Minnesota Timberwolves: Pros and cons of Taj Gibson
Con: Offensive spacing
The Timberwolves finished last season making 21 3-pointers a game which put them at 30th in the league. For those of you who don’t know, there are only 30 teams in the NBA.
For a league that is trending towards 3-point shooting, the Wolves shipped out their best outside shooter and brought in three guys who can’t make up for that production.
While Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague are respectable shooters from downtown, Gibson will only contribute further to the outside woes.
For his career, the power forward has only attempted 35 3-point attempts, making four of them. Last season was by far his career high when he went 3-13.
| Season | Age | Tm | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P | 2P | 2PA | 2P | eFG% | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | 24 | CHI | 311 | 629 | .494 | 0 | 0 | 311 | 629 | .494 | .494 | 735 | |
| 2010-11 | 25 | CHI | 234 | 502 | .466 | 1 | 8 | .125 | 233 | 494 | .472 | .467 | 569 |
| 2011-12 | 26 | CHI | 200 | 404 | .495 | 0 | 0 | 200 | 404 | .495 | .495 | 484 | |
| 2012-13 | 27 | CHI | 214 | 441 | .485 | 0 | 4 | .000 | 214 | 437 | .490 | .485 | 517 |
| 2013-14 | 28 | CHI | 429 | 896 | .479 | 0 | 7 | .000 | 429 | 889 | .483 | .479 | 1069 |
| 2014-15 | 29 | CHI | 254 | 506 | .502 | 0 | 0 | 254 | 506 | .502 | .502 | 640 | |
| 2015-16 | 30 | CHI | 263 | 500 | .526 | 0 | 3 | .000 | 263 | 497 | .529 | .526 | 627 |
| 2016-17 | 31 | TOT | 365 | 709 | .515 | 3 | 13 | .231 | 362 | 696 | .520 | .517 | 846 |
| 2016-17 | 31 | CHI | 276 | 530 | .521 | 2 | 12 | .167 | 274 | 518 | .529 | .523 | 639 |
| 2016-17 | 31 | OKC | 89 | 179 | .497 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 88 | 178 | .494 | .500 | 207 |
| Career | 2270 | 4587 | .495 | 4 | 35 | .114 | 2266 | 4552 | .498 | .495 | 5487 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Given that Minnesota didn’t have many scoring struggles last season, I expect them to improve this year with the acquisitions of Butler and Teague and natural improvement of Andrew Wiggins and Towns.
However, clutch time, which is the most like the playoffs, is where the Timberwolves struggled mightily last season. Clutch time is defined as the last five minutes of the game or OT when the two teams are separated by five points or less.
Last season the Twolves ranked 28th in the NBA with a 97.3 offensive rating during clutch time. That’s a stark contrast to their total offensive rating of 108.1 which ranked 10th in the league.
The lack of spacing is a big reason why Minnesota had such struggles.