3 shooters the Minnesota Timberwolves should target via trade

In the first quarter of the NBA season, perimeter shooting has been a huge issue for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Let’s take a look at who the Wolves should be targeting in a potential mid-season trade.

While the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ new offensive system has resulted in far more efficient shot charts, the lack of competent 3-point shooting has held Minnesota back from being one a top-five team in the NBA’s front-loaded Western Conference.

Our lord and savior Karl-Anthony Towns is on pace to record the greatest shooting season from a big man in the history of the NBA and Andrew Wiggins shot 39.5 percent from beyond the arc in November, but other than that, Minnesota has struggled to find consistent shooting production.

Leading the second tier of shooters, Jake Layman has been the dictionary definition of a streaky shooter this season. The 6-foot-8 swingman is shooting 35.2 percent from deep on 3.9 attempts per game, but has consistently battled with cold streaks. Now, he’s out with a toe injury.

Robert Covington’s willingness to shoot 3-pointers has been outstanding. He’s connecting at a 35.4 percent clip, which is a hair below his career mark of 36 percent, but he’s getting 5.5 threes up per night and usually takes smart shots within the flow of the offense.

Now that Wiggins is playing point guard for the foreseeable future, we can fully expect Covington’s number of 3-point attempts continue to rise due to the attention Wiggs will attract when he drives to the rim.

Second-year forward Keita Bates-Diop has been a pleasant surprise for Ryan Saunders off the bench, converting on 50 percent of his 3.3 launches from beyond the arc per game. Better yet, he is shooting 80 percent and 50 percent from the left and right corners, respectively, which is where he finds himself when Wiggins and Jarrett Culver put the ball on the deck.

A player who can be shot-ready in the corner and knock down shots is a valuable asset. Hopefully, Saunders will continue giving KBD consistent minutes, even once Layman is healthy again.

As for the rest of the pack, no one else really stands out.

• Gorgui Dieng: 33.3 percent
• Jarrett Culver: 28 percent
• Josh Okogie: 25 percent (although his re-worked shot motion looks great)
• Jeff Teague: 27 percent (Y I K E S)
• Shabazz Napier: 25 percent (will definitely rise as he gets healthy)
• Kelan Martin: 20.8 percent
• Treveon Graham: 19.6 percent (He still shoots 3.2 treys a night. Someone please make it stop.)

The fact that the Wolves stand at 10-9 while shooting just 32.4 percent from 3 as a team and having only five reliable 3-point shooters is pretty incredible if you ask me. It just goes to show how monstrous of an impact that KAT’s historic 42.1 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game and Andrew’s big November have made.

Despite how awesome the Point Wiggins experiment has been, it might result in the Wolves pulling themselves out of the running for the grand prize in the potential D’Angelo Russell sweepstakes.

Instead, Gersson Rosas and the front office could go hunting for some increased artillery on the wing.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some potential options for the Wolves.