Minnesota Timberwolves: 5 players in SI’s top 100 payers list
By Ben Beecken
No. 58 – Jeff Teague
When the Timberwolves signed Jeff Teague in free agency last summer, yours truly was at the forefront of the take that went something like…
“Teague is equally as effective as Rubio, and given his superior outside shooting ability he may be the slightest of upgrades given the Wolves’ style of play, although he isn’t worth the $58 million they paid him in free agency.”
In other words, both are fairly average point guards who move the needle in different ways from one another. And sure enough, they both ended up smack-dab in the middle of this list, with Teague at No. 58 and Rubio, now of the Utah Jazz, at No. 57.
Here’s Golliver on Teague:
"The Timberwolves boasted the NBA’s fourth-best offense last season, as Teague spread the ball around to his star teammates and filled in the gaps with his own scoring when needed. But he hit a familiar hard ceiling in the playoffs, outmatched and, at times, embarrassed by Houston’s premier backcourt."
Indeed, Teague is a perfectly average player in so many ways, prone to huge games at exactly the right time and stretches in which he disappears completely.
His true value was noticed in his absence last year due to a couple of fairly minor ailments. Teague missed 12 games, and while Tyus Jones is one of the better backup point guards in the league, he struggled at times as a starter. The bigger issue, however, was that Aaron Brooks had to play backup minutes.
Both Jones and Brooks were forced to expand beyond their typical roles, and it proved just how valuable Teague’s average-ness can be.
Somewhat surprisingly, Teague beat out No. 61 Lou Williams. He ranked just behind Rubio at No. 57, as well as Jamal Murray (No. 55), Eric Bledsoe (No. 53), and Goran Dragic (No. 45).