The Great, Good, Bad and Ugly for the Timberwolves (so far)

Treveon Graham

Shooting 19.2 percent from deep on 52 attempts on a team devoid of capable supplemental 3-point shooting is a great way to land yourself in the “Bad” bin.

Want to make things worse? Just shoot 45.2 percent of your shots from a distance you can’t successfully shoot from.

Opposing defenses have been able to play gap defenses and leave him wide open at the 3-point line, which has allowed defenses to double KAT on the block and make things tougher for guys who love to put the ball on the deck like Wiggins, Culver, and Okogie.

TG has been a really solid on-ball defender so far this season and is a plus-defender by Box Plus Minus, but it just does not make up for how bad he’s been on the offensive end this season. Graham is averaging just 6.5 points on 7.2 shots per game. That type of shooting simply does not warrant 25.2 minutes per game.

Josh Okogie is already a better defender than Graham and needs to be out-playing him from here on out. Treveon has a Net Rating of -16 in the 2019-20 season, thanks to a very measly offensive rating of just 95 (anything below 100 is poor).

Graham will continue to get minutes thanks to his constant energy on defense and the offensive glass, but unless he plays more within the flow of the offense and can extend defenses with miraculously better shooting, he should not start, or be a prominently featured member of the Wolves rotation.

Jarrett Culver

Like Graham, Culver’s disastrous shooting lands him below water here in the “Bad” category. The rookie from Texas Tech is averaging 8.8 points per game on 36.7 percent shooting from the floor, 27.7 percent from 3, and a nightmarish 42.1 percent from the stripe on 38 attempts.

Anytime a player averages more shot attempts than points per game (9.3 > 8.8 in Culver’s case), there is major cause for concern on the offensive end. While Culver has gotten better throughout the course of the season in terms of his overall shooting numbers, there is real cause to be concerned. His shot needs a total revamping and is consistently short from 3 as a direct result of the hitch in his shooting motion.

Additionally, Culver has an assist-to-turnover ratio of just 1.54, which needs to improve if he is going to be a consistent facilitator for the remainder of the season.

What’s to love about Culver and his game is that he is un-phased by missing shots, or getting blocked. He just keeps attacking the basket and going at defenders, which has helped him draw fouls and get a taste of NBA offense.

He is shooting 32.9 percent of his attempts at the rim, but is shooting just 51.9 percent on those shots. Granted, he has a tendency to miss bunnies and put back his own misses, I would still like to see that percentage rise closer to 60 percent to feel better about his offensive game.

On defense, Culver has been solid. He has proven that he can switch 1-3 and be a capable defender no matter who he is matched up with. Jarrett has terrific hands that have enabled him to cause problems in the passing lanes and average 1.4 steals per 36 minutes. He has rebounded well (3.1 per game) and is awesome at bringing down boards and getting out and leading the break.

Jeff Teague

When I turn on Wolves games, I have no idea which Jeff Teague I am going to see. I could see a willing passer who can attack the rim, knock down 3s and consistently draw fouls, or I could see a guy who pounds the air out of the basketball, plays suspect defense, fails to see open teammates or notice mismatches, and hesitate and pass out of open 3s.

What has been most frustrating so far is Jeff’s inability to recognize mismatches on the floor or hit shot-ready teammates when they are open beyond the arc. KAT frequently gets mismatches in the post in today’s switch-heavy NBA and needs to get more post touches when those situations arise.

Teague is shooting just 42.3 percent from the floor and 24.2 percent from deep, which has limited the ceiling of this young Wolves squad thus far. When Teague is shooting well, the Wolves are a much more potent offensive team. He will need to shoot it better especially if he is going to be coming off the bench for the rest of the season, playing with players like Dieng, Graham, Vonleh, Bell, and Okogie, who are not particularly great shooters from beyond the arc.

Teague is averaging 7.7 assists per game, however, and getting to the line for 5.0 shots per contest, which is a great number for him. If Teague can focus on defense while limiting his turnovers and connect on a higher percentage of his 3s, he stands to move up to the “Good” bin in my next edition of this piece.