The Minnesota Timberwolves shifted their rotation several times, with many players showing flashes of eventually becoming rotational guys. Following an injury that sidelined him most of 2019-20, Jake Layman had a rocky year that wasn’t helped by Karl-Anthony Towns or D’Angelo Russell missing a considerable amount of time.
Jake Layman, following 2020-21, has one year remaining on his contract worth roughly $4 million. He has to prove he is an NBA level rotational player for the Timberwolves (or any other team) to consider signing him in next year’s offseason.
Minnesota Timberwolves 2020-21 season grades: Jake Layman
Jake Layman only averaged 14 minutes per game this season – scoring 5.1 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per game in those minutes. He shot splits of 50/30/62, and was largely inconsistent defensively, although generally, he was better on that end.
Jake Layman likely is not in the long-term plans of the Timberwolves, and with the emergence of Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and Jarred Vanderbilt, he became really expendable in a season where he really did not show he had the potential to be a high-level rotational player.
Layman had a few highlight plays, like this dunk on Tacko Fall late in the season:
JAKE LAYMAN OVER TACKO FALL 😳 pic.twitter.com/nf4e2gWDuk
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 15, 2021
That said, during the Chris Finch-led part of the season, Layman just could not find minutes, only appearing in 24 of 41 games, averaging only four points per game.
While Layman doesn’t make too much money compared to others on the roster, he could be a casualty that general manager Gersson Rosas looks to deal this offseason – as he simply is not worth his contract.
Layman’s best game came against the lowly Oklahoma City Thunder, when he scored 16 points on nine shots. That would be one of only eight times he scored more than ten points this season – and Layman would only play more than 30 minutes in a single game once.
Jake Layman season grade: C
It’s not to say that Layman was horrendous – he wasn’t. He just did not offer the Timberwolves the best chance to win, and was typically the 10th/11th man off of the bench.