Will Wolves lineup change help Kevin Martin shake his slump?

According to Wolves coach Sam Mitchell, this was going to happen eventually.

Looking for more scoring from the starting five, hoping to help veteran guard Kevin Martin shake his recent shooting slump and determined to give younger players more playing time, Mitchell has changed his starting lineup and altered his rotation.

Beginning with Monday's game against slumping Philadelphia at Target Center, Martin will move into the starting lineup, replacing Tayshaun Prince. Also, Mitchell said some younger players, particularly Shabazz Muhammad, will see more minutes.

"We need more scoring," Mitchell said. "We may give up a little more defensively, but we just have to score more points. And that may help KMart get out of his funk a little bit."

Late in the preseason Mitchell settled on a starting lineup that included veterans Kevin Garnett and Prince as starters, hoping the pair would be able to help the Wolves start games strong defensively. In that lineup Andrew Wiggins played shooting guard with Ricky Rubio at the point and rookie Karl-Anthony Towns at center.

The new starting five will have Martin at off guard with Wiggins moving to small forward, where he played last season as a rookie.

"It was never my intention for Tayshaun to play the amount of minutes [he has]," said Mitchell of Prince, who has averaged 22.2 minutes, 3.2 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. Mitchell said Prince's minutes would drop to about 10 minutes per game while Muhammad's minutes could increase to 22-25 per game.

When Muhammad is on the floor with Wiggins, Muhammad will play the small forward position.

"It's just whatever the coach asks," said Martin, who has come off the bench so far this season. '

Both Mitchell and Martin said they hope the move will help Martin. A reliable shooter and scorer, Martin said he's having the most difficult stretch of his career. "This one's a little different from the other ones," he said of his slump. "I've never been through a stretch like this before."

Martin is shooting a career-low 36.5 percent. He shot 41.8 percent and averaged 17.3 points over his first seven games. But over the past five games, he has shot 24.4 percent and averaged 7.6 points.

Martin might benefit from starting the game in a lineup that includes Rubio. He also might benefit from the spacing caused by Towns' threat in the post and the defensive attention given to Wiggins.

The Wolves, meanwhile, will look to get their first home victory of the season with a slightly different look.