Timberwolves off-season roster power rankings

9. Nemanja Bjelica 

The former Euroleague MVP comes in at ninth on our current list. Bjelica has been up and down at times but he seems to have found the favor of head coach Tom Thibodeau…for now.

Thibodeau often used Bjelica in the fourth quarter towards the end of the season. On the surface, Bjelica didn’t have a standout year while averaging 6.2 points per game and shooting nearly 32 percent from behind the arc.

However, a closer look at the numbers behind Bjelica’s play show why Thibodeau was right to use him down the stretch. For much of the year Bjelica struggled to contribute, but in February his three-point percentage increased to nearly 48 percent.

Although his three-point percentage came down a bit in March, he ended up posting the best month of scoring for the whole year at 8.9 points per game off the bench. Bjelica seemed like he was finally starting to find his role for the Timberwolves off the bench.

Unless the Timberwolves make one more move for a player similar to Bjelica’s skillset, expect to see his NBA growth continue. Thibodeau trusted him, which is a rare thing when it comes to his bench.

When he first came to Minnesota, many expected Bjelica to be a consistent three-point shooter for a team in desperately need of one. If Bjelica can continue to build on the end of last year’s performance, then he will become a familiar face off the bench in key moments.

Projecting Bjelica’s minutes this year will be tough due to his past inconsistency, but assuming he picks up where he left off he should be a role player off the bench.