The Minnesota Timberwolves have signed point guard Jordan McLaughlin to a two-way contract for the upcoming season, shoring up their depth at a thin position.
Heading into Las Vegas Summer League, the Minnesota Timberwolves had only filled one of their two roster spots reserved for two-way contracts.
By the time Summer League concluded, however, they had exactly zero two-way contracts filled. Now, they’re back to one.
After undrafted rookie and LSU one-and-done big man Naz Reid impressed for the 6-1 Summer Wolves, the front office opted to give him a multi-year deal with guaranteed money in the first season. Now, just days later, the Wolves have found someone else to fill that vacated two-way contract.
Another member of the Summer Wolves, point guard Jordan McLaughlin, appears to have put pen to paper and agreed to join the squad as a two-way player for the 2019-20 season.
McLaughlin has signed a 2-way contract. Good opportunity for him on a PG-thin team after he played well in Summer League https://t.co/c9ELxbgmJg
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) July 20, 2019
McLauglin was a four-year starter at USC and averaged between 12.1 and 13.4 points per game in each of his seasons but saw his assist rate skyrocket as he gained experience. He was a solid shooter, finishing his college career as a 37.9 percent shooter from 3-point range, but taking out his freshman year McLaughlin shot 40.8 percent from beyond the arc from his sophomore through senior seasons.
Last season, he played in 39 games for the Long Island Nets of the G League, where he averaged 15 points and 4.6 assists per game, although he shot only 42.5 percent from the floor and 33.5 percent from beyond the arc.
In Las Vegas this summer, McLaughlin was largely up and down but had a couple of impressive performances. The first of those came in the fourth game, when he put up 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting with seven rebounds and six assists.
Ultimately, McLaughlin averaged 9.9 points, 5.0 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game over his seven appearances and showed a solid handle on running the offense of a team that was undefeated until their loss in the championship game.
The Wolves remain short on point guards, so it makes sense to allocate one of their two-way deals to a point guard. McLaughlin appears to be a solid, steady hand at the point, and theoretically still has a bit of upside. Our own Andrew Neururer made the case for the Wolves to sign McLaughlin back while summer play was still taking place.
The current depth chart has Jeff Teague and Shabazz Napier under contract for just this year and nobody beyond that. At the moment, Tyrone Wallace would be the third point guard but only has a partially guaranteed deal and may not even make the team.
In other words, McLaughlin could get a real shot early on with the big club unless Minnesota makes a few more moves before the season kicks off.