Minnesota Timberwolves Player Review: Marcus Georges-Hunt
By Ben Beecken
The second player in our 2017-18 Minnesota Timberwolves player review series is wing Marcus Georges-Hunt, who almost cracked Tom Thibodeau’s tight rotation midway through the season.
Marcus Georges-Hunt was an August signing by the Timberwolves after they’d already filled one of their two-way contract spots. He was added to a no-risk training camp contract, but ultimately played well enough to make the active roster.
Georges-Hunt had only played in five games as a rookie with the Orlando Magic after playing well in the then-G-League with the Maine Red Claws, averaging 15.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists while shooting 39.2 percent from beyond the arc.
The upside related to Georges-Hunt, who just turned 24 years old, is largely related to his size and wingspan, as yours truly noted after Minnesota initially added him to the fold.
"Georges-Hunt played at Georgia Tech and was undrafted last summer, but his 6′-9″ wingspan, long-range shooting ability, activity on the defensive end of the floor, and D-League production earned him a pair of 10-day contract opportunities last season. He only played in five games for Orlando, scoring 14 points in 48 minutes while also grabbing nine rebounds.…There does appear to be some upside here with the 23-year-old, and while the signing is completely risk-free, it seems to be a solid pickup for the Timberwolves."
Save for a 30-second stint in the sixth game of the season, Georges-Hunt only played in blowouts until Dec. 14. Nemanja Bjelica was out due to injury and Shabazz Muhammad had rather quickly fallen out of favor, and MGH logged 16 minutes in a 23-point Wolves win over the Kings.
He proceeded to play in the next 14 contests and 25 of 28 overall until early February. Georges-Hunt only played in eight of the final 25 games of the season.
His best game of the year came with Jimmy Butler out of the lineup in a Jan. 20 win over the Toronto Raptors. Georges-Hunt played 29 minutes off the bench, and while he only shot 3-of-10 from the floor, got to the free throw line eight times and finished with 12 points, three rebounds, and two assists and was big down the stretch of an important victory.
MGH shot 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) from beyond the arc for the season; his best chance at making a long-term impact in the league is as a “3-and-D” wing player. With his wingspan and quickness, he can surely be an effective defender when given the chance, although he’ll need to gain a little bit of strength to stay with bigger wing players.
The 39.2 percent that he shot from 3-point range in Maine gives hope that he can be an adequate 3-point threat, although he only shot 32.1 percent from beyond the arc in two years at Georgia Tech.
We simply haven’t seen enough from Georges-Hunt to know whether or not he should be a rotation player on a playoff-caliber team, but there were absolutely flashes, as our own Brian Sampson pointed out both here and here.
Next: Timberwolves Player Review: Derrick Rose
It will be interesting to see what moves the Timberwolves make on the wing this summer, especially with word that Jamal Crawford plans to opt out of his contract, but it certainly seems that regardless of what happens, MGH will be back with the Wolves in some capacity.