Timberwolves Player Review: Zach LaVine

The Timberwolves’ Zach LaVine was one of the worst players in the NBA as a rookie but bounced back in a big way during the 2015-16 season.

LaVine was selected 13th overall by Flip Saunders in the 2014 NBA Draft. He came off the bench at UCLA, and was seen as a long-term project with a high ceiling but an equally low floor.

And while he surprised at times during his rookie season with his shooting touch and savvy on offense, his defensive issues and decision-making outweighed the positives. Add in the fact that LaVine was forced to play out of position, with 94 percent of his minutes coming at the point guard position, and it was a rough rookie year.

Using ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus statistic, LaVine was the 471st-best player in the NBA — fourth-to-last. He was also the worst point guard, carrying an unsightly RPM of -6.87.

And 2015-16 started out inauspiciously for LaVine as well. Interim head coach Sam Mitchell named LaVine his starting shooting guard during training camp, but a poor start to the preseason landed LaVine back on the bench. Then, the second-year guard was forced into duty first as Ricky Rubio’s backup, but even started four games at the ‘one’ when Rubio tweaked his surgically repaired ankle early in the season.

LaVine played heavy minutes at point guard during the opening couple months of the season, and not much had changed. He was overall better, but the drop-off — especially defensively — between Rubio’s first unit and the LaVine-led second unit was massive.

Finally and mercilessly, Mitchell shuffled his lineup and inserted LaVine as the starting shooting guard in early February. This development became permanent later in the month, and LaVine ultimately averaged 16.3 points on 47.4 percent shooting, including 43.2 percent from beyond the arc, from February 10th through the end of the season. That’s 29 games, including 27 starts.

More from Dunking with Wolves

• The dream starting 5 for Minnesota Timberwolves 5 years from now
• Anthony Edwards’ latest accolade is a great sign of things to come
• In an OT thriller, Team Canada snatches Bronze from Team USA
• Timberwolves start, bench, cut: Mike Conley, Shake Milton, Jordan McLaughlin
• Which Timberwolves roster additions have upgraded the bench?

LaVine is a potent scorer in transition and in catch-and-shoot situations beyond the arc. We’ll break down the plays that the Timberwolves ran most efficiently for LaVine this season later in the summer, but he carried over his strong catch-and-shoot numbers from his rookie season in a big way.

He still settles for semi-contested jumpers off the dribble a bit too much, and probably doesn’t drive to the rim enough. But he’s an above-average perimeter shooter, a freak athlete, and a great free throw shooter. Playing off the ball is the best thing for LaVine, and as bad as he was running the point, the season-plus at the ‘one’ no doubt helped him improve his court vision and understanding of how an NBA offense should run.

It remains to be seen what new boss Tom Thibodeau thinks of LaVine, and how he will use his athleticism on offense. Thibs’ Bulls squads were routinely towards the bottom of the league in pace, so there’s no guarantee that he’ll be able to get out in transition as much as he has over his first two NBA seasons — which would be a shame, of course.

But Thibodeau will also likely work wonders for LaVine on the defensive end of the court, which continues to bring LaVine’s ultimate productivity down to below-league-average levels.

Next: Gorgui Dieng Player Review

Look for another jump from LaVine in 2016-17. Thibodeau will be a good fit for Zach, and with the jump that LaVine made this year, plus his obvious and apparently infectious desire and want-to, look out. He’s gonna be good.