3. Continue to fix his flaws
The road from playing at Creighton to playing for the emerging Timberwolves has been a long and winding road so far.
As a high school freshman, Patton was just 6-foot-2, a good justification for why his game can look so awkward at times but as a former guard it shows when the center puts the ball on the floor, or switches to guard smaller players on the perimeter.
Although he had grown rapidly, Patton was still extremely raw compared to his peers, he spoke to Bleacher Report about the troubles he had with his light frame.
"“Even the coaches would tell me, ‘Justin, quit being soft.’ I can’t help it. I’m literally like a stick. If you push me over, I’m going to move because I’m not big.” he said"
Patton is still relatively light, weighing in at 229 pounds for a near 7-footer and will need to spend a lot of hours in the Mayo Clinic gym, but the rise from skinny guard to a legit NBA big seems ever so close for Patton.
Another glaring deficiency stands out when you look at his game, that for a man who was started as a guard, and who has a capable mid-range and 3-point shot, he shoots unusually poor from the free-throw line.
A 51.7 percent shooter from the charity stripe on 2.4 attempts per game is a definite factor in Patton’s game that he needs to work on.
The bonus to this is that even with the foot injury, Patton should still be able to get regular free-throw practice in, because when he is eventually fit to play, the big bodies he will be banging against will force him to be at the line a ton.
Patton isn’t drenched in flaws, so working on, and hopefully fixing the existing ones should be a huge goal for Patton this season.