Last season, Derrick Williams played the majority of his minutes at the four spot, where the banged up Timberwolves most needed him. When they went small he got a little time at the five (he scored well as a center but as you might imagine struggled to defend).
And he played a sliver of time at the three (not great minutes but such a small sample size you can’t judge it).
This season he could see a lot more time at the small forward spot, Minnesota decision maker Flip Saunders said in an interview at the Timberwolves official Web site.
“He’s the one guy I think everybody kind of forgot about and people don’t talk much about,” Saunders said. “This is a big proving year for him, he’s got to get out and really do some things. But I believe he’s gonna show he can play a couple different positions. He’s been working extremely hard to get in better shape, to get his weight down a little bit, so he can be a little bit more explosive, a little bit quicker.”
Minnesota has Chase Budinger and Corey Brewer who are going to soak up the majority of minutes at the three, but if Williams can be effective there and fit in that rotation it will give Rick Adelman some good matchup options.
It’s going to be a dogfight for those final couple spots in the Western Conference playoffs, but I think Minnesota will get one of them if they can just stay healthy.
