Timberwolves coach Chris Finch goes mad scientist talking about Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns together

The Timberwolves should wear short uniform shorts next season and warm up before games to Earth, Wind & Fire. These are now the Retro Wolves, the throwback gang.

The Wolves are going big and proud of it, small ball be damned.

"Certainly teams tend to go small in the playoffs," coach Chris Finch said. "We're not doing that."

Finch sounded equal parts confident and defiant and enthusiastic Wednesday at the introductory news conference for new center Rudy Gobert.

The modern NBA game is populated with lineups filled with guards and wings. The Wolves boarded a train headed in the opposite direction. They are banking on the viability of playing not only one big man, but two of them together.

The Twin Cities has now become the Twin Centers with the arrival of Gobert to play alongside Karl-Anthony Towns in a hoops gamble that will either be proven genius or an expensive misstep.

"We don't think it's an awkward fit at all," Finch said. "We see from a basketball perspective no reason at all why it won't work."

Finch called Gobert's presence a "perfect fit at the perfect time," and the more the coach talked about the possibilities of employing Twin Towers, the more he sounded like a giddy scientist.

While others scratch their head and question the validity of pairing two big men on the floor, the Wolves only see opportunity. Rather than adjust to the newish trend of small and smaller lineups, the Wolves believe they will force teams to adjust to their size.

Will it work?

Heck if I know, but a franchise-altering trade that grabbed the league's attention will be captivating to watch against the backdrop of an NBA model that puts a premium on guard dominance.

This is a defining move for new basketball boss Tim Connelly, who paid a huge premium to pull off the trade with Utah, a package that includes four first-round draft picks and three veteran rotational players. Did he overpay as many believe? Probably, maybe, but how do we really know without seeing the long-term outcome?

I appreciate Connelly's willingness to go for it, to try something bold, with the approval and likely nudge from new owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez. News flash: The Timberwolves are not going to contend for a championship operating under a safe, cautious approach.

"The questions about fit are not a major concern," Connelly said. "[Gobert] is the best rim protector and best rebounder in the league. You're not going to find a more gifted offensive frontcourt player in the league than KAT. Collectively, those guys seem to balance each other out pretty well in a good way."

Gobert admitted that even he needed a day to contemplate how playing alongside Towns might look and function. He used the word "unique" repeatedly in explaining why he believes the Wolves represent an ideal fit.

"There are so many things we will be able to do on the floor," he said.

Finch has experience coaching multiple big men lineups at previous stops. He is the right coach to oversee this transformation. He has spent countless hours since being informed that Gobert might be available thinking about ways to maximize contrasting skill sets of his two big men.

"A lot of it is organic," Finch said. "We'll get these two guys on the floor and figure out the dynamic between the two of them and then fit the pieces in around that."

One obvious wrinkle: Throw lobs to Gobert, something that hasn't been part of the Wolves' attack but plays to Gobert's strength.

Gobert excels in the pick-and-roll, which should accentuate D'Angelo Russell's game in a different dimension.

Finch offered another idea: "I can see now with Rudy's rebounding, maybe we can get KAT in some early post-up situations. That's low-hanging fruit."

Everything sounds good in theory right now. Finch probably has a thousand ideas flooding his creative mind. A starting lineup of Towns, Gobert, Russell, Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels offers a lot of size, versatility and firepower.

"We're going to be very unique," Gobert said.

As the rest of the NBA goes smaller, the Wolves are trying something opposite, unafraid to be different. For an organization striving to be relevant by building a sustainable winner, this is a gamble worth taking.