Minnesota Timberwolves: 5 goals for Justin Patton in his rookie season

Heading into his rookie season, we look at five goals for the Minnesota Timberwolves newest rookie, Justin Patton, to focus on.

In the midst of a whirlwind offseason, it was almost too easy to skim over the fact that the Minnesota Timberwolves actually picked up more than just Jimmy Butler on NBA draft night.

The 16th pick, which was acquired in that blockbuster trade that saw Zach LaVine leave the Twin Cities and Jimmy G. Buckets take his place, was used to pick up Justin Patton, the 6-foot-11 big man drafted after playing just one year at Creighton.

With the same high hopes of any rookie, Patton bounded into Minneapolis with an infectious smile on his face.

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With a bunch of grizzled veteran faces entering the Mayo Clinic over the offseason 20-year-old Patton’s youthfulness has brought a nice blend of potential and experience to an extremely successful offseason.

Unfortunately, Just after arriving in Minnesota and beginning his Timberwolves career, Patton broke a bone in his foot which required surgery to fix.

This is most likely just a minor setback for Patton, who should be back out in Timberwolves colors sometime during his rookie season.

A ‘one and done’ stud at the collegiate level, who averaged 20.5 points per 40 minutes, Patton has a game that will seemingly translate into the NBA arena, with both size and speed in his toolbox.

Let’s take a look at five goals that the newest rookie in Minnesota should be focusing on this season.

5. Get back from injury

The injury was a cruel blow to a budding young rookie, especially a first-rounder with dreams of making a real impact from day one.

The nature of the NBA season is that injuries are always going to be a part of the game, we just hoped Patton might be able to play at least one year before he went down with one.

One thing that first-yearyear players desperately need is that first Summer League and training camp to adjust to life playing basketball against full grown men, and not college athletes. This is where the injury might hurt Patton the most, with his training camp being limited due to the foot.

Breaks in the fifth metatarsal, a long bone on the outside of the foot, can be a tricky injury to deal with, especially for big men.

Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons is a testament to this fact, missing the entire 2016-17 season after breaking the exact same bone last season in his rookie training camp, but Patton told Kyle Ratke that he doesn’t see himself with a season-ending injury, in fact he seemed optimistic of a close return.

Patton will be jumping out of his skin to get his first taste of NBA action, and the coaching staff in Minnesota will be anxious to see him out there. But for it to be a long, fruitful career, He will need to make sure he gets his body in order before making the leap from college freshman to NBA rookie.

4. Return through the G-League

Returning straight to the NBA will be a tough ask for Patton, who is void of a full training camp and preparation for gunning against the big boys.

Enter the Iowa Wolves.

The newest G-League team and the official affiliate of the Minnesota Timberwolves will be a huge help for the coaching staff this season, whether it be with Patton or using 2-way contracts to find hidden gems.

This will be the perfect place for Patton to slowly ease in to the strenuous life of an NBA player, and rehab his injured foot in the process. The G-League will provide a wonderful stage for Patton to showcase his amazing ability to run the floor for a big man, as well as work on his growing three-point shot.

According to Sports Reference, Patton shot over 53 percent on 3-pointers at Creighton.

Although it was only on 15 attempts, the Nebraska-born big man clearly has a touch that can extend out to three-point land.

With the coaching staff eager to use the G-League as a resource to develop young players, Patton may be the very first to work his way from Iowa to Minnesota.

He will more than likely get his first taste of NBA action through its lesser affiliate, but by no means does that mean he shouldn’t grab that opportunity and embrace it.

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.

2. Make the long-awaited NBA debut

If Tom Thibodeau and the Timberwolves coaching staff decide to go the safest route (which also happens to be the longest, who would of thunk it?) then it may be a fair chunk into the regular season before we see Patton.

But if he can reach these goals, first by overcoming the bone break he suffered in the foot and secondly by overcoming his flaws and dominating for the Iowa Wolves G-League team, then Thibs will have no choice but to give him his run.

Patton might have to start with bench minutes in end of game blowout situations, but to be in the NBA at all is a monstrous achievement for someone who made Fox Sports 1 commentator Nick Bahe tell Bleacher Report:

"The high school is 20 minutes away from my house, and I had never heard of him,"

He averaged 1.4 blocks and 0.9 steals in just over 25 minutes per game (2.3 and 1.4 per 40) along with a flat-out elite defensive rating of 96 per 100 possessions.

If he continues to show an outstanding knack for defense you can be sure of one thing, Thibodeau will quickly fall, and stay in love with him, and the minutes will likely follow.

And if he shows he can shoot the 3-ball at a capable level and use this guard-like ability to handle the ball, he may well in himself in the rotation sooner rather than later.

But with Gorgui Dieng firmly implanted in the Timberwolves rotation, there may be only Nemanja Bjelica’s spot that is there for Patton to steal.

1. Take Bjelica’s minutes

This should really be the ultimate goal for Patton this season. To return from a grueling injury to take a legitimate piece of the rotation pie down in Minnesota.

And that’s what he will have to do, take it.

There will be no easy minutes from Coach Thibodeau and incumbent backup power forward Nemanja Bjelica won’t be an easy man to push aside for minutes, as he is still hungry to find his place in the NBA landscape.

If he really is to take Bjelica’s place in the rotation its really down to two things:

Can he continue to show he is an NBA-ready defender and can he turn his glimpses of 3-point marksmanship into a consistent perimeter threat?

If he can do either or both of these things at a high level then with Bjelica’s deficiencies on defense and rebounding, Thibs will be forced to roll out the less experienced Patton, who looks already better at both.

As mentioned, Thibs will not just give Patton these minutes. He is a strong advocate for ‘Bjelly’ and has shown faith in the Serbian from the moment he took over as Head Coach and President Of Basketball Operations.

A new father and unproven role player himself, Bjelica has just as much to prove as Patton. But if there is anything we have learned from Patton’s rise from unknown college prospect to first-round NBA draft pick, it’s that we should never write this kid off.

Next: Minnesota Timberwolves: Final roster predictions

A rocky start to Patton’s NBA career is on the backburner now and with these goals in mind, we hope he can start to show his overflowing potential in 2018.