National Basketball Association

Crowded wing: Wolves have glut of swingmen on roster

Published Sep. 26, 2014 3:45 p.m. ET

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MINNEAPOLIS -- With an NBA paycheck coming his way and training camp around the corner, Timberwolves small forward Glenn Robinson III is supremely confident he can carve out a niche on Minnesota's roster this season.

Well, sort of.

"I wouldn't say it's daunting," the second-round pick out of Michigan quickly chirped when asked about the bevy of players ahead of him at his position.

Then the son of the man they call "Big Dog" stopped himself. "I mean," he added, "it is a lot of wings."

Robinson's observation is short on astuteness but not on significance. Indeed, a franchise that's been without a viable swingman for years suddenly has a multitude of them to choose from.

It's the deepest position on the roster heading into camp, which begins Tuesday at Minnesota State's Bresnan Arena in Mankato.

"It is what it is," said Robinson, who last week signed a partially guaranteed contract after being drafted 40th overall. "It's up to all of us to get each other better, to have the right mindset whether you're the last guy in that wing set or the first guy. That's something about this young team is that everyone understands that. One thing about having a young team is that you never know who might get the spot."

But this isn't an offensive line, where depth is necessary for a stout rotation. And it's not an outfield corps, where the odd man out can take a day off knowing there are 100 other games for him to make a mark.

At most, two Wolves that might fit the description of a wing player will be on the floor at one time -- unless Flip Saunders decides to go nuts and deploy nearly half the fleet. Two of them, Kevin Martin and Zach LaVine, can expect to receive almost all their wing minutes at shooting guard (Saunders hopes to use LaVine at both the one and the two).

That leaves Corey Brewer, Andrew Wiggins, Chase Budinger, Shabazz Muhammad, Robbie Hummel and Robinson all vying for time at the three.

Six players. One position.

Brewer is the incumbent starter, and Saunders has said he's not necessarily going to throw No. 1 overall pick and prodigy Wiggins into the fire unless he's ready. Brewer had a career year last year -- 12.3 points per game on 48.1 percent shooting and 1.9 steals per game, all career highs -- but is also comfortable coming off the bench, which he did in Denver for two seasons before inking a free-agent deal with the Wolves, who drafted him in 2007.

All eyes will be on Wiggins, the 19-year-old Kansas phenom who came over from Cleveland in the Kevin Love trade. Projected as perhaps the NBA's next superstar, Wiggins impressed for the Cavaliers' summer-league team and he has the athleticism, wingspan and skillset to make a difference right away.

Behind the apparent two-man race for starting small forward, it's a complete crapshoot.

Budinger, who's missed significant time the past two seasons with knee injuries, shoots the 3 well enough to play either shooting guard or small forward. But there's a chance he plays more two behind Martin in order to let LaVine develop more gradually.

That's if Budinger, a 35.7 percent career 3-point shooter, can even stay healthy. Two meniscus operations on the same knee and a late ankle sprain last season have kept him out of 100 games the past two years.

Muhammad could be in line for a noted minutes boost under Saunders. The man that traded for him in the first round of last year's draft likes his tenacity and could use him more as a transition threat than now-retired Rick Adelman was willing to do.

Muhammad appeared in just 37 games last year but averaged 23.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per 48 minutes. He spent the summer working out with a former Navy SEAL instructor and is coming back chiseled and in better physical shape, according to general manager Milt Newton.

The stigma that Muhammad isn't willing to put the time in is bologna, Newton said.

"I like what I'm seeing," said Milton, who spent four days with Muhammad to check on his progress earlier this month. "Whatever perception people had of him not being a worker, it's absolutely not true. I think he's going to come and he's going to surprise a lot of people -- not only this team, his teammates, but I think in the league."

Muhammad's thick frame and solid post-up game render him capable of some power-forward run, too, though only in a smaller lineup. The same goes for Hummel, who at 6-8 believes he can develop into a stretch four when he's not on the wing.

As a rookie, he was Adelman's preferred starting wing option when either Martin or Brewer was out of the lineup. Appearing in 53 games -- five starts -- Hummel averaged 13.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per 48 minutes and shot 36 percent from 3-point range.

"I think I can play the three or the four," said Hummel, a 2012 second-round selection who spent his first professional campaign in Spain. "But there's a lot of new faces, especially at the wing. I think we have a lot of young guys that have a lot of potential. It should be a lot of fun to watch."

Robinson is part of that mix, too, but he has a steep hill to climb if he hopes to find a place among it. The Wolves admire his long-term potential, Newton said, but "he's going to have to earn it."

"There's a reason why we drafted him," Newton said.

It's a key area to keep an eye on at training camp, which runs from Tuesday through Oct. 5 in Mankato, ahead of Minnesota's Oct. 7 preseason opener. All six small forwards are under guaranteed -- or, in Robinson's case, partly guaranteed -- deals, meaning any cut could cost the Wolves some money.

But competition is a good thing, Wiggins said -- even for a player like himself who's expected to do bigger things than any of his teammates on the wing.

"I think it's a great situation," Wiggins said. "Whenever I think about it, it gives me more freedom. I'm surrounded by young guys that have the same intentions and determination as me to really just win, get better every day."

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