Minnesota Timberwolves: Is Jeff Teague simply an expensive bench player?

Jeff Teague has opted into his $19 million contract for the 2019-20 season. with the Minnesota Timberwolves. But coming off the worst season of his career, is he simply an expensive backup?

Two summers ago, the Minnesota Timberwolves overpaid Jeff Teague to round out an objectively formidable starting lineup.

The issue with the contract was always the third year, which was an option for $19 million in Teague’s age-31 season. And here the Wolves are, a fringe playoff team, with a 31-year-old point guard that they’re paying $19 million.

Coming off an injury-plagued year where he posted career-lows of 12.1 points per game and 42.3 percent shooting, Teague is now effectively an expensive bench player. He is, however, playing in his contract season, and hopefully a motivated Teague can bounce back to have a good year and provide veteran leadership for backcourt mates Josh Okogie and Tyus Jones.

Teague’s 19.3 percent usage rate is among the lowest for starting point guards as Teague was at times hesitant to shoot the ball. At 30 years old, Teague’s best years are already likely behind him.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are in a complicated limbo with their point guard situation. From Teague’s contract situation to Jones, who is a restricted free agent, to Derrick Rose, who had his best season in years but hits the open market this summer.

Rose was great as a backup but primarily played the 2-guard and would likely continue in the role if re-signed.

Unless, of course, the team brings back Jones and counts Teague as the odd man out, handing the keys to the backup role to Rose.

There are a couple options the Wolves have short of plugging him right back into the lineup. They could waive him and stretch his contract over the next few years, much like the Knicks did with Joakim Noah, although the monies would still count against the salary cap. They could also try to trade him, though that will likely gain traction only as the trade deadline nears.

What they should, and likely will, do is play the season out and see what kind of production they can get from him. Despite his lower scoring output, Teague managed to average a career-high of 8.2 assists per game this past season. While it was only in 42 games, he still got his teammates involved.

Teague is not going to be the guy to take people off the dribble or generate his own shot, but if he can continue dishing out to the open man, that is a valuable asset for the Timberwolves. By comparison, Okogie (1.2 assists per game) and T. Jones (4.8) combined still don’t average nearly as many assists as Teague, however, they are younger, more athletic and have a propensity to push the ball to play at a faster pace, which is exactly the style of play the Wolves need.

If Teague can re-introduce 3-point depth to his game, he becomes an even more valuable player off the bench.

The ideal situation is for the Wolves to try to trade Teague and get some cap relief, but it would be hard for any team willing to take on Teague’s contract without the Wolves taking back another player in return. Hopefully, Teague will be motivated to have a bounce-back season in what is a contract year for him as he exits his prime years.

Otherwise, Teague will simply become an expensive bench player.