Minnesota Timberwolves: Breaking down the Summer League roster

The Minnesota Timberwolves have announced their 2018 NBA Summer League roster, and there are some intriguing names that will be suiting up for the Wolves’ entry.

Last year, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ summer roster was underwhelming. Remember, first-round pick Justin Patton was injured (as he is this summer), and the team didn’t have a second-rounder. There was a smattering of somewhat interesting undrafted talent, but that’s about it.

This year, however, things are different.

The Timberwolves roster is headlined by No. 20 pick Josh Okogie, of course, and he’ll surely see significant playing time as the Wolves try and decide whether or not he’ll be worthy of heavy minutes at the backup wing role, perhaps even replacing Jamal Crawford‘s 18 to 20 minutes per game that to this point has not been back-filled.

While the Wolves are still looking to add a veteran wing to eat up some of those minutes, it may be tough to find a shooter worthy of that much playing time. Okogie will probably share that time in the regular season, and as a worst-case scenario, could fill the Marcus Georges-Hunt role from last year, playing short minutes in most of the games but also receiving more than a handful of DNP-CDs.

The Timberwolves will also feature second-round pick Keita Bates-Diop, who fans may remember was widely considered a real candidate to be selected at No. 20, or at least by someone at the end of the first round. Instead, injury/age concerns caused him to slide to the Wolves at No. 48, and we’ll get to see what he can do in the summer league in short order.

Amile Jefferson lit up the G-League last year for the Iowa Wolves 17.8 points and 12.9 rebounds per game, even earning himself a two-way contract midway through the season. He never appeared in a game with the big club, but the 6-foot-9 forward will look to impress this summer and shoot for a roster spot come fall.

Also of note is third-year big man Perry Jones III, who was a first-round pick of the Thunder back in 2012 but hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since the 2014-15 season, when he started in 13 of 43 appearances for OKC. He joined the Iowa Wolves last year, averaging 10.7 points and five rebounds per contest in 26 appearances. He’s still just 26 years old and could have some upside remaining, although it seems like he’s getting close to his final shot.

Andrew White appeared in 15 games towards the end of last season for the Atlanta Hawks, shooting 36.7 percent from 3-point range, attempting 49 long-balls in only 209 total minutes of play. He averaged 16 points and 4.6 rebounds in 31.4 minutes per game over 38 games with the Erie BayHawks of the G-League, shooting an impressive 40.3 percent from beyond the arc.

The 6-foot-7 forward profiles as a potential 3-and-D player at the NBA level, and he’ll surely be given every opportunity to make an impact during Las Vegas Summer League. (Here’s a fun write-up on White from Peachtree Hoops, the Hawks SB Nation site.)

Lastly, we’ll shine a light on Jared Terrell, who the Wolves signed to one of their two two-way contracts immediately after the NBA draft. He’s somewhat of a intriguing prospect, although much of his improvement appears to be due to the sheer number of games he played at Rhode Island over the last four years.

Here’s an excerpt from what I wrote about Terrell after the signing was announced.

"Between his sophomore and junior seasons, Terrell averaged 13.1 points, 2.3 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game while shooting just 40.7 percent from the field and 34.7 percent on 3-point attempts. As a senior, Terrell put up 16.8 points, 2.4 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game on 42.7 percent on field goals and 41.4 percent from beyond the arc.And not only did his 3-point percentage improve, it took place while he launched even more threes per game, going from 3.8 per game as a junior to 5.3 per game as a senior, and his 3-point rate increased too, from .392 to .405. He also saw increases in free throw percentage, steal rate, and block rate while his turnover rate declined."

There are some other familiar names, such as Dayton’s Charles Cooke, who was on the Wolves’ summer roster last year but struggled mightily. He did appear in 13 games for New Orleans this season. Another player with recent NBA experience is Josh Gray, an in-season addition by Phoenix this past season. Gray averaged 17.2 minutes per game over five contests, scoring 6.4 points and dishing out 2.4 assists per appearance.

The Timberwolves MGM Resorts NBA Summer League 2018 entry begins play on Friday, July 6 at 10 p.m. Central Time against Denver. The game will be televised live on NBA TV.

The above names are the ones who should see the lion’s share of the playing time, and it will be fun to watch Okogie, Bates-Diop, Jefferson, and Terrell, in particular.

Next: Top 5 remaining free agents for the Timberwolves

We’ll have quick-hit reaction to each of the games, with an eye towards the above-mentioned players. Enjoy the Fourth of July holiday, and we’ll see you back here at DWW throughout summer league play.