The Minnesota Timberwolves used the 13th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft on Zach LaVine and he certainly impressed as rookie. LaVine played a lot of point guard his rookie year but this season he will primarily be a shooting guard as the Wolves have a lot of depth at the point and although it would seem as though Kevin Martin is a lock to start at the two guard spot LaVine could possibly push him, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Interim head coach Sam Mitchell said coming into training camp that developing players was his main focus as opposed to winning. That doesn't mean that he isn't going to try to win obviously but it likely means he will give his young players every opportunity to play. With that in mind the 20 year old LaVine may have a shot to usurp the starting shooting guard spot from the 32 year old Martin.
LaVine has reportedly come into camp looking a lot more muscular and has also shown vast improvements in his jump shot. LaVine has the size to play shooting guard (6 foot-5) and certainly has the athleticism, as shown by his slam dunk contest victory, but adding a plus jump shot would be huge for him.
Mitchell has yet to even entertain the idea of who he might put in the starting lineup for the regular season but based on performance and the idea that development is number one to him you would have to hink LaVine has a legitimate shot. Last season LaVine started 40 games while Martin only started 36 as he missed a lot of time with injuries. Martin has been a starter for the majority of his career and has said he would like to remain one but LaVine has more upside and brings more things to the table than Martin can.
Last season LaVine averaged 10.1 points, 3.6 assists and 2.8 rebounds in just 24.7 minutes per game while shooting 42 percent from the field and 34 percent from three, some great numbers for a 19 year old rookie. Martin is a very good scorer but that's really all he does so maybe a change in the starting lineup would be best for the Wolves. Mitchell has yet to decide but what once looked like it would be an easy decision to start Martin has become much more difficult for the interim head coach.
