bring in on the second unit.

Bonus: Keep an eye on rookie Dillon Jones forcing his way into the rotation. Kenrich Williams is going to miss some time to open the season. That opens up room for another wing to snag some minutes. Jones is the type do-some-of-everything player that has excelled for the Thunder over the years.

Portland Trail Blazers

Kids vs Vets

Portland is going to be terrible this season. They’re the odds-on favorite to be the worst team in the Western Conference, and probably by a wide margin. That makes this a rebuilding/development season.

But it’s not quite that simple for the Trail Blazers.

Portland has a lot of veterans who are good players and they’re going to play, at least for the first few months of the season. Guys like Jerami Grant, Deandre Ayton, Matisse Thybulle and Robert Williams are all going to see minutes. If nothing else, the Blazers need to build up the trade value for those players as best as they can.

This team also has a lot of kids who need to play. Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe need minutes and a long leash to play through mistakes. Donovan Clingan is the future in the middle, but he’s got to compete with both Ayton and Williams for minutes. Toumani Camara established himself as an NBA guy last year, but he’s in a crowded forward mix.

Portland also has mid-career guys like Anfernee Simons and Deni Avdija, who are going to play a lot too. Neither player is old enough to be out of the mix on the rebuilding Blazers, but neither is a young building block either. The story for both of them is far from written.

Chauncey Billups has his work cut out for him this season. He’s got somewhere between 10 and 13 players who could all have a case to play. And a handful of those guys can’t really play together in functional lineups. Good luck balancing all of that in what’s going to be a push-pull kind of season in Portland.

Utah Jazz

Kids vs Vets

Hey! It’s the same thing! But it’s different in Utah than it is in Portland.

The Jazz have a handful of veterans who have shown when they are healthy (or at least allowed to play) that they can be a solid team. Utah has been in contention for a postseason spot in each of the last two seasons before pivoting towards development (read: prioritizing ping-pong balls).

Lauri Markkanen is as close to a franchise player as the Jazz have, so he’s going to play a lot. Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson are productive veteran guards. As long as they are healthy, they’re also going to play. John Collins seemed to find his jumper and his game again, so he’ll play too. The question for Collins is if he’ll start or come off the bench.

From there, it’s a whole bunch of kids and some well-placed veterans who can play, but won’t gripe if they’re behind younger players.

Look for the Jazz to try to get Walker Kessler back on track. Taylor Hendricks and Cody Williams may well be the wing duo of the future in Utah. Isaiah Collier was a highly-regarded prospect who the Jazz got late in the first round. Kyle Filipowski slid to the second round, but Utah gave him a bunch of guaranteed money because they think highly of him. Brice Sensabaugh flashed as a rookie and looked terrific in Summer League. Last but far from least, is Keyonte George, who already established himself as a starter with solid rookie season.

Whew…that’s a lot of guys. In reality, Will Hardy could play almost any of the 15 players the Jazz have on standard contracts and it would be ok. Look for this year to feature more of the kids earlier on. Utah has an extremely difficult uphill battle to get into postseason contention in the Western Conference right from the jump this season. That probably leans more toward development earlier on, while looking at trades for the non-Markkanen vets on the roster.


#nba #northwest division #denver nuggets #minnesota timberwolves #oklahoma city thunder #portland trail blazers #utah jazz
Top