Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 Wolves players with the most to play for

3 Minnesota Timberwolves players with the most to play for: Juancho Hernangomez

Juancho Hernangomez shot the lights out upon arriving in Minnesota at last year’s trade deadline, starting all 14 post-deadline games for the Wolves and shooting 42 percent from three.

A lot has happened since then. Hernangomez signed a three-year, $21 million extension with the Wolves in the offseason. This led to some reasonably high expectations of Hernangomez, who was expected to be a consistent shooter for the Wolves that would contend for the starting power forward role.

However, after missing offseason workouts, Hernangomez had an awful start to the 2020-21 season. He effectively played his way out of the rotation under Ryan Saunders, and rightfully so. Juancho has shot just 31.3 percent from three this year, and has been nearly unplayable on the defensive end.

It appears that Chris Finch has given Juancho another chance in the rotation, but Juancho has a lot to prove the rest of the way. He needs to prove that he can be a reliable shooter, because without that unique skillset, it’s hard to justify playing him over other bigs in the Wolves rotation.

Without proving his worth in the rotation, Juancho may find himself as a filler contract in a trade this summer, which could put his playing time into even more jeopardy on another team that is less invested in him. The Wolves have invested a lot in Hernangomez because of his ability to shoot, and if he doesn’t shoot well the remainder of the season, Juancho’s future in the NBA could be in serious jeopardy.