Milwaukee Bucks: 3 things to watch for against Minnesota Timberwolves

Final auditions

Mike Budenholzer has indicated that how players fighting for a roster spot perform in preseason games will have little bearing on the Bucks’ final decisions, as the front office and coaching staff will look to take a wider view of proceedings in the hope of arriving at the best possible conclusion.

Of course, none of that is going to stop those watching the game from placing an extra layer of scrutiny on the play of Tyler Zeller, Christian Wood and Tim Frazier, and when the news ultimately emerges of who will start the season as a Buck, framing that decision with the player’s most recent game acting as some form of context for it.

From the perspective of those three players, and possibly D.J. Wilson if he’s healthy enough to play, their chances certainly won’t be done any harm by putting in a standout performance against the Timberwolves.

Each of Zeller, Wood and Frazier have already put in impressive preseason performances on an individual basis, but as Budenholzer may opt to look at a rotation that could more closely resemble his opening night strategy, part of the challenge will now be for them to perform at a high level within the greater framework of what the Bucks are hoping to do in the months ahead.

Speaking of that possibility, and how it impacts the evaluation of those players, Budenholzer told Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"“More approaching trying to get maybe a feel for what the rotations might be. When you look at practice and open gym and all those things, we’ve had a lot of time to evaluate guys. I think that will be on the lighter end of the priorities.”"

With all reports indicating that the Bucks are exploring their options and potentially open to a variety of outcomes, even the slightest positive could prove pivotal for those involved on Friday night.