Thibodeau likes rotations with Saturday's preseason opener here

After nine days of practice – two of them two-a-days – the Timberwolves finally play a preseason game, Saturday night against Miami in Kansas City.

"I like the way we're moving along," new coach Tom Thibodeau said after a nearly three-hour practice today. "Tomorrow will give us a good baseline. It will tell us exactly where we are."

You can already see the formation of his first two units: Starters Ricky Rubio, Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins, Gorgui Dieng and Karl-Anthony Towns and reserves Kris Dunn, Brandon Rush, Shabazz Muhammad, Nemanja Bjelica and Cole Aldrich.

Asked whether he prefers to use the preseason schedule to experiment or settle quickly on combinations while coaching a new team, Thibodeau said, "We'll see how it unfolds. I have a pretty good idea of the first two groups. I want to make sure they get the proper amount of time so they're building some rhythm and chemistry together. But I do want to get a look at everybody."

Don't expect Thibodeau's rotations to look truly regular-season version until the team comes off a five-game trip over the next nine days that takes them also to Charlotte, Omaha, Louisville and Oklahoma City.

"The way it is the first five, six games, you're not getting wrapped up in an 8- or 9-man rotation," he said. "It's more you want to get a look at everybody. The last two, three games, you settle in on the way you think you'll start. All it does mean is it's the way you'll start the season. It doesn't mean that's the way it stays. You need everybody over the course of a season. You can't play everybody, so you have to make some tough decisions establishing a rotation. Once you do that, whether it's injury or foul trouble, it'll play itself out."

The Wolves have come through training camp and tough practices apparently healthy.

"It doesn't guarantee you won't have injuries," Thibodeau said, "but it gives you your best chance not to have injuries."

Asked if he plays to win in preseason, Thibodeau said, "They keep score. You're playing a lot of guys. The big thing is you're building a chemistry, you're establishing a rotation, let guys get into shape. Everything matters. I'm more concerned with how we approach the game. We've done good things in practice."

He said he wants to see how his players process information at tomorrow morning's shootaround, how they study for the game and how they analyze and apply what they did right and wrong afterward.

He considers this gap between camp's start and the first preseason game as well as the upcoming nine-day trip the best of both worlds: A chance to install a lot of his system and practice hard for nearly two weeks and time now to bond together as a team on the road.

Expect him to consider taking the team away from Minneapolis for training camp in the coming seasons.