Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 takeaways from Iowa Wolves’ season

Iowa Wolves players who impressed in the G League bubble

This side of Cook, who is currently on the Nets’ roster, the 2-13 Wolves didn’t have a host of impressive individual performers.

Canyon Barry, the 27-year-old son of Rick Barry and younger brother of Brent, Drew, and Jon, was probably the Wolves’ best player not named Tyler Cook.

Barry has been in the Wolves organization for over two years, playing in Las Vegas Summer League in 2018 and 2019, signing an Exhibit 10 deal in 2018, and playing on the Iowa Wolves each of the last three seasons.

He received ample playing time in the bubble, logging 26.8 minutes per night and putting up 12.9 points per game while shooting 47.6 percent from the floor and 41.8 percent from beyond the arc. Barry’s underhanded free throw style was on point as well as he knocked down all 21 of his freebie attempts in the bubble.

Barry stands 6-foot-6 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan and is a good enough athlete to hold his own, but his offensive game is mostly limited to spot-up shooting. It would be a surprise if he earned a shot with the big club, but a shooting line of .477/.400/.858 in 76 G League games played across three seasons is nothing to sneeze at.

Charlie Brown Jr. was a Timberwolves camp invitee this year and a former Atlanta Hawks two-way player and showed improvement on what has been an inconsistent shooting stroke.

From when the Wolves brought Brown to training camp:

"Brown’s shortcomings are mostly related to his shooting inconsistencies; he had shooting splits (field goal, 3-point, and free throw percentages) of only .422/.268/.870 with the College Park Skyhawks of the G League. He appeared in 10 games with the Atlanta Hawks. Brown’s size and playmaking ability is intriguing, and the Wolves clearly see this as an opportunity to add him to the fold as depth in the preseason and a key member of the Iowa Wolves throughout the year."

In 13 games in the G League bubble, Brown tallied 12.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting .447/.355/.824. He’s a candidate to watch for a two-way deal as the Wolves are continually seeking wing depth and plus defenders.

While a 2-13 record in the bubble is obviously not what the Wolves were hoping for, it was no doubt a valuable experience for the young players who had the opportunity to play competitive basketball for the first time in nearly a year.

Now, we’ll sit back and see if any of the members of the Iowa Wolves roster get a chance with the Timberwolves.