Minnesota Timberwolves: Winners and losers of preseason win over Warriors

Josh Okogie is an active player

If you didn’t watch the Timberwolves in Las Vegas Summer League back at the start of July, then you may have been surprised by just how active rookie and first-round draft pick Josh Okogie is as a player.

We highlighted his defensive prowess back at the start of summer league. As the week of games progressed, his offense caught up to his defense, and along with Keita Bates-Diop, it certainly appeared as though the Wolves crushed the June draft.

On Saturday against the Warriors, Okogie was aggressive, to say the least. While he forced a couple of shots on offense, he got to the line (3-of-5 on free throw attempts) and nailed a corner 3-pointer in the flow of the offense.

Oh, and he did this.

Here’s his and-one from the fourth quarter.

Okogie played 20 minutes, grabbing a steal and not committing any turnovers. He totaled 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting and came down with five rebounds.

Okogie was active on both ends of the floor, and clearly had a burst in the open floor that Wolves fans who had poured over YouTube highlights of Okogie at Georgia Tech were looking forward to seeing.

He played behind Rose and alongside Tyus Jones, the latter of whom played all of the backup point guard minutes. Rose strictly played the two-guard, meaning that Jones logged 27 minutes behind starter Jeff Teague.

It already appeared as though Okogie had some level of chemistry with the second unit, and especially Jones and Tolliver. If Okogie plays with this energy and effectiveness all season long and Tolliver keeps launching threes at a high rate, the Wolves may have stumbled into an eminently more effective (and watchable) bench than the one that they fielded last season.