Timberwolves Player Review: Nemanja Bjelica

Timberwolves rookie Nemanja Bjelica had a decidedly up-and-down rookie season, and while much of it was a giant downswing, the 27 year-old finished the year on a high note.

The Wolves signed their 2010 draft night acquisition to a three-year, $11.7 million contract last off-season, intending that he play a sixth-man role on the 2015-16 Timberwolves.

And the season started in fine fashion for the 2015 Euroleague Most Valuable Player. Bjelica averaged 8.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 41.7 percent from beyond the arc as the first option off the bench for the Wolves.

Those first two-plus weeks of the season saw Bjelly have one 30+ minute showing, plus a 40-minute game in an overtime win at Chicago with Bjelica putting up a line of 17 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. He played at least 22 minutes in each of the other eight games.

Then, a clunker in Miami (0-7 shooting) and a sub-par showing in Orlando preceded a minor knee injury that knocked the 27 year-old rookie out for the next four games. After a solid return against the Clippers, Bjelica went in the tank for the majority of the rest of the season.

Just before the end of the regular season, we took a look at Bjelica’s resurgence that began towards the end of March. Below is an excerpt from what I wrote at that time.

"In the nine games since rejoining the rotation on March 23rd, Bjelica is averaging 7.9 points in 17.8 minutes per game and shooting a ridiculous 59.1 percent from the field and 52.9 percent from beyond the arc.The confidence is back, and if you watched the bench while Bjelica was draining jumpers, finishing in the lane, and staying active on the glass and on the defensive end of the floor, the players and coaches were ecstatic to see the lanky Serbian succeed."

And Bjelica only got better as the year wound down. In the final four games of the season, during which the Wolves went 3-1 with road wins over Sacramento and Portland, the Serbian averaged 12.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists while shooting a ridiculous 9 of 14 from beyond the arc.

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He began playing looser and made quicker decisions. Rather than just standing on the perimeter, he took advantage of driving into the paint and distributing to teammates and drawing fouls on defenders.

It’s impossible to say how Bjelica might factor into new head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau’s plans for next season, but it should be noted that the 2014-15 Bulls squad coached by Thibs included a similar player in Montenegrin stretch-four Nikola Mirotic.

Mirotic played much better as a 23 year-old rookie under Thibodeau than he did in 2015-16 under new Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg. His playing time was limited to start his career but he gradually became more involved as the season progressed. While he did shoot just 31.6 percent from three-point range as a rookie, that bumped up to 39 percent this season.

Bjelica shot threes at a 38.4 percent clip when it was all said and done, but Thibodeau will no doubt ask him to squeeze the trigger much more often under his modernized offense.

It’s likely that Thibodeau will utilize Bjelica’s skills as a stretch four and possibly the first option off the bench. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities to see Thibs start him at the power forward spot and bring Gorgui Dieng off the bench as the backup center, either.

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At any rate, Bjelica is likely a rotation-worthy player at the NBA level, although it’s impossible to know for sure after an odd rookie campaign. The slate of roster moves made by Thibodeau and new general manager Scott Layden over the summer will give us a much better idea as to what they think of Bjelly and his unique skill set moving forward.