Nemanja Bjelica – The forgotten Wolf

With so many big moves throughout the offseason, many fans are forgetting one very important Minnesota Timberwolves’ player who played a key role off the bench last season, Nemanja Bjelica.

Nemanja Bjelica has never been, and likely never will be, a superstar in the NBA. Through his two seasons (both in Minnesota), he’s averaged 5.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 18.1 minutes per game, shooting 44 percent from the field and starting just one of his 125 appearances.

These stats don’t exactly leap off the page, but when you consider that Minnesota had the worst bench in the league last year, they start to mean a little more.

Looking back at the season, apart from perhaps Shabazz Muhammad, I consider Bjelica to be the most steady contributor Minnesota had on the bench last season. Flaws in Muhammad’s defensive game, as well as his lack of sharing the ball were both highlighted in an article we published earlier this year. Despite inconsistencies in Bjelica’s game, he has shown impressive stretches of talent, and his MVP past shows his capability.

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?

Bjelica could slot into the lineup with the starters to create a real offensive threat. Dunking With Wolves’ co-site-expert Brian even listed a lineup featuring Bjelica as the starting PF as one of his favorite in an article he wrote a few months ago.

I’m a big fan of Bjelica. Despite only being in his third NBA season, he will be 29 years old and should possess some maturity and composure that could aid the Wolves when necessary, particularly the young duo of Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns as they continue to develop. Sure, Bjelica will never be the star of the show or the Wolves’ franchise player, but he can come up big when we need him most, and he always plays with heart.

Some of Bjelica’s best plays come when he’s facing up against a player you’d expect to get the best of the bench player, but Bjelica’s dedication and talent really show in these moments:

Yes, you saw that right, Bjelica blocked Lebron at the rim!

Hopefully, as he continues to settle into the NBA, he can provide performances such as he did in his pre-NBA days, where he won the EuroLeague MVP back in 2015.

Returning from his ankle injury this week, he made an appearance in the Timberwolves’ first preseason game (and win) against the Lakers, contributing 3 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 20 minutes.

While preseason stats aren’t a reliable measure for the regular season, it does at least show that Bjelica seems to have recovered from his injury and will be ready to play when the regular season rolls around later this month.

With six real power forwards/centers on the roster, Bjelica will likely struggle to see a whole heap of playing time. While ESPN lists him second in power-forward depth behind likely starter Taj Gibson, they list Gorgui Dieng, Cole Aldrich and Justin Patton all as centers. In reality, they could all fit into a power forward role or even as part of a two-center lineup of bigs.

I hope to see Bjelica get some more time on the court this season, and prove himself to be a big part of the Wolves offense. Despite tough competition from Jamal Crawford and Muhammad, I believe he has the capability to cement himself as the Timberwolves’ sixth man of the season.

Next: Minnesota Timberwolves: Who will take the last shot?

He is a solid role player for the Timberwolves and I hope to see his game and role continue to improve this year as part of the new-era of Minnesota basketball.