Timberwolves Player Review: Gorgui Dieng

Gorgui Dieng was a revelation for the 2015-16 Timberwolves, playing more power forward than center and providing offense for his team in a variety of ways.

Dieng was acquired by the Timberwolves on draft night in 2013 along with Shabazz Muhammad. He did not play much at all early in his rookie season for a number of reasons, including being stuck behind a healthy Nikola Pekovic and sitting on the same bench as crotchety old head coach Rick Adelman.

But he played a fair amount near the end of the 2013-14 campaign, even starting 15 games and enjoying playing alongside Kevin Love. That led to 30 minutes per game played in 2014-15 under Flip Saunders, including 49 starts in 73 games played as Pekovic went down with injury once again.

Dieng was consistent over his first two seasons, shooting 53.8 percent from 10 to 16 feet, including a league-leading 56.9 percent in 2014-15 from that range. And while he received a taste of playing the power forward spot that season, playing 12 percent of his minutes at the ‘four’, he still spent the vast majority of his minutes at the center spot.

In 2015-16, however, the Wolves had rookie star Karl-Anthony Towns at the ‘five’, and decided to simply get their best players all on the floor at once and figure it out from there. As it turned out, Dieng’s shooting touch from the perimeter and high-low passing ability meshed extremely well with Towns, and Gorgui actually played 53 percent of his minutes at the power forward spot and only 47 percent at center.

For the third-straight season, Dieng improved his shooting touch from the floor (49.8 percent as a rookie to 50.6 percent last year, to 53.2 percent in 2015-16) and at the free throw line (63.4 to 78.3 to 82.7 percent), and he even added the occasional corner three-point shot.

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New boss Tom Thibodeau is a big fan of Gorgui Dieng, reportedly pushing to draft the University of Louisville big man over eventual Bulls’ draftee Tony Snell when he was still the head coach in Chicago.

Despite coming out of college with the reputation as a shot-blocker, Dieng struggled mightily early on in his professional career with thicker, more physical defenders, and he continues to have a tough time with certain match-ups. He remains a solid team defender, however, and Thibodeau is a master at fitting versatile pieces into his wildly successful defensive schemes.

Dieng’s wingspan and shot-blocking ability are no doubt intriguing to Thibodeau, and while I’m certainly not suggesting that Gorgui could be Joakim Noah North, I would suggest that there are some similarities. Dieng is a better shooter than Noah from the mid-range, while Noah is a much better overall defender and rebounder, to name the biggest differences.

But Dieng’s assist rate after three seasons is eerily similar to the progress that Noah made in that department with the Bulls over his first three years in the NBA, and Thibodeau no doubt sees that parallel.

Prior to Thibodeau’s signing, once might have assumed that the Wolves would take a look at the trade market for Dieng. While he played well next to Towns, it’s tough to say if that’s really a long-term solution. (It might be, but we don’t have enough information as of yet, and Dieng is inching closer to requiring a contract extension.)

Next: Shabazz Muhammad Player Review

Look for Thibodeau to favor using Dieng alongside Towns instead of, say, Nemanja Bjelica. It will be intriguing to see what Thibs ultimately does with Gorgui, but for a sneak preview, take a look at what Noah did under Thibodeau in Chicago.