The Timberwolves KEEP Getting Better…

The Timberwolves KEEP Getting Better…

The Minnesota Timberwolves have had the perfect off season for them. They’ve added depth. They’ve added some young talent and they’ve went out and resigned their guys. First off, it was Johnny Duing who they just brought in the other day on a G-League contract, but he’s proved he can play in the league. He is the prototypical NBA modern 3 and D wing standing at 6’6 with a 6’11 wingspan. And he’s a guy that can help the Wolves out next year, just giving them another guy to bring off the bench. He’s still very young. At just 23 years old, he averaged 8.9 points a game, 2.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, six steals in 20 minutes per game. Last year, shot 43% from the field and 38% from three. And this was a little bit of a down year for Juang. Last year was even better. He had a little bit more volume from beyond the ark, but with the 38% this year, it was four percentage points down from last year. So, he has proven that he can be even better than that. And like I said, that was just his age 23 season. He will be 24 years old next year, so he could definitely factor into the Wolves bench. Then you have Yoan Bearing, who maybe won’t play much for the Wolves this year. Uh maybe going to be a G-League guy, but he has shown all kinds of potential. Watch him fight through that screen, beat Vei to the spot, and then just stonewall him and block him. This was his first summer league game uh since coming over from France and he did not disappoint whatsoever. He’s 7 foot with a 75 wingspan and a guy that that’s big and that tall should not be able to move and be as agile as Baron Jay is. But he is. I mean, watch him flip his hips right here, beat me to the spot time after time defensively and then be able to get the deflection. That’s fantastic defense and the Wolves end up with the ball. Then right here playing a little bit of drop coverage against Antonio Reeves and he gets the deflection. Ball gets batted out but still that counts as a block. He had a monstrous performance in his first game in Minnesota in the summer league and it kind of got fans thinking maybe he plays next. I mean that’s a big time SWAT right there, but I doubt he plays next year because of course they have Rudy Goar. Um, and then he didn’t play as well the rest of the summer league as he did in his debut where he had 11 points, eight rebounds, and assists, two steals, and seven blocks in just 23 minutes of action. And everything we’ve shown you so far has been defense. The offense has been all right. Little push shot right there, but I think he’s really limited right now to just catching lobs. Um, the Wolves really, really wanted Baron, though. They even tried to trade up to make sure they can get him. And yeah, he’s going to be their center of the future. As for now though, their center of the now is Rudy Goar. The four-time defensive player of the year will be going nowhere. He’s still going to have his spot in the lineup in the rotation and he will be 33 next year. So, he is getting up there in age. He’s got a couple more really good years left. I’d say maybe only one more really good year left, but he’s only a three-year $111 million contract. So, with that big time contract comes some big time expectations. And he he didn’t really meet them last year in the playoffs. In the regular season, he averaged 12 and 12 with two blocks a game in 33 minutes. But in the playoffs, he pretty much got played off the court. Shot 67% from the field and 67% from the free throw line getting out in passing lanes. He did dominate a couple of games in that Laker series, but it was because they literally didn’t have a big. Their other veteran right now is Mike Connley. And it wouldn’t shock me in a couple of years for both of these guys to be off the team. This is probably Mike’s last season in Minnesota. Rudy’s probably got a couple of years left. As for Niki Alexander Walker, he goes to Atlanta on a 4-year $62 million contract. He averaged 9.4 points a game, 3.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and six steals in 25 minutes a game. Shot 44% from the field, and 38% from three on four and a half attempts. But where he really made his money was in the Western Conference Finals where he averaged 12.2 points a game, 2.6 rebounds and assist, and 41% shooting from the field. That’s where he went out and got his money because he’s a wing. He’s 6’5 with a 69 wingspan and can defend pretty much every single position. So, the Hawks saw that. They’re like, “Hey, we want that.” They go out and they sign him in free agency. But good news for the Wolves, they have pieces from within to replace him. Jaylen Clark defensively and Terrence Shannon Jr. offensively because Terence Shannon Jr. was a stud last year in the Western Conference Finals. Talking about guys that outplayed their minutes, DSJ in game three put up 152-1 in just 12 minutes. and averaged more points per game than he did minutes per game for this entire series. And if you watch this channel much, you know I am a massive Terrence Shannon Jr. guy. I think he is one of the future pieces of this Wolves team for the next 10 years. And looking at what he did in games 3, four, and five, it really backs up that statement, especially when you see that he shot 53% from the field and 38% from three on three attempts as a rookie in the Western Conference Finals. The Wolves outscored the Thunder in games 3 through 5. All of which TSJ played. Now, in the regular season, he only played 32 games, but he still put up some decent numbers. I mean, four points per game, 1.5 rebounds, and one assist in 10 minutes is not terrible. The per 36 numbers on that are through the roof. 48% shooting from the field, 36% from three. That is not normal for a rookie. Now, I know he’s not the average rookie. He was quite literally 24 years old, older than Anthony Edwards as a rookie. So, he is an older guy, but Chris Finch just doesn’t like to play the rookies as much or the younger guys in general because all three of these guys could have had a bigger role last year. That includes Rob Dillingham, who is going to need to have a big time second season because they invested a lot of draft capital into Dillingham. Now, he’s 6’3, about 176 lbs, more like 6’2, I’d say, though. And remember, they gave up two first round picks, an unprotected first and then a pick swap, so really like one and a half. Uh, but he averaged 4.5 points a game, two assists, one rebound, and one turnover in 10 minutes a game. Shot 44% from the field and 34% from three on 1.5 attempts a game. But the talent is there. I mean, the handle is elite getting downhill. He can read the pick and roll, getting to his little mid-range right there. He has to have a mid-range because he’s such a small guard, but he played 49 games last year and when he got his opportunity, he shined. like in this game against the Utah Jazz. He looked decent in the summer league, but I’m hoping for a big year too from Rob Dillingham. And then Jaylen Clark, 6’4 with a 69 wingspan. The N Alexander Walker defensive replacement off the bench, 210 lbs, but he can also shoot the three ball. I’d say he’s probably a better shooter than Alexander Walker just because his form is much smoother. He played 40 games last year, averaged four points, 1.7 rebounds,.7 assists in 13 minutes, and shot 47% from the field, and 43% from three on.3 attempts. Now, I know these are strictly catch and shoot attempts. He’s not being asked to really go off the dribble anywhere, but if you can knock it down at a 43 44% clip off the catch and play elite defense like Jaylen Clark plays because he’s a fantastic perimeter defender, there are a lot of teams in the league that can use a guy like that. All of the players pictured here are under contract for the next couple years and are under the age of 26. It’s a really beautiful young core that they’ve built here in Minnesota. You also have to add in Beer and the Nas Reed situation. Essentially, they choose Nas Reed over Nik Alexander Walker in free agency, extending Nas on a 5-year, $125 million contract. And that’s probably deserved. I mean, he was like their second leading scoreer this year, third leading scoreer in the regular season. And then the playoffs kind of fell off a little bit, but you know, the Thunder were just all over that spin move in the Western Conference Finals. He never got it going. He averaged 14.2 points, six rebounds, 2.3 assists, and a block, and 27 minutes a night. Shot 46% from the field and 38% from three on 6.2 attempts a game. But the Wolves are really going to have to get better. They’re going to have to have a lot of development because the West will be tougher. They kind of had a Mickey Mouse run last year playing a banged up Warriors team and then a Lakers team with no center. This is what I think the lineup will look like some. Um, we’ll see I think some more of Naz Reed starting instead of Rudy Gobear from time to time. We’ll see how that works out though and how Chris Finch wants to play that. Remember, they bring back Julius Randall who was elite for them last year, especially down the stretch. Jade McDaniels is here. If we get a leap out of Jade McDaniels, you could see a legit big three forming in Minnesota. They still got guys like Dante Devenzo and then of course Anthony Edwards. And I think this is a big year for Ant because he needs to prove that he can get it done at the biggest level. He’s got all the help in the world. He needs to prove he can get it done. With that being said, that’s going to be it for today’s video. Thanks so much for watching. Make sure the like button, leave me a comment down below, and that subscribe button if you did enjoy any point. And with that being said, thanks so much for watching today’s video.

This looks at the Minnesota Timberwolves and how they keep getting better behind Anthony Edwards and and their new signing Johnny Juzang
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