Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 ripple effects of Malik Beasley re-signing

Impact of Minnesota Timberwolves re-signing Malik Beasley: Offensive improvement

Yes, we’ve always kind of assumed that the Wolves would be bringing back Beasley, but given how the rest of the past week has gone, keeping his shooting in the fold was even more important than ever.

Last season, the Wolves were third in the NBA in 3-point attempts per game but finished No. 28 in 3-point percentage. They improved as the year went on, jettisoning non-shooters such as Treveon Graham, Noah Vonleh, Andrew Wiggins, and Keita Bates-Diop (and reluctant shooters like Jeff Teague) and brought in gunners in Russell and Beasley.

But two of the top perimeter players on the depth chart entering the current offseason were Okogie and Culver, carrying career 3-point percentages of 27.4 and 29.9 percent, respectively.

Then, the Wolves drafted Edwards at No. 1, who shot just 29.4 percent last year at the University of Georgia. They also traded for Rubio, who shot a career-best 36.1 percent from deep with Phoenix last season but still carries a career mark of 32.8 percent on 3-point attempts.

Russell is an above-average long-range shooter, but he’s more about volume and range than true marksmanship. Beasley adds a little bit of both.

Beasley is a career 38.8 percent shooter from beyond the arc and hit on 42.6 percent of his 115 attempts in a Timberwolves uniform last year — a whopping 8.2 attempts per game.

Head coach Ryan Saunders is going to let Beasley fire away, and his ability to both splash threes from deep and score at the basket in transition will make the Wolves a collective runaway freight train in the open floor. Culver and Okogie both have the athleticism to be dangerous in the open floor, but Beasley and Towns as trailers will be deadly for the opposition.

In some ways, the Wolves would have been in major trouble if they hadn’t re-signed Beasley. In the current market, where else would they have found above-average shooting for an offensive attack that will rely heavily on the long ball?

Now, what might the addition of Beasley do to some of the other members of the current rotation, and specifically, Jarrett Culver?