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Wednesday Open Thread: LaVine to Start, Wolves Begin Preseason Play

This thread is for serious basketball discussions only %

By John Meyer
Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Hello, Canis Hoopus. This is going to be pretty short. I wanted to get a quick post up so people can continue chatting only about serious basketball topics here at CH.

Zach LaVine was named the starting shooting guard ahead of Kevin Martin yesterday - that's important and somewhat surprising news for the team. Sam Mitchell dropped the news during an interview with Justin Termine and Eddie Johnson at the practice facility.

We all wanted LaVine to play off-ball instead of point guard last season, though we've already written enough words about that. Now we're going to get our wishes. As I noted in my post yesterday, LaVine has been the talk of training camp and was impressive during the scrimmage on Monday night.

I like the move to name him as the starter, though other writers who cover the team have expressed some distaste over handing him the keys to the two-guard spot.

Bu ultimately the organization has to figure out whether or not LaVine can be the starting shooting guard of the future. What better time than right now? The Wolves are still in development mode and nobody expects them to make the playoffs. And what are the chances Martin is even around two years down the road, let alone the rest of the season? Not high, I suspect. I'd like to keep KMart on the team but it's fairly likely he isn't going to be happy with the demotion, no matter what he might say publicly.

It's also important to note that starting lineups change all the time. As Mitchell said in the interview above, giving LaVine the starting spot now doesn't guarantee anything in the future. "I tell him all the time that it's not written in permanent ink, it's pencil," Mitchell said. "It's your job until you lose it or give it away."

Giving him the start gig doesn't mean he's going to log 30-35 minutes every game either. Maybe the coaching staff wants him to play 20-25 minutes with the starters and have the more seasoned veteran, Martin, bring a calming influence and more proven scoring touch to the bench unit.

Anyway, nothing is written in stone.

I'm thrilled to see what Rubio and LaVine will look like in the backcourt together. We only got the chance to see them play next to each other briefly last year but the results were intriguing. When you put the best passer on the planet with a guy who is pure lightning in a bottle, well, I really believe they can be dynamic in transition together.

The team kicks off preseason play tonight (7:00 pm CT) at Target Center against the Oklahoma City Thunder. I'll be there covering the game for this fine blog. Tweet me questions if you have any!

Time for some Tame Impala. Adiós.