The Minnesota Timberwolves have filled their open roster spot by inking G League forward Cameron Reynolds to a 10-day contract.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a drill. Your Minnesota Timberwolves are being moderately creative with the end of their bench.
News came down on Tuesday afternoon from Shams Charania that the Wolves are signing Cameron Reynolds, a 6-foot-8 forward who has been playing for the Stockton Kings of the G League after a five-year career at Tulane.
The Wolves have an open roster spot after allowing Isaiah Canaan’s second 10-day deal to expire without signing him for the remainder of the season. With Tyus Jones, Jerryd Bayless, and Derrick Rose all back from injury and Jeff Teague seemingly questionable every night, there was no need for a fifth diminutive guard.
Enter Reynolds, who should be able to play both forward positions if needed and fits the mold of more versatile defenders in today’s NBA.
The signing does imply that Robert Covington may still be out for another handful of games, leaving the wing minutes to be split between Andrew Wiggins, Josh Okogie, and Luol Deng. But Deng has been playing more power forward of late in smaller lineups, so it’s entirely possible that Reynolds sees some minutes spelling Wiggins at the 3.
Reynolds college numbers aren’t overwhelming. He was a part-time player through his first three seasons, including a sophomore year that saw him only play in nine games prior to going down with an injury and starting his third year as a redshirt sophomore.
Over his last two years at Tulane, Reynolds put up 16 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting 41.6 percent from the floor and 37.2 percent from beyond the arc.
The 24-year-old has averaged 16 points and 4.2 rebounds per game for Stockton over 33 games this year, and his shooting splits improved to 46.2 percent from the floor and 41.9 percent on 3-point attempts.
Dakota Schmidt at Ridiculous Upside wrote an article less than two weeks ago featuring Reynolds, and he highlighted Reynolds crazy numbers since mid-January: 21.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, 53 percent shooting including an insane 51 percent from 3-point range.
Clearly, Reynolds has a bit of upside given his size and strength, and if he’s really figured something out in regards to his shooting over the past few months, then the Wolves could be stumbling across something significant.
At any rate, the point here is that the Wolves are doing something that they haven’t done often enough in the past: think outside the box, and use 10-day contracts to throw darts at intriguing young talent. While Reynolds might be just a catch-and-shoot guy who mostly plays small forward and is a below-average rebounder for his size, he also might be the next Danny Green.
Kudos to the Wolves for taking this shot. Let’s see how it plays out.