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Today we got word that Ricky Rubio would be out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. The hole he leaves with his playmaking ability and at point guard will be hard to replace, but let's take a look at some starting lineup possibilities now that Rubio is out.
First off POINT GUARD... It's pretty clear of who will be starting at point guard. Luke Ridnour will be manning the point spot for the remaining 20-some TWolves games. J.J. Barea will backup Ridnour, once he returns from his sprained ankle injury and until then Malcolm Lee will likely get some run at the guard spots as you can expect his NBA debut vs. the Hornets tonight. SHOOTING GUARD... Luke Ridnour was starting at shooting guard up until now, but with Ricky's injury you an expect that to change....unless Rick Adelman decides to continue to start two point guards and goes with Ridnour & Barea. I wouldn't expect that to happen, though, J.J. will be needed to run the second unit as the team's backup point guard. As such, there are ultimately two options and a potential third & fourth. The first is pretty clear--move Wesley Johnson back to shooting guard. He started the season there but for the past couple months he's played small forward. Our second option? Start Martell Webster at shooting guard and keep Wes at small forward. Option number three: perhaps Malcolm Lee will make a big impact in his first couple games and could start at shooting guard next to Luke, a longshot, but a possibility nonetheless. Finally #4: David Kahn makes a trade for a shooting guard. I see this as the biggest longshot of them all, but if Kahn decides to move someone like Tolliver or Randolph for another guard, it's possible. There is also a chance that Wayne Ellington gets some more playing time--another player to keep an eye on. SMALL FORWARD... If Wes Johnson is moved to shooting guard, the Wolves will obviously need to start someone else at small forward. There are ultimately only two options. Either Martell Webster or Michael Beasley. I'm not sure if Adelman will want to start Beasley again, so my best guess would be Martell Webster at the three. POWER FORWARD... Yeah....Kevin Love is your starting power forward. Barring injuries, Derrick Williams will remain the backup power forward. CENTER... Yeah....Nikola Pekovic is your starting center. Barring injuries, Darko will remain the backup center. There are a far too many scenarios that you could go through for starting lineups, which is something I'm sure Rick Adelman and his staff are going through as I write this. Ultimately we'll find out tonight who will be your new starting five. Also, I wouldn't count on any 'revolving doors' at any positions, Adelman likes stability, so the lineup he chooses tonight could be the lineup we see for the remainder of the season (barring injuries, of course!). That's all for now, thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!
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Cody AndersonA TWolves fan, bringing you the daily updates. News Archives
August 2017
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